Day 20: Update from Rapid City, SD

I have now crossed the states of Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. I have some serious bike tan going on, some serious thigh muscles and a odd attachment to my bicycle. I’ve learned more about many of the other riders in 3 weeks than I’ve learned about other people from months of acquaintance and I am still not sick of peanut butter and jelly. Yesterday I ate my 44th peanut butter and jelly of the trip and I could eat another one right now. I guess I’ll let the footlong from Subway digest before I do that. I have climbed more hills than I thought possible and find myself comparing hill grades, quality of shoulder pavement and the benefits of riding on a busier road with large trucks pulling you in the right direction as they whiz by versus a quieter road where I can enjoy the scenery and chat with other riders. I have been warned to stay away from buffalo, used an outhouse and survived 30 to 50 mph headwinds(see below). This trip is one of the neatest things I’ve ever done and it has definitely broadened my horizons.

We road 112 miles on Wednesday from Sheridan, WY to Gillete, WY. It was a great day. Don’t worry, I’m not suffering from heat stroke or rotten meat or poor well water. Its possible that I’m a little crazy, but at least I have the consolation of knowing that 37 other people are crazy in the same way, so thats a relief. I really did enjoy this day. I have mentioned several times that we have passed through isolated areas. We passed a town with a sign that read Pop: 25. I looked around and there were about 4 houses and a 4-way stop as well as a small sign for an art gallery. I’m surprised they are allowed to call themselves a town. I think my family should just decide that our area of land in SC is a town, name it Williamston and have a sign that says Pop: 15. If they can do it out here why not in SC too? Around the 76 mile mark we stopped at a bar in Crazy Horse, WY. There is a consistent drought in that area of the state, so we were asked to use the outhouse. Catie got stung on the bum from a wasp that had been hanging out there for who knows how long. I held my breath and prayed that God would protect me from weird Wyoming germs. I might be able to sleep in a tent every night but I have a hard time with some of the sanitation principles in this area. I’ve learned not to trust a word of what the locals say because they clearly have no concept of what traveling by bicycle really involves. I’ve been told “oh its mostly flat till…” and then faced 20 hills in a row or “oh you have one small hill to climb a couple of miles out but the shoulder’s real good” afterwhich I proceed to climb miniature mountains that I suppose they never noticed as I hug the white line and wish that that person knew that that its pretty hard to ride a shoulder when it consists of a strip of grass alongside the highway.

The day after the 112 miler, we road 77.9 miles into Newcastle, WY where we camped out in some rooms of their senior center. I got my 6th flat of the trip about a mile outside of town but was able to change it in record time. Practice makes perfect as my Mom always says. This was actually a much harder ride for me than the ride of the day before and I learned about “accumulative dehydration”.. as in every ride should end with at least 4 bottles of water and I should probably not celebrate with a Starbucks. Luckily, I had Team Blue at my side (Rachel, Catie and I all have 2 blue jerseys and we have been dubbed Team Blue as well as Charlie’s Angels, The God Squad and the DC girls) and I enjoyed the day. When we rolled into the senior center I went to a local grocery store with Reuben and Edward (two other Big Riders who had probably finished at least an hour before me) and bought a plum and a big can of pineapple as well as a donut and a fiber bar to go along with some Doritos, Wheat Thins and gummy Worms provide by our ride leader to tide me over until dinner. I decided to take a nap and didn’t realize that several people were looking for me until I woke up to my dinner alarm. I found out later that they couldn’t find me because I was completely hidden by my sleeping bag. Now I know what to do if I need some privacy…

The next day we started out for South Dakota with a mere 80 miles facing us. I’m so happy that I have no idea about the geography of this area because to much knowledge would simply be discouraging. As it is, I wake up, enjoy a hearty breakfast and enjoy the company of fellow riders before I push off in the cool morning hours. There are several morning people on the trip so its generally unnoticed if I don’t say a word for the first 1 1/2 hours because they talk excessively. The other day I accidentally collapsed my tent with all my gear inside so I was helped a little extra that day (I hope that at some point 5:30am begins to feel like morning and not the middle of the night) and on another day I was blankly staring at the coffee pot with a cup in my hand and didn’t even realize until one of the riders took pity on me and began filling my cup for me. Other than that I usually manage to get dressed with my clothes on correctly and all my gear stuffed back into the duffels. Anyways we started off with some steep ups and downs through the Black Hills as we crossed into South Dakota. It was SO good to see trees again!!! The hills were completely do-able despite some rather steep grades and I made it to mile 37 feeling like an all around champ. After two peanut butter and jellies (with one stored in the seat bag for later) I climbed back on my bike and was able to enjoy the most amazing 18 mile downhill/curvy stretch of road that I’ve ever seen in my life. And then the wind hit. And when I say hit I mean Slammed, Destroyed, Pounded, Pummeled, Battered and Beat me. The steady wind was from 25mph to 35 mph with gusts up to 50mph. I could not keep my bike straight. At times I was pedaling as fast as possible and barely maintaining 5 mph. My handlebars would not stay facing forward and I was thanking God consistently for putting me on a road with a big shoulder because I felt like there were strings attached to the front wheel pulling me in every direction but forward. At one of the toughest moments in the wind as I thought I was going to be pushed backwards down the hill (or maybe just fly through the air like the cows in the movie Twister) I looked to my left and saw a statue of Mary. There was a sign right next to it that said “Our Lady of Pilgrims, pray for….” I filled in the dots with plenty of different requests. The wind lasted for 23 miles right up to the doorstep of the School of Mines in Rapid City where we are staying. Catie and I pulled into the parking lot, looked at each other and just started laughing. It was so crazy. It was one of those times that is hard to ever imagine, because if you imagined it there is no way that you’d go through with it. Rather, when faced with it all of a sudden and knowing that it has to be done- its best to just grab onto whatever optimistic thoughts present themselves and enjoy the ride. Let me tell you, the riders celebrated that night and as we get ready for tomorrow we’re all hoping that the rest of South Dakota treats us a little bit better.
Thank you all for your support and encouragement. I love reading the comments and knowing that you are praying for me. I would not be able to do this without the positive encouragement and I hope that you’re enjoying hearing the bits that I tell you about from the trip. Please let me know if you’re curious about any aspect of the ride. Until my next rest day~Letty