I passed out pretty quickly last night and forgot to add some things. First, and most exciting, we saw a wild bull! I had never met a bull before. I still have yet to get my close up picture with a cow, I'm thinking Wisconsin might be the place to do that. I am also hoping to see a buffalo before the trip is over. Also, we rode through an Indian reservation yesterday and it was incredibly depressing. I know there are a whole bunch of issues that the native american community is especially prone to like alcoholism and suicide, and for some reason stupidly thought that the reservation would be full of teepees and fun stuff like that but it was mostly liquor stores and casinos. On a happier note I bought some little portable speakers last night in Sheradon and they seem to be working pretty well.
Today was the longest ride of the Big Ride... 113 miles! It was the longest ride I had ever done in a day. It was also the most elevation in one day we have done so far- over 4600 feet of climbing. We stated with a 15 mile climb and that was the last of the climbs mentioned on the directions so I figured it would be flat from there on out. I'm very glad they didn't include on the cue sheet that the last 70 miles were hills because my motivation to crawl out of bed at 4 am would have been non-existant. It was those hills that always looks like you're at the last one until you get to the top and see another. In the days leading up to this ride I figured I would be miserable and counting down the miles til we reached town, but I actually started off in a great mood and it stayed with me for the whole day. I rode with Jeff Ericson most of the day and it worked out well because he said I pulled him along and I know there were points in the day I wanted to stop for a break but knowing he was blocking the wind and pulling me made me keep going. We averaged just about 17 mph and got into Gillette about 1:00 where we got a second lunch with Jeff Sloan, Tom, and Melanie. I made it 113 miles without falling off my bike then pulling out of the restaurant parking lot I didn't unclip my feet fast enough and tumbled over like a champ. A woman passing by told me it was very graceful, though! Tonight we are thankful to be staying in the air conditioned gym of the high school here. We definitely lucked out with the weather today; we were warned of previous years with temperatures over 100 or crazy headwinds, neither of which we faced. It's refreshing to know the longest ride is behind us.
As difficult as the days can be, I love this routine and having absolutely nothing to worry about other than chugging along on my bike all day and proving to myself that this is a doable journey. I'm not sure where we go tomorrow but I guess I will find out :)
Jenny, I was enjoying your blog entries! Good to see you are getting your wish of seeing animals along they way. Certainly, it was my experience as well that the longer I stayed on the road, the more I just wanted to keep on pedaling away. Keep up the blogging! Very few people get to do what you're doing now... ;-)
ReplyDeleteTodd (rode with you the first day)