Day 20: Today was another long day (105 miles), but the scenery was a bit more exciting, offering greener fields and less flat terrain than yesterday. I saw lots of deer, hay rolls, horses, houses and small towns. One town had a population of 4. I guess the census didn't take too long in this town. We saw and passed many long, slow trains hauling coal. When you are biking at 10 mph, these mile and half long trains seem to stay in sight forever. Although the Grand Tetons were beautiful, we are happy to be leaving this cowboy state behind. This morning I must have been more tired than I realized. I accidentally used body lotion instead of sun block so my arms and legs are a bit red. This was a very dumb mistake.
Day 21: This morning I set my alarm wrong again (the old a.m. versus p.m. problem). I woke up at 6:10 am, leaving 20 minutes to pack and dress before breakfast. Fortunately, I am in the habit of pre-packing the night before, so I was still able to join my group for our usual departure time. Another flat caused by the fine wires from truck tires was my only mechanical issue. The leak was very slow, and I was able to ride the bike to the SAG wagon stop before having it repaired.
Today's 95-mile ride was much easier than I thought it would be. The roads were in great shape, and the shoulder was wide until we crossed the state line into South Dakota. In South Dakota the space was very tight, especially when large cattle trucks would pass. The strong odor wafting from the trucks didn't make the experience any more pleasant. We climbed 2,700', but, even so, these 60 miles seemed okay because there wasn't a headwind. During the ride we saw many green fields with harvested hay rolls and farms with hundreds of cows and their calves. A bee stung a rider close to his eye, causing him to fall and get scraped up a bit. His family had been following him in their car. After the fall, he decided to join them in the car for vacation instead of riding with us. Tonight, we had BBQ for dinner.
Day 22: I started the day with the greatest pancake breakfast. The pancakes were made outside on the same BBQ grill as last night's dinner. Due to road construction this 77-mile day turned into a 90-mile day. We had a short 700' climb at the beginning of the day that for some reason seemed like 7,000'. It seemed to go on forever.
Today's scenery was beautiful with Ponderosa pine covered Black Hills, many wildflowers and some vast grassland areas. We continued up more hairpin climbs. By the end of the day we had climbed over 7,000'. We passed through some short tunnels. The first one offered a perfect view of Mt. Rushmore. There were Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt greeting us. What a spectacular sight. Many from the group rode the few extra miles on a 10% grade to the visitors' center. I did not. With 15 miles to go, a horrible thunder and lightening storm hit us. Thank goodness Ed was with me at the time. We stopped until the worst hail and rain had passed. We put on some raingear and rolled on. This is far from my favorite type of riding. Many people had flats during this stretch. I got a flat half a mile from the hotel. I couldn't believe it.
The wildlife count for the day was one buffalo. The buffalo was far away, for which I was happy. Earlier in the day we had been briefed on what to do if we encountered a large herd on the road. There are about 2,000 buffalo roaming in Custer State Park.
Day 23: I am now in Wall, South Dakota. Our "resting" while rolling day of 60 miles was very easy, which is good since tomorrows ride is another 116-mile day. It did not rain today, but we did hit 90 degrees and watched clouds form for the day's late afternoon thunderstorm. We have seen ads for Wall Drug Store for hundreds of miles. It is world famous. It is a block long and has a map to guide you around. No Wal-Mart can compete with this institution that has been around since 1931. The store offers just about anything you could want, including free ice-water, 5 cent coffee, buffalo burgers, and free donuts for honeymooners.