Today was yet another milestone date for a couple of reasons – first, we hit our 6th state at Mile 97 of 108 when we crossed into South Dakota and second, I had my first mishap on the bike due to a dumb mistake, but at least I made a good save and stayed upright as I went off the road at about 22 mph.
It was a pretty chilly morning when we rolled out at 7 AM after breakfast at The Hampton Inn. I was debating on whether to go with just arm warmers or to also put on my light weight Patagonia wind/rain jacket. I wish I had donned the jacket as well, but I incorrectly assumed that riding into the sunlight would warm us up pretty quickly. By the time we hit our first stop at mile 17, I was cold but by then it really was warming up so I pulled the jacket out of my jersey pocket and put it with my day bag in the van. On the way to our first stop, I have never seen so many BNSF locomotives on the rail system that we were tracking on the north side of our route – there were literally miles of them. It turns out that BNSF maintains a major regional facility and heavy freight operations in Gillette, WY.
We had a 108 miles to cover today and lunch wasn’t until mile 77, but we had a well-executed pace line going and were making good time despite the steady headwind, yet again. Looking at the ride profile this morning as we prepared our bikes, our route was generally flat or trending down until we got to a decent climb at about mile 42, which of course, served to break up and space out those of us in the pace line. But that wasn’t a bad thing as we had some different riders in the group that are not quite as skilled in executing an effective pace line.
Our 3rd stop was in the town of Moorcroft where we were able to use the restroom at Diehl’s Supermarket. One the ladies in the back of the store had a few questions about where we came from and where we are going. She kind of just shook her head when I told her that we were ultimately headed to the Atlantic Ocean in Portland, Maine.
We had a good bit of climbing to do between Moorcroft and our lunch stop in Sundance, WY and in between we passed by Devils Tower – a geologic formation caused by a magma intrusion millions of years ago that now rises almost 900 feet above the desert floor. But we could only see it from a distance. The name Devils Tower actually doesn’t hold any significance as it was an incorrect translation of a Native American phrase.
By the time we got to lunch in Sundance, my quads were feeling it. All the climbing up Big Horn Pass and 2 consecutive 108 mile rides each with 4,700 feet of climbing was beginning to wear on me, but we pushed it hard after lunch as we only had 33 miles to go. On the road, we really get to see some pretty interesting stuff – in the small town of Beulah, WY, I almost hoped that we had rode through on the date of “Testicle Festival” – what? Anyway, the ride profile included a good portion of downhill trending mileage and that’s when we got the pace line working again.
We were on a frontage road near I-90 when I got slightly cross-wheeled with the rider in front of me and it was then that a big gust of side wind pushed me onto the back wheel and when that happens, it is always the rider in back that suffers the consequences. I was able to get off the back wheel pretty quickly but by then I was veering off the side of the road. When that happens to me, I always stay off the brakes because that’s when you have to pretty much lay the bike down. So, I was somehow able to stay upright as I zoomed through the rocks and brush on the side of the road and brushed up against a fence as I got unclipped. It was a dumb mistake and it could have been much worse but I was pleased with the “save”. Pace lines can be great, but you have to be dialed-in to make it work efficiently and safely.
Tomorrow’s ride takes us into our much needed 2nd rest day in Rapid City, SD. But we have 76 miles and 5,355 feet to climb before we get there. If I recover tonight like I did last night, I will be good to go! For me, it’s not about the next day’s destination, it’s all about the challenge of the journey in getting there!