Author: Paul Rito (Page 7 of 27)

39.2 miles cycling, 142′ of climbing (2519 tot) – to read from the beginning, click here.

A good Super 8 breakfast prepped us for the cloudy day and some more rain. We had our sights set on 70 to Norfolk, but also had 39 to Neligh as a backup. It was another slog and yesterday’s effort was definitely in our muscle memory. On the way we met Jack, a Frenchman touring the US. He was 3 weeks in from Astoria OR heading to NYC. Much younger than us and going much faster and farther every day than we could hope to anymore. 

66 miles cycling, 398′ of climbing (2480 tot) – to read from the beginning, click here.

Breakfast at the Rodeway Inn in Ainsworth, then an initially dry ride with a good headwind. Today we had a two-person paceline and switched off about every mile or so and even with the wind, we managed a respectable 11.3 mph. Threat of rain all day and we rode in a mist for a long stretch, got a short period of more intense rain, but made it to O’Neill — the self-proclaimed “Irish Capital of Nebraska.” I had to drop the speed a bit near the 60 mile mark. It was quite an effort for both of us and Dana had some left in the tank, but I was running on empty.

66 miles cycling, 398′ of climbing (2366 tot) – to read from the beginning, click here.

We had one of the best breakfasts we’ve had at a motel. Great variety, good eating, especially for the day we had coming. We started out dry in Valentine and headed for the Cowboy Trail which runs from Valentine to Norfolk. A bit choppy at the start from all the horses’ hoof prints, it did improve as the morning went on.

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.

76 miles cycling, 3348′ of climbing (2311.1 tot) – to read from the beginning, click here.

Rough day. 72 miles from Interior to White River with hills and headwinds. I knew this was going to be a long day from the start, but the hills were tough and the winds in the morning were light so not so bad but got worse in the afternoon when you’re most tired. Interestingly, the Badlands don’t end in interior. The same sandy buttes and cliffs were present for many miles along South Dakota 44. Best part of the trip was that traffic was extremely light. We probably were passed by fewer than 150 cars in both directions over seven hours. When we finally arrived in White River, we were ready for a drink!

48 miles cycling, 1919′ of climbing (2235.1 tot) – to read from the beginning, click here.

Started the morning off with breakfast at the campground and our own coffee and then we went to Wall drugs for their $0.05 coffee, and rode the 8 miles to the entrance to the park. Cool day for the desert in the low 80s to start then up to 88 in the afternoon but it was very dry and didn’t feel anywhere near that hot. We stopped at almost every viewpoint and hiked up the Saddle Pass Trail and later in the day, the Door and the Notch.

63.3 miles cycling, 2708′ of climbing (2187.1 tot) – to read from the beginning, click here.

We had a filling breakfast at the Super 8 in rapid City and then headed out for some chores, getting groceries, a prescription refill, and a couple of new chargers. Then it was on to I-90 for a couple of miles to highway 1416, a long side road for 26 miles. Lots of ups and downs to our next stretch of I-90 which was 20 mi to Wall SD. Other than one 3 Mile stretch two-way traffic on our side of the road and a very narrow bridge with with even narrower shoulders, I-90 was mostly uneventful and easier than 1416. I actually like riding on the interstate. South Dakota has no restrictions against bicycles on any roads. You could ride the interstate all the way across if you so desired. 

56.6 miles cycling, 4057′ of climbing (2123.8 tot) – to read from the beginning, click here.

Today was memorials day. We got up early and packed up camp and headed to the Conoco or coffee and eight ate our breakfast beside the gas station to save the coffee-making and cleanup time. We then headed for Crazy Horse memorial. On the Mickelson trail it was uphill the whole way. Just a gradual grade. We paid our 10 bucks to get into the memorial only to find that basically gets you into the museum. If you do want to get anywhere close to the memorial you pay $5 for a bus ride to the base of the mountain or $125 for a trip up to the arm in front of the face. I get the need to raise money to fund the completion and they’ve never taken government money to fund the project. The museum was okay and actually interesting but also kind of disappointing you didn’t get any good views of the mountainside sculpture. 

48.3 miles cycling, 2664′ of climbing (2067.2 tot) – to read from the beginning, click here.

We got up early and headed back down the hill to the Deadwood Miner’s Hotel restaurant for coffee and breakfast. They were quite short staffed but we sat at the bar and had a cheery if very busy waiter/host/busboy/. We got our caffeine fix and also a filling omelet and of course, full water bottles.

30.2 miles cycling, 2425′ of climbing (2018.9 tot) – to read from the beginning, click here.

Everyone in Belle Fourche and Spearfish who heard our plans to go to Deadwood said, “It’s all uphill!” It was, but at the end of the climb was a great descent into the Deadwood Gulch. The streets were clogged with auto-show goers and cars and trucks of every age and description. The bikes let us get past the jams and we made our way to the visitor center. First order of business was getting a campsite somewhere close to town.