First off, thanks to my son Jon for sending me a comment. I wasn't sure if you even knew about this blog and was delighted to hear that you've been following it.
Today I decided to kinda ride solo, though I did partner up with Steve from Dallas. He's a financial guy, between jobs,
and a fairly low key guy. Seems to prefer to ride alone so, though we traveled together, there wasn't much discussion. But that was OK with me as I wanted to just ride at my pace and drink in the scenery. The countryside was beautiful, especially the first part of the ride, as things began to shift from high desert/prairie to the unique look of the Badlands and the Black Hills.Today's ride was billed as 92 miles, with about 3,300' of climbing, but mostly downhill until a 5-6 mile climb at mile 72 and another one mile climb at mile 87. On paper it seemed like an easy day. The pace I rode at for the first 50-60 miles was brisk (at least for me) and I could tell by mile 70 that I was leaking a little oil. So, when the climb commenced, this boy was all alone on the hill and sweating like a
civil war mule. The climb wasn't east coast steep, but it was west coast long- and between the crummy SD roads/shoulders (they have rumble strips that you cannot avoid- I heard a local refer to them as "Whiskey Strips"-LOL) and the warm day, I was setting up shop in Hurtsville. SO between the unexpectedly tough climbs and riding solo in numerous headwinds, I survived, but did not exactly prosper-at least not during the finale of today's ride.As you can see from the shot above, we exited Wyoming, (not so sorry to see it end- tough climbs, ugly towns, endless scrubby high desert) and entered South Dakota. That's Cindy from Boston behind me who's holding little carricatures of her daughters that they made and asked her to take pictures of as she crosses the country. Kinda vicarious bicycle touring I guess.
For at least 30 miles before getting to Hot Springs, we began to see two large clouds on the horizon (the hazy day pretty well killed any chance of taking a picture of them). Steve and I debated whether they were rain clouds or smoke and it turned out to be smoke.
When we got to Hot Springs, I heard that there was a lightning strike last night about 5 miles south of town that started the fire and it burned a number of buildings, killed one local guy and was out of control until this afternoon. We heard that as of 2:00PM the fire had consumed 5,000 acres and was NOT contained. Heard that again later in the day. Saw a bunch of planes flying low over town that seemed to be playing some role in fighting the fire. 
Anyway, we were in the smoke for the last 10 miles of our ride which made the going more difficult- though it was probably psychological more than anything. Still, riding directly into an area that has a huge forest fire going, with only a bike as a way out, isn't what my momma raised me to do.Tomorrow will be a test of my manliness as the climbing will equal the dosage we were given at Teton Pass and the Continental Divide- nearly 6,000 feet in just 72 miles. The day should be filled with inspirational views, as we've been told that both Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse are on the route. I've always thought that western South Dakota was spectacular, but never have taken the time to really wander around. Well sonny boy, tomorrow's the day for that.
From the "Life on The Road" department, here's a dose of the reality of hotel living with 75 cyclists. Getting to a washing machine at the end of the day (forget about day's off- you'd better be in the guest laundry room at 2:30AM) is becoming a challenge. During the first week or so it was easy and I usually washed my dirty clothes at the end of every day. Now it seems as though everyone has saved up all their grimy clothes since Astoria and you can't get a machine when you need one. So, I'm becoming reasonably proficient at cleansing my frilly underthings in the sink- I feel like I'm in an all girl boarding school. Bitches.
Report From Home: I heard from Sherry today that Nick planted some Millet- for our annual dove shoot. I never got around to planning it with anyone before I left and figured we'd just pass this year. But I suspect that Nick and Robert decided they wanted to have a shoot. I'm fine with that, but I think that the field we've been using really needs some soil amendments- but we'll see how it turns out.
Today's ride brings me to about 1515 miles ridden and about 53,000 feet climbed. At some point in tomorrow's ride I will hit the halfway point in my little sojourn. On one hand it seemd impossible that I'm half way through with this ride- on the other hand, it seems like I've been on this ride all of my life. So which is it boy?
