On top of the hi-ill
All covered in trees
I took a break there
to rest my poor knees
Rode in to the black hills
On my little bike
I thought I'd have fun there
and see things I'd like
But the black hills are lo-ong
and they sure are steep
if I ever come back here
it's to the plains I'll keep!
The last line was an obvious lie, and I knew it at the time. Paul suggested changing it to "I will surely weep," which I like better. I rode about 65 miles today with 4,340 feet of climbing through the Black Hills, on grades as high as 11%. Since I have computer access, I embedded the route below.
Paul rode the first 30 miles or so with me. The 27 miles into Sturgis was a breeze and it was great having a riding companion. That was only about 1:40 on bike. We then started climbing to Nemo and Paul decided that this was a good stopping point for him. This was pre-planned. He was going to ride as far as felt good for him, since he didn't have time to train this summer. Riding straight up a cliff when you haven't had time to train is a good way to cause long-term knee injuries, so he made the right call.
The first climb was hot, super hot. There was a slight tailwind that didn't help and made it even hotter. Sweat was pouring out of me, and my hands were too soaked to hold on to the handle bars well when standing up and couldn't work my phone to take pictures. At mile 45 I reached Nemo, the "top" just after noon with 3:38 on the bike. Thunder clouds had rolled in about mile 35 and gave me merciful shelter from the sun, however the entire day was very humid. From Nemo I had 20 miles more into Rapid City, which was certainly not all downhill, but did drop a few thousand feet and I had a slight tailwind.
All in all it was a good ride, and I managed to just miss the storms a few different times. It was certainly the hardest climbing I've done all tour due to the steepness of the hills, but they weren't really any worse than a standard mountain pass other than that, and I've ridden over tons of those. I hit 1,500 miles sometime today. I also hit a bike shop and restocked on my butt lube! Yes! It was my last chance to get some before RAGBRAI, and you don't want to run out. Bike touring is gross.
Rapid City is the home of Shawn, The Bike Whisperer (see 2007 journal), who is a super fun bike guy who fixed our bikes back then, has a great cat, and bailed me out several days later when I needed a ride back to Rapid from Wood, SD (probably 6 hours roundtrip) to head back to Eugene temporarily for an emergency. We weren't able to visit today, however, since The Bike Whisper is in Taiwan whispering to bikes.
Instead, I'm staying with Iris's parents on their vacation in a cabin just south of Rapid City. They picked me up in the city and drove me out here, and will drop me back off on the road tomorrow nearby where they grabbed me. For the second day in a row I've had a shower and a great meal! Yes!
All is good in South Dakota tonight, and the polar vortex should make for some cool cycling in the next few days, although headwinds are forecast for tomorrow. Oh well, I will just sing loudly to drown them out. Also, since I went straight from Belle Fourche to Rapid instead of staying a day at Bear Butte, I've cut another day off my schedule fully allowing me to make RAGBRAI on time! Winning!
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