55.3 miles cycling, 1997′ of climbing (2366 tot) – to read from the beginning, click here.
We had left our bikes out in front of Bob’s & Carla’s house but behind the cars in the driveway. At about 3 AM, I heard a diesel truck cruising in front of the house suspiciously slowly. I got up and went out to move the bikes into the garage and saw/heard the same truck on the cross street. I think my suspicions that the truck was cruising for a score was spot on and thankfully I’m a light sleeper. We were safe, and so were the bikes.
In the morning, Bob, Carla, Anita, and Ben were heading for the airport in Rapid City to head back to their home in NC. We said goodbye and thanked them again for being such gracious Road Angels. They headed out and we packed up and went to the Buche [Welcome] Gus [Gas] Stop for coffee before our next 50 mile leg to Valentine, Nebraska.
Yesterday’s east wind was now coming from the Southwest, directly in our faces again. So, the ride was another slog, but the fun wasn’t over — about a mile from the Nebraska border, the skies opened up and drenched us with pouring rain, replete with thunder and lightning. It happened so quickly that we were wet before we could get our rain gear on. Dana pulled off to a gas station, and lagging her as usual, I pulled into the same place. The staff there was very interested in our trip, and one of them had lived in Gettysburg for a while. They helped Dana get on the WiFi and we checked the weather yet again. Still about 10+ miles to Valentine, and no guarantee the rain was over.
We crossed the border and magically the sun came out. Not so magically, the wind was still in our faces and just about when we were dried out, we got another hit of rain, but not nearly as bad as the first. Got into Valentine wet and in the rain and went to McDonalds for some coffee and ice cream, and of course their free WiFi. I made a reservation at the Super 8, and while doing that, Dana started talking with Stephen. He was a motorcyclist from Australia who was doing his retirement trip that started in Vancouver and up to Alaska and back across Canada to PEI and then down the coast to MD and out west to meet us. He booked a room at the Super 8, too.
It was nice to get a shower and Dana rounded up dinner at the local grocery and we ate in a small park across the street from the hotel. The other thing that was nice was crashing into bed. Tomorrow, we’ll aim for Ainsworth.
