Day 19 – Do not approach buffalo.
Newcastle, Wyoming to Rapid City, South Dakota
Well, last night I laid outside on the grass talking until much, much too late. The trains came by at least every half an hour, and they couldn’t have been louder had we been laying right on the tracks. The street in front of the Senior Center was actually quite the hopping place at midnight, including some teens surfing on the bed of a truck. I was definitely tired today, my legs just weren’t feeling the climbing today, and it was probably because I didn’t quite the sleep that I needed. But if I’ve learned anything on this trip, it’s that you ought to take risks with opportunities that won’t come along again. I was tired today, but it was totally worth it and I’d do it again.
Today was such a strange day because there were so many different chapters to it. The staff at the senior center served us a good, hearty breakfast and then we started off on our last stretch of Wyoming. Before long we hit the South Dakota border and then had a good 1200 feet of climbing. From there we had a couple of good steep descents, always immediately followed by a good steep climb. Up and down, up and down. I swear that today was one of our biggest climbing days.
Our checkpoint today was in the town of Custer, SD, which was a cute little town. I wished that we could have stayed there at night because there was a nice stretch of small businesses and good vibes. At this point a handful of riders turned off-route for the rest of the day to see Mount Rushmore, and a handful of riders turned off-route to go see Crazy Horse. After a chai latte, I decided to just head onward because word had it that the Mount Rushmore crew were in for an extra twenty miles and a monstrous climb.
I was so glad with that decision because straight out of Custer we entered Custer State Park, which was BEAUTIFUL. Gorgeous boulders, plenty of coniferous trees, nice views, and picturesque lakes. It was fantastic. Plus, after a healthy climb again, we enjoyed a descent that was at least ten miles long. It wasn’t extremely steep, but it was long and winding at an steady average speed of 30 mph. Cars had a speed limit of 35 mph, and with the scenery, no one seemed to mind just hanging out behind us. It was possibly the most fun actual cycling experience yet on this trip. It was so beautiful and so thrilling, that I decided there was no way I wanted to stop and take pictures because I wanted to just enjoy the moment. Part of the beauty and excitement of the ride was the scenery and the riding together, seeing it flash by at that speed, feeling the wind and the curves of the road, being surrounded by the trees and the views, and I knew that I would just ruin it all by stopping and attempting to capture it.
Then to top it all off, we saw a buffalo. It was just Sean and I when all of the sudden, cruising down at that 30 mph, he slowed, stopped, and pointed. Not twenty feet from the road we had just flown by was a buffalo. We stopped and took pictures as it crossed the road and sauntered off, and we were waaaaaay too close (especially Sean:). I couldn’t help but thinking that if we had come cruising down that hill 30 seconds later, we would have T-boned a buffalo. But it was beautiful. I guess that the park recommends that you don’t get out of your car as you drive through the park because the buffalo are so dangerous when they want to be, and here we were on our bikes. It was pretty cool.
Probably no one was quite prepared for the last 20 miles of the ride. The day was so beautiful, and the scenery so enrapturing, that the last 20 miles up and down huge rollers, against a very healthy head wind took me at least off guard. But we made it. It was a good day, a hard day, and it was blissful to arrive at dorms with actual beds and nice showers knowing that we had tomorrow off.
Well, last night I laid outside on the grass talking until much, much too late. The trains came by at least every half an hour, and they couldn’t have been louder had we been laying right on the tracks. The street in front of the Senior Center was actually quite the hopping place at midnight, including some teens surfing on the bed of a truck. I was definitely tired today, my legs just weren’t feeling the climbing today, and it was probably because I didn’t quite the sleep that I needed. But if I’ve learned anything on this trip, it’s that you ought to take risks with opportunities that won’t come along again. I was tired today, but it was totally worth it and I’d do it again.
Today was such a strange day because there were so many different chapters to it. The staff at the senior center served us a good, hearty breakfast and then we started off on our last stretch of Wyoming. Before long we hit the South Dakota border and then had a good 1200 feet of climbing. From there we had a couple of good steep descents, always immediately followed by a good steep climb. Up and down, up and down. I swear that today was one of our biggest climbing days.
Our checkpoint today was in the town of Custer, SD, which was a cute little town. I wished that we could have stayed there at night because there was a nice stretch of small businesses and good vibes. At this point a handful of riders turned off-route for the rest of the day to see Mount Rushmore, and a handful of riders turned off-route to go see Crazy Horse. After a chai latte, I decided to just head onward because word had it that the Mount Rushmore crew were in for an extra twenty miles and a monstrous climb.
I was so glad with that decision because straight out of Custer we entered Custer State Park, which was BEAUTIFUL. Gorgeous boulders, plenty of coniferous trees, nice views, and picturesque lakes. It was fantastic. Plus, after a healthy climb again, we enjoyed a descent that was at least ten miles long. It wasn’t extremely steep, but it was long and winding at an steady average speed of 30 mph. Cars had a speed limit of 35 mph, and with the scenery, no one seemed to mind just hanging out behind us. It was possibly the most fun actual cycling experience yet on this trip. It was so beautiful and so thrilling, that I decided there was no way I wanted to stop and take pictures because I wanted to just enjoy the moment. Part of the beauty and excitement of the ride was the scenery and the riding together, seeing it flash by at that speed, feeling the wind and the curves of the road, being surrounded by the trees and the views, and I knew that I would just ruin it all by stopping and attempting to capture it.
Then to top it all off, we saw a buffalo. It was just Sean and I when all of the sudden, cruising down at that 30 mph, he slowed, stopped, and pointed. Not twenty feet from the road we had just flown by was a buffalo. We stopped and took pictures as it crossed the road and sauntered off, and we were waaaaaay too close (especially Sean:). I couldn’t help but thinking that if we had come cruising down that hill 30 seconds later, we would have T-boned a buffalo. But it was beautiful. I guess that the park recommends that you don’t get out of your car as you drive through the park because the buffalo are so dangerous when they want to be, and here we were on our bikes. It was pretty cool.
Probably no one was quite prepared for the last 20 miles of the ride. The day was so beautiful, and the scenery so enrapturing, that the last 20 miles up and down huge rollers, against a very healthy head wind took me at least off guard. But we made it. It was a good day, a hard day, and it was blissful to arrive at dorms with actual beds and nice showers knowing that we had tomorrow off.
posted by elizabeth at 10:34 PM
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