Since this morning's ride is a short one and won't begin until 8:00AM, I thought I'd post a "pre-ride" blog to get things started.
I'm happy to report that I have achieved a milestone in my ride across America- I'm now at the half way point, both in terms of time (22 out of 44 days) and miles (about 1,600 out of 3,153). I was reflecting on the ride so far and the only regret that I have is that things are a bit of a blur. Somebody was talking about an event that occurred in Blackfoot, ID and I could not remember a thing about the town. Somehow I need to slow down and drink things in a bit
more. I'm in too much of a hurry and too focused on getting each ride completed instead of enjoying the experience. Less 'Go-Go" and more time to soak in the "now".The thunderstorm that started a local fire (that I hear is still going strong) passed through town last night and left us with a spectacular morning. There are a few lingering clouds to the east, but brilliant blue skies, cool temps, low humidity and a strong breeze out of the west. Sweet.
Well, it's just after 7:00AM and folks are starting to sir. I'd best get my riding rags on and start the process again. I'll finish this post ride if I can get a Worldwide Web connection. Have a good one, y'all.
It's now 4:10 PM MST and I've been in Wall, SD since about 11:40 AM. The weather today has been spectacular- temps in the 70's, blue skies, no humidity and wind at 20-30 MPH out of the NNW. Fortunately, we were headed mostly east today so we had a lot of help from the wind. At times it was a full blown tailwind- so cruising at 25-28 MPH on the flat was doable.
The route today was short- only 57 miles- and was primarily on two lane farm roads with rolling hills, except for about a 20 mile stretch on I-90. We had about a seven mile climb on I-90, but it wasn't particularly steep and only climbed about 700 feet or so. The interstate ride was a bit dicey, as the shoulder was narrow and we had to deal with a strong, gusty crosswind and a guard rail on the edge of the shoulder at times, so one had to be pretty careful- especially with semi's coming by at 75 MPH.
A large group of riders spilled out of the hotel together this morning and I ended up riding in a group of about 20 or so for the first few miles as we zigged and zagged our way out of Rapid City and on to Hwy 1416, headed for Wall, SD. The road was rollers- not huge ones (maybe 35-50 footers)- but nearly constant. The saving grace, and something that put the riders in a bubbly disposition, was the wind. It was almost never a headwind (though there was a half mile stretch- downhill no less- that let us taste that wind as a headwind and believe me- I was regurgitating it- no thank you sir) and so we got a constant boost, though sometimes it got a bit pushy when it came as a pure crosswind.
I spent some miles running with Bill and Jim from NC, but then wanted to stretch out a bit and left them. I pushed past Ernst, then Joel and Allison and finally hit my stride as a solo act
and finished the last 25 miles or so sans company- it felt good to ride hard, but not so hard that I was very tired when I hit the hotel.
Tomorrow is going to be a real test- I'm hearing headwinds and the route is 117 miles long. May have to find a team to ride with tomorrow- that's going to be tough by myself.
