July 8
Sunday, July 8 Hot
Springs, SD to Rapid City, SD 70 miles 9,200
feet of climb
It’s a good thing today’s ride came three weeks into the
journey! I’ve had twenty one days of
preparation for the hills we had to do today.
I was shocked when it was announced at route rap that we did 9,200 feet
of climbing total today.
Yesterday took a lot out of me and I
started out this morning with low energy.
I just couldn’t get up to speed for a long time. I really struggled for the first 39 miles. I wasn’t the only one feeling sluggish this morning. Someone said we didn’t have enough
carbohydrates in last night’s meal. Too
much protein, not enough carbs. At the
first SAG stop, I ate bananas and fig bars.
I was drinking a lot of water.
Sure could tell we were in South Dakota. The Humidity. We have not
had a single day that we could feel the humidity level was higher. We’ve been going through weeks now with
humidity at 10 – 13%. So welcome to
heat + humidity from here on out. As
sluggish as I was feeling and every stroke of the pedal an effort, I was wondering if I would be able to
continue with the ride. Soon after the
SAG stop and entering Custer National Park, I saw Legion Lake Resort. Some bikers jumped in the lake for a
swim. I saw the sign over the
restaurant that said “bakery”. I had to
see if they had any pie. Oh, thank God
they did – and it all looked delicious too.
I was dragging, but I sat down with a piece of peach pie and big glass
of water and relaxed a few minutes. Honestly that pie saved the day!
Within 20 minutes, I was a new
person.
The climbs were beginning to get steeper
and longer. We were following 16A, Iron
Mountain Road. It was a two lane road
with absolutely zero shoulder. The
speed limit ranged from 15 to 30 mph.
It was so winding and had so many switch-backs with hairpin turns that
the traffic was going very slow. No
RV’s or trucks allowed, that was a relief
for there was hardly room for 2 cars side by side. We climbed upward over a route of 25 miles.
Then there was a fabulous reward at mile
60 when we got to the first single lane tunnel. Through the very short and narrow tunnel we got the first view of
Mt. Rushmore. Was that ever a grand
sight. The beautiful carved faces were
glistening in the sunlight.
Not far off in the other direction, the
sky was pitch black. It wasn’t a
question of if we would get rained on but when. The view from the highest point on this road was awesome. But then the descent. It is called Pigtail Bridges up in his area.
The road goes sharply down in a
swirling downward descent. I stopped a
few times at some spots where there was a short pull-off. I kept checking my wheel rims to make sure
my brakes weren’t getting them over heated.
Then the rain came. The sky let
loose. I didn’t get hit with hail like
some on up ahead of me but the rain really pelted me. For as hot as it was the rain was a welcome change. It continued raining all the way into
Keystone, SD.
By the time we arrived in Rapid City it
had stopped and the sky was looking like it was ready to let loose again. ( It rained later this evening). Everyone was wiping and cleaning their bikes
outside the motel after getting here.
The motel even provided us with all the rags we wanted to do the
job. Several of the hotels have
provided cleaning rags for us to use.
That sure has been nice.
I didn’t sleep well
last night and I was really scared this morning when I started out. I was so afraid of riding through the “open
ranges” where the buffalo are often right in the middle of the road. We had
been told at route rap last night that a tourist had been killed by a buffalo
yesterday, in this area, while trying to take it’s photo. I was petrified I
would come around some bend in the road and see a huge Bison staring at
me. Just outside Hot Springs, we
entered Wind Cave National Park. The
signs of Warning were at the entrance: “CAUTION DO NOT APPROACH THE
WILDLIFE” and other signs: “WILDLIFE AT
LARGE” and I was shaking in my boots
when I would see this one: “BUFFALO ARE DANGEROUS”. I rode right behind Mike.
I told him he better protect me if we see any buffalo. Well, I got through that area alright
without seeing any. In Custer National
Park I saw lots of huge “pies” that the buffalo had left on the road. Oh, was I scared! I came around a curve and some cars were stopped and they were taking pictures of four
animals. I didn’t slow down to take a
good long look, but I think they were elk.
A short way from there one crossed the road in front of me. It had horns and looked really scruffy. I couldn’t get out of there soon
enough. This all would have been fine
if I were in a car – all protected, but
on my bike I felt so vulnerable.
Today was so green
everywhere. What a welcome change to be riding in all the trees and seeing
wildflowers here and there. It reminded
me some of when we were riding in Oregon.
Lots of evergreen trees.
We were advised at
route rap to use tomorrow as a recovery day.
Take our time, the mileage is only 58 so not to rush. We have some difficult days to follow after
tomorrow.
God is good and I
thank him for this day and for bringing me safely through another adventure.