Diary

Mileage:  57.06 miles  (91.75 kms)

Elevation Change:  1771 feet (540 meters)

Weather:  sunny, hot, 98 degrees

Morale:  somewhat annoyed

Incidents:  Chris rode, 2 flat tires, very difficult construction zone crossing

Daily Summary:

Today was supposed to be an easy day but we got a little more than we bargained for.  First we were riding out of Rapid City at about 7am, and there was a high speed crash right in front of us as we were stopped for a traffic light!  Yikes!  Then there was a bridge out on our route so we had to get up on the Interstate for a stretch, which is never pleasant.  Then we had two flat tires, about 20 miles apart. But the worst was in the last ten miles or so, as we were on another Interstate stretch.  There was road construction, which at first was great for us.  The left lane was open to traffic, and the right lane and right shoulder was blocked off for us to ride on—on brand new asphalt.   But as we cranked out the miles on this good deal, the asphalt was getting stickier and stickier, and warmer and warmer.  It started sticking to the tires, and soon we had an extra five pounds of rotating weight on the outside of our tires.  It quickly became apparent that we were closing in on the actual paving machine, and that our current course was untenable.  We had to get out in the one open traffic lane with the 18 wheelers to get around the machines.  But then there was miles and miles of road surface all prepped with the sticky tar that goes on before the asphalt ahead of us.  Our choice was the one lane with the big trucks or the wide space with the horrible tar.  It wasn’t a real choice for safety reasons, so we slogged it out in the tar.   Oh, and did I mention that this was during the last climb you see above?  When we finally got to the hotel, the first order of business was cleaning up the bikes and scraping off the tires.  Yuck.

 

The good news today is that Christopher rode for 37 miles on a single bike.  The two members of the staff who were riding sweep took him along and the three of them rode together.   He was great and had a very good time.   We are very proud of him!

 

South Dakota is just as remote as Wyoming, only in a different way.  Lots of grassland here, and more occaissional farms, ranches, and settlements than in Wyoming.  But the remoteness still takes your breath away. 

 

The weather broke, and the heat is back.  We were up to 98 today, and it should get hotter tomorrow.  We have a long day (117 miles), so it will be a challenge.

 

In the pictures below, you see Christopher ready for his ride, followed by Raymond and me at a SAG stop.  Next, some South Dakota scenery.  Then a picture of the bike tires in the construction zone.  And finally, the clean-up scene on arrival.  Sorry, we forgot the camera when we walked over to Wall Drug—tourist trap extraordinaire!