Day 21 Gillette to Devils Tower – 68 miles
Today, though hot, was a relatively easy day. The first half of the ride was mostly flat, past long, long trains carrying coal (Did you know that Wyoming coal supplies 6% of the world's power?)
The picnic lunch was held in Moorcroft Wyoming, where they had a Jubile Parade going on. Complete with Cowboys on horseback & Shriners and a very refreshing iced cherry-lemonade.
There were a few hills on the rest of the ride, and it was getting hotter. But a cold Pepsi at the one building town of Carlile gave me enough of a boost to haul BOB over the remaing hills. These hills almost magically started sprouting dark pine trees – a dramatic switch from the dry grass of the high plains – the end of the high plains and the start of the Black Hills.
The KOA at Devils Tower had a pool and after throwing in a load of laundry, I joined many of the other cyclists and jumped in. Now that felt good.
Since services are sparse at the Tower, some of the staff threw a party – and my friend Chris made it in time. We joined the party while waitng for the mechanics to finish tuning up Jake – his last professional servicing before my solo effort.
After loading Jake & BOB into the car, I bid everyone my bittersweet goodbyes. I got really attached to this group in the last 3 weeks and we had a lot of fun together. I resisted the many requests to stay on, and am really looking forward to doing South Dakota with Chris' help, and then striking out completly on my own. So, Chris & I left the tower and
my new friends behind and headed to Rapid City.