Too Hot to Blog

Day 22. Our second in South Dakota.

Sorry we haven't checked in the last couple of days. After our rest day in Casper, we had a 106-mile ride into Lusk, WY followed by 92 miles into Hot Springs, SD. Although we benefited from some headwinds into Lusk, the temperature got up to 110 degrees. People say, it is a dry heat, which is presumably better than heat and humidity, but 110 degrees is very hot. It is like sucking air from a blow dryer. Oddly, you don't see very much sweat on your arms and legs when it is that hot and dry. The moisture just evaporates. Several times I poured water over my head to try to cool off. Within minutes, the water had evaporated. And then we were doing that for 106 miles.

Yesterday it was a little cooler. The high was only 99 degrees. For the first 45 miles, a cross-wind slowed our progress, but kept up cool. The second half of the ride, we had the wind at our back, which was a mixed blessing. We were able to ride a lot faster, but all of a sudden we felt very hot. To top off our experience yesterday, we had dinner in a bowling alley. It was actually much better than you would imagine. Although the green beans died in vain and the mashed potatoes came from a box, there was some very good broiled chicken and perfectly acceptable lasagna and macaroni salad (apparently, pasta is de rigueur ate even ABB dinner.

The past two days we rode through prairie--sometimes dead flat and sometimes hilly, very dry, with few trees. There were interesting bluffs and rock formations. (Pictures will be posted when we get access to high-speed internet, which seems to be in short supply in western SD.) We saw lots of prairie dogs and some antelope, which look like slightly malnourished and mottled deer.

Today was a completely different matter. It was much cooler and we rode through drop-dead gorgeous terrain. We rode into the Wind Cave National Park, where we saw buffalo (and signs warning not to get too close) and healthier looking antelopes, as well as millions of prairie dogs. There were rolling hills, interesting rock formations, and lots of trees. It was incredible.

We climbed a lot today. Every night at route rap we look at a schematic representation of the elevation gains and losses for the next day. We've learned that we have to check the scale. Some days look bad, but it turns out we're only going up and down a few hundred feet. The scale for today's went from 3,250 to 5,918 feet. The first 36 miles or so went mostly up from min to max with a few downhill segments that we had to make up. Then we dropped 700 feet and played roller coaster heading into Mt. Rushmore at miles 51. Then we drop another 700 feet real fast and climb back up even faster. Then a fun descent over the next 10 miles or so followed by a last short steep climb and then a thrilling descent into town. (Western towns all seem to be in gullies.) Today's schematic provoked some gasps last night and more riders than average ended up riding in the van. Paul and I slogged out every mile, and it was totally worth it. Even Mt. Rushmore turned out to be very cool. We got in for free because they only charge for motor vehicles--what a deal! (The last time Missie and I drove near Mt. Rushmore, in 1974, we decided it wasn't worth the $2 or whatever it cost for entry. Now, finally, I get the bargain I was waiting for!) The most interesting part was all of the gregarious tourists that we saw there. One couple remembered me from the Grand Tetons. They said that they never saw the grizzly, so I gave them the url for our website and told them that they could see a picture there. Someone else overheard me and said that she intended to make a contribution, so long as I wasn't anti-American or anti-war (not that she was pro-war, as she was quick to add). We all wore our all-American ABB jerseys and many people asked us what we were doing. One guy asked if we were riding to support charity. Dianne, who is riding for a hospice program, told him about her program and our ride for Haiti. He gave us $10, to be split between the two charities.

After we descended from Mt. Rushmore, Murray, the speedy dental prof from Iowa, talked Paul into riding down a luge run in the tourist trap town of Keystone. I thought the cycle descent was thrilling enough, but Paul and Murray rode up the chair lift and waited their turn to roll down the hill again. Paul liked it because he didn't have to pedal.

Tomorrow is an easy day. We get to sleep until 8am! I am so excited. (The next day we get up at the crack of dawn and then cycle over 100 miles into the central time zone, where we lose an hour. The feeling of being well rested won't last.) Maybe we'll have access to internet tomorrow. If we do, we'll post pictures and more good stuff.

Cheers,

Len


Paul's footnotes for July 11, 2005:

There were only two wild buffalo in the buffalo park -- it was sad. There was a big sign saying not to provoke them… I was working under the assumption that they didn't understand American Sign Language.

T-Rex suggested that Mt. Rushmore would be more interesting if parts of Pam Anderson's anatomy were added as a side attraction to the Presidents.

Ten miles past Mt. Rushmore there were giant busts of three presidents next to a mini-golf place, "Putz Golf": Kennedy, Reagan, and George W. It was a wonderful tribute. We took pictures.

As it turns out, biking sucks. I figured that after a couple weeks I would get the hang of all this and then I would simply give in to the feeling and start to like it. But that ain't happening. It is like listening to Polka music every day or watching a Pauly Shore movie all day every day.