Crossed Another Border

Somehow I got my “load” time mixed up this morning. I knew there should have been more people waiting by the trailer but there were none. Fortunately Pam saw my confusion and came to the rescue. I got my stuff in the trailer, grabbed a quick breakfast, and got on the road.

Side note on the breakfast…it was basically just carbs and coffee. I did get an apple to go with my biscuit and bowl of Cheerios but there was no protein option. Then dinner was Subway sandwiches. I hope it gets better tomorrow and beyond.

In spite of a poor breakfast, I did exceedingly well for the first 35 miles of the ride. I actually kept up with Steve, the strongman of the tour, and Mike and Karen, two other really strong riders. We were on a down hill trend. If not, I would have been left in the dust.

Later I caught on with Bev and Greg but lost them on an uphill. They were on a mission to get to Hot Springs before the day got too hot.

And hot it did get. I heard different numbers but it was over 100 degrees out on the road. Our first big climb came around mile 73. I, along with others, had to keep stopping to cool down by drinking the ice water we’d just gotten from our support team. 

The descent from the four mile climb was only one and a half miles but then it was fairly flat for a long bit and I was able to fly through there. So when the next bump came along, I was doing well and got over it easily enough.

I made my best time since we started this trek getting to the motel. Then my room wasn’t ready. So, as I was going to sit in the lobby, Bev came in and said they’d just been at the DQ. She gave me directions and I was off. Met up with some others from our group there so shared a table as we enjoyed our treats.

The only photo from today was at the South Dakota state line. The landscape was interesting but I did not want to stop as I knew it was only going to get hotter as the day went on. Come see the area, its worth it.

Tomorrow we will ride through Wind Cave National Park. Then we stop to see the Crazy Horse memorial before getting to Mount Rushmore. We’ll have one of the rest stops at the National Presidential Wax Museum. All this and 73 miles of cycling too.

Another early morning. Yawn.