Rapid City, South Dakota - Day 20

Day 15 - The day's ride was only 54 miles so a few people stayed in Billings to explore the city and visit museums. However, I just wanted to get going so I left with Tracy. The entire ride was very colorful and highlights included yellow flowers, a wide and open powder blue sky, and gigantic killer dandelions the size of my palm.

After making it into Hardin, Montana and setting up my tent I got lunch with a few of the other early riders. We ate some tasty Indian (Native American) Tacos at a local establishment. Later, just before dinner, a few of us went to the community center to go swimming. Following a phone conversation with my sister Carolyn I fell asleep to the Beatles.

Day 16 - Today I finally got chased by dogs. Apparently, this is an issue that a lot of bikers run into frequently. I have never been so blessed to experience such a rush. Noah, Simon, and I took some lewd pictures at a Native American Memorial park we ran into a few miles later. Later on, after lunch, a friendly stray dog started tagging along after us for a few miles. Being dog owners, Noah and Simon turned around and led the dog to the nearest inhabited building while I went on. I made it into the state of Wyoming and after a very hot last thirty miles I arrived at camp in Sheridan, Wyoming. I know that state borders are invisible lines but I must say that crossing the border into Wyoming was a sigh of relief; mainly because Montana is just so freaking big.

We stayed at a luxurious KOA campground that night, so there was no real reason to leave. A few people went into town to watch the Tour de France but I stayed at camp and ate a lot of ice cream before passing out due to the lactose overload.

Day 17 - Today was an extremely long day. The ride was about 112 miles and though I felt good for the first half of the ride, by the second half of the ride I was barely paying attention to anything but the road directly in front of me. I just wanted to make it into camp and take a shower. Part of the ride was extremely green with lots of tall trees but part of the ride was extremely brown with never ending climbs.

I rode into Gillette, Wyoming with Tony. About five miles outside of the campground we both saw a car pull up behind us and just stay on our tails. I tried to wave them on but then a girl poked her head out of the passenger side window and started taking pictures of us. We were a little disheveled and sloppy from being so tired, but after we made it into camp we found out that the pictures were for a story that the city newspaper was doing about us. Check out the article they did on us here. Sadly, they did not use the pictures they took of Tony and me. Maybe it was because I was shirtless and disgusting.

Day 18 - Unluckily, I woke up to a pretty awful tension headache which put me in a bad mood for the entire ride. In order to not put every one else in a bad mood I was pretty silent. Because of this, I did not really care to take in my surroundings. All I really recall was a bunch of rolling hills and a lot of green and wide open spaces. But at one point, Noah and I raced an antelope running along the side of the road. We clocked the antelope at around 25 mph.

We ended up staying at a Senior Center that night in Newcastle, Wyoming. After dinner, about ten of us played a T-shirt trading game and I ended up with Liz's Starbucks shirt and water bottle while Nick ended up with my UNC Crew shirt.

Day 19 - I left with Noah and within twelve miles we hit the South Dakota state line. The scenery was awesome. There were deep green fields and rising hills on both sides of the road. After a little bit of more riding we made it into the Black Hills National Forest. The climb to the peak was refreshing and quiet. There were a lot of tall evergreens that casted much needed shadows on to the road. Speeding down the road right next to the cliffs was pretty exhilarating. I wanted to take a video of it but I figured that might be a little dangerous.

Eventually, we made it into Custer, where Noah and I messed around for two hours before setting out again. We entered Custer State Park and began to climb up towards the top. This park is absolutely incredible. There are magnificently tall dark green trees and sparkling blue streams that seem to whisper a quiet peace. There is a lot of camping in this park and I would love to come back one day and just get lost here.

After leaving the park, we had to battle some ferocious crosswinds to make it to the checkpoint just before our final turn. After reaching the checkpoint and turning onto highway 79 we had to battle a steady headwind of 35-40 mph with gusts up to 50 mph for eighteen miles. It was pretty miserable and we were forced to break up our groups. After gritting my teeth and yelling at the wind (I was kind of going nuts) for about two hours I finally arrived at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and checked into a nice dorm room.

Day 20 - Simon and I got breakfast at a place called Tally's this morning where I ordered steak and eggs with hash browns and a pancake. After getting back to campus, Janet drove Letty, Rachel, Chad, Simon, Noah and myself to the Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse monuments to do a little bit of sight seeing.

These guys did a few things for the USA I guess

Tomorrow we have a century to ride to Kadoka, South Dakota. We have six days of riding through the rest of South Dakota and then into Minnesota and then a rest day on July 19 in New Ulm, Minnesota.

Some reflections of the trip so far:

- The USA is really big
- Bargaining is really easy
- Rednecks do not have to be from the South
- Native Americans have extremely interesting stories. Do a little bit of research and you will be surprised with the diversity among the different groups
- You are only as old as you think you are
- There is absolutely nothing you cannot do