Ten Sleep, WY to Cody, WY
110.66 miles
9:07.06 hrs
25.8 max
12.1 avg
Last night Mr. Taylor called up one of old friends in Cody and arranged a place for me to stay tonight. The ride was once again long, hard and pretty boring until the very end. At the end of the ride I saw wild mustangs and witnessed an amazing sunset over Yellowstone that I would later on come to find that the reason it was so magnificent was because of the fires going on in the park!
The Hilger family was extremely nice to me! They opened their house to me, fed me and provided me with anything my heart desired! Well, not exactly but it was great to stay with them. The provided me with a relaxing and fun atmosphere where I could let loose and just joke around for a while. Upon my late arrival into Cody I received the bad news that I could not camp anywhere within yellowstone that was biking distance from Cody and there were fires in Yellowstone that may get in my way (aka. cut off my route to Old Faithful and West Yellowstone). After much research and deliberating, it was quite clear that if I wanted to spend my birthday in Yellowstone I would have to be escorted up to the entrance the morning of the 29th. So, this meant an extra day in Cody.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Day 35 - Saturday September 26th
Buffalo, WY to Ten Sleep, WY
66.62 miles
6:14.03 hrs
43.o max
10.6 avg
I woke up early this morning to make sure that I could make it down to the bike shop shortly after they opened at 8. Of course the regular bike mechanic was not in the shop but someone else helped me out. It took him a little longer than usual to do the task needed and there were some issues with truing the wheel but everything worked out in the end. I also walked away from that Shop, The Sport and Lure, with about 55 dollars (very good deal) in cycling apparel that would come in very handy in the near future (warm wear!)!
It was not till 11 am that I actually headed out on my bike and I was very nervous because this was the first VERY large mountain that I would have ever climbed. I had no idea what to expect nor did I know how long it would take to complete.
After 5 hours of brutal climbing I finally made it to the top. I thought I made pretty good time, maybe someone else can confirm or deny that claim? The last 8 miles were the hardest because the winds had picked up and they were blowing right into my face. My legs screamed as I peddled my bike over the summit, but I would not be defeated by this mountain.
It is crazy to think how much better of condition I am in now compared to how I was when I crossed over the White Mountains in New Hampshire. It would have taken me at least 2 days to get over the Big Horns if I had started out with them at the beginning of the trip. I might not even had made it over them? Who knows! I went from having to take a break every 5 min of climbing to climbing for 45 min between breaks. Now, that is an endurance shift if I have ever seen one!
While I was biking near the top of the summit I think I experienced the closest thing to a woman's hot flashes as possible. In the shade I was freezing and when the sun would shine through some trees my body and arms would almost roast, if it were not for the couple feet of shade from the next tree I would have had to shed layers.
The way down the Western side of the mountain was some of the most gorgeous scenery I have ever laid eyes on. Words cannot describe its beauty... well at least not my words at 12:30 in the morning! Lets just say that you should go and look at my pictures on photobucket (there is a link on my website at www.icycleagainstnegligence.moonfruit.com). The photos are not labeled but many should have the date on them. It was a gorgeous ride down the switchbacks thorough a magnificent canyon. The Sunset that broke the mouth of the canyon near the end of my decent took my breath away. The delicate shades of pink, blue and purple were jaw dropping. If you ever have the chance to drive down, or up, the western side of 16 over the Big Horns... DO IT!
Tonight, as I was riding out of the canyon towards Ten Sleep I decided that I would give in and just purchase a motel so that I could get a good nights sleep for a ride well done! Much to my amazement, I did not have to do so. About 2 miles outside of Ten Sleep a lady, Mrs. Taylor, pulled up beside me in her car and asked if I had/needed a place to stay. She had some cabins that she typically rented out to hunters that she offered to me for the night. I met her at her house and she showed me my living quarters. There were three cabins all outfitted with bunk beds and antiques. They were small and quaint, just perfect for me! Mrs. Taylor allowed me to come in and take a shower; always a treat for a biker, and after hearing the story about my trip we conversed for a couple hours over a nice slice of peach pie! (photos of the cabin on my website as well)
66.62 miles
6:14.03 hrs
43.o max
10.6 avg
I woke up early this morning to make sure that I could make it down to the bike shop shortly after they opened at 8. Of course the regular bike mechanic was not in the shop but someone else helped me out. It took him a little longer than usual to do the task needed and there were some issues with truing the wheel but everything worked out in the end. I also walked away from that Shop, The Sport and Lure, with about 55 dollars (very good deal) in cycling apparel that would come in very handy in the near future (warm wear!)!
It was not till 11 am that I actually headed out on my bike and I was very nervous because this was the first VERY large mountain that I would have ever climbed. I had no idea what to expect nor did I know how long it would take to complete.
After 5 hours of brutal climbing I finally made it to the top. I thought I made pretty good time, maybe someone else can confirm or deny that claim? The last 8 miles were the hardest because the winds had picked up and they were blowing right into my face. My legs screamed as I peddled my bike over the summit, but I would not be defeated by this mountain.
It is crazy to think how much better of condition I am in now compared to how I was when I crossed over the White Mountains in New Hampshire. It would have taken me at least 2 days to get over the Big Horns if I had started out with them at the beginning of the trip. I might not even had made it over them? Who knows! I went from having to take a break every 5 min of climbing to climbing for 45 min between breaks. Now, that is an endurance shift if I have ever seen one!
While I was biking near the top of the summit I think I experienced the closest thing to a woman's hot flashes as possible. In the shade I was freezing and when the sun would shine through some trees my body and arms would almost roast, if it were not for the couple feet of shade from the next tree I would have had to shed layers.
The way down the Western side of the mountain was some of the most gorgeous scenery I have ever laid eyes on. Words cannot describe its beauty... well at least not my words at 12:30 in the morning! Lets just say that you should go and look at my pictures on photobucket (there is a link on my website at www.icycleagainstnegligence.moonfruit.com). The photos are not labeled but many should have the date on them. It was a gorgeous ride down the switchbacks thorough a magnificent canyon. The Sunset that broke the mouth of the canyon near the end of my decent took my breath away. The delicate shades of pink, blue and purple were jaw dropping. If you ever have the chance to drive down, or up, the western side of 16 over the Big Horns... DO IT!
Tonight, as I was riding out of the canyon towards Ten Sleep I decided that I would give in and just purchase a motel so that I could get a good nights sleep for a ride well done! Much to my amazement, I did not have to do so. About 2 miles outside of Ten Sleep a lady, Mrs. Taylor, pulled up beside me in her car and asked if I had/needed a place to stay. She had some cabins that she typically rented out to hunters that she offered to me for the night. I met her at her house and she showed me my living quarters. There were three cabins all outfitted with bunk beds and antiques. They were small and quaint, just perfect for me! Mrs. Taylor allowed me to come in and take a shower; always a treat for a biker, and after hearing the story about my trip we conversed for a couple hours over a nice slice of peach pie! (photos of the cabin on my website as well)
Day 34 - Friday September 25th
Upton, WY to Buffalo, WY
121.54 miles
8:43.50 hrs
30.1 max
13.9 avg
The road was long and boring! There is not a whole lot to say about this day besides I was fortunate enough to receive a free place to pitch my tent at the local YMCA. I will have to remember to look for more YMCAs along my way.
Thank goodness I started bright and early today because it allowed me to get into Buffalo before too late. I did pull in just as it was getting dark but it allowed me to stop at the grocery store and pick up some necessary food, set up my tent and try and fix my bike. Since I was sitting right in front of the Big Horn Mountains I figured that I should probably fix my spoke before I rode onward to conquer them! I figured that I would be able to take it off myself using my pliers but boy was I mistaken. After taking off the wheel and messing around with the rear cassette for about 30 min or so, I gave up. I was hoping that I didn't need the special tooling that they use in a bike shop to take the cassette off but I guess I was mistaken. Crap, this meant that I needed to find a bike shop in town that I could bring to tomorrow morning before I rode out. In other words, by taking off my tire and messing around with it, I now was not going to be able to get off to an early start the next day as planned.
After checking online, via my blackberry, I was fortunate enough to be only 4 blocks away from the only bike shop in town. Whew! That was a close one!
I think I am going to make it to Yellowstone for my birthday! I can't wait! It will be nice to have a B&B to stay at on my birthday! It will keep it from being so lonely!
121.54 miles
8:43.50 hrs
30.1 max
13.9 avg
The road was long and boring! There is not a whole lot to say about this day besides I was fortunate enough to receive a free place to pitch my tent at the local YMCA. I will have to remember to look for more YMCAs along my way.
Thank goodness I started bright and early today because it allowed me to get into Buffalo before too late. I did pull in just as it was getting dark but it allowed me to stop at the grocery store and pick up some necessary food, set up my tent and try and fix my bike. Since I was sitting right in front of the Big Horn Mountains I figured that I should probably fix my spoke before I rode onward to conquer them! I figured that I would be able to take it off myself using my pliers but boy was I mistaken. After taking off the wheel and messing around with the rear cassette for about 30 min or so, I gave up. I was hoping that I didn't need the special tooling that they use in a bike shop to take the cassette off but I guess I was mistaken. Crap, this meant that I needed to find a bike shop in town that I could bring to tomorrow morning before I rode out. In other words, by taking off my tire and messing around with it, I now was not going to be able to get off to an early start the next day as planned.
After checking online, via my blackberry, I was fortunate enough to be only 4 blocks away from the only bike shop in town. Whew! That was a close one!
I think I am going to make it to Yellowstone for my birthday! I can't wait! It will be nice to have a B&B to stay at on my birthday! It will keep it from being so lonely!
Day 33 - Thursday September 24th
Oreville, SD to Upton, WY
77.37 miles
5:31.36 hrs
40.3 max
13.9 avg
I saw Crazy Horse Monument in the morning and was not overall impressed. They wanted $5 to get into passed the gate and I decided against that. All I wanted was to see the monument, which isn't even near done, and take a picture. I didn't understand how Mount Rushmore doesn't charge anything for cyclists and Crazy Horse does. I feel like it should be the other way around.
The decent out of the Black Hills was great! There were a couple climbs on the way out but nothing of any significance. Entering Wyoming was a good feeling because I felt that I was really making progress on my trip! This feeling lasted for the first hour where I truly felt I was in "Cowboy Country" with the desert and scenery like you would see in an old western! After that hour, when things flattened out it kind of sucked!
I have spent the last 4 days without my iPod. It really allows you to think clearer and pay attention to your surroundings. I feel like I got a good sense of the Black Hills because I didn't use my iPod.
Hopefully I can update this more in the next couple days... Until then I have to get to sleep as I have quite a bit of biking to do tomorrow!
77.37 miles
5:31.36 hrs
40.3 max
13.9 avg
I saw Crazy Horse Monument in the morning and was not overall impressed. They wanted $5 to get into passed the gate and I decided against that. All I wanted was to see the monument, which isn't even near done, and take a picture. I didn't understand how Mount Rushmore doesn't charge anything for cyclists and Crazy Horse does. I feel like it should be the other way around.
The decent out of the Black Hills was great! There were a couple climbs on the way out but nothing of any significance. Entering Wyoming was a good feeling because I felt that I was really making progress on my trip! This feeling lasted for the first hour where I truly felt I was in "Cowboy Country" with the desert and scenery like you would see in an old western! After that hour, when things flattened out it kind of sucked!
I have spent the last 4 days without my iPod. It really allows you to think clearer and pay attention to your surroundings. I feel like I got a good sense of the Black Hills because I didn't use my iPod.
Hopefully I can update this more in the next couple days... Until then I have to get to sleep as I have quite a bit of biking to do tomorrow!
Day 32 - Wed September 23rd
Rapid City, SD to Orville Campground, Black Hills, SD
52.77 miles
5:01.57 hrs
38.7 max
10.4 avg
I had a lot to take care of this morning before heading into the Black Hills. I changed my rear brakes (front are still good), mailed some maps to my folks, bought a 110V to USB converter so that I could charge all my appliances and hopefully will not have to go without a charged cell phone or ipod for a long time!
It felt so good to enter the Black Hills and get out of the high winds and head south a little bit! The ride through the hills was gorgeous and I was so happy to be on something other than flat ground with plenty of green vegetation! I stopped at a cute little Norwegian/Swedish store where I tried and fell in love with salted black licorice! One of my main goals of the day was to see Mount Rushmore. Some people, a while back, told me that it was not worth going out of my way to see but I now disagree! I think it was an amazing feat to make those faces in that rock at such a day in age. Even though I had to climb up the hills to get to the monument it was well worth the effort. I just wish I had a little more time to spend there hiking around and exploring the landscape!
As it was starting to get late and I only had about an hour and a half of sunlight left I headed out towards a couple campgrounds that were on my route and still open for the season. This is where I am SO glad that I purchased my warm weather gear (arm warmers, leg warmers and windproof gloves). With the sun going down fast the shade kept on getting colder and colder. I put on my cold weather gear and was in heaven! It really works! Hopefully it works in colder weather as well!
I made it to the Oreville Campgrounds with just enough time to scout out a camping spot, meet a girl who was traveling across the country for job relocation and decide that it would be better to share a campsite and save some cash ($5 each for the night instead of $10). We ended up going into Hill City to get something to eat and it was fun to have someone to talk to who was also on the road exploring the US!
Oh yeah, I broke another spoke just 30 miles into today! What is going on with my rear wheel? This should not be happening. The wheel immediately went out of alignment and I made some tension adjustments on opposing and adjacent spokes to prevent rubbing. After a few phone calls and checking the internet on the phone I was sad to find out that the next 'potential' bike shop was not until right before the Big Horns. The adjustments made enough of a difference that I was comfortable waiting until the next bike shop. Unfortunately, there were no certain bike shops anywhere on my route before the Big Horns, this made me a little worried but I figured I could fix it myself if need be.
52.77 miles
5:01.57 hrs
38.7 max
10.4 avg
I had a lot to take care of this morning before heading into the Black Hills. I changed my rear brakes (front are still good), mailed some maps to my folks, bought a 110V to USB converter so that I could charge all my appliances and hopefully will not have to go without a charged cell phone or ipod for a long time!
It felt so good to enter the Black Hills and get out of the high winds and head south a little bit! The ride through the hills was gorgeous and I was so happy to be on something other than flat ground with plenty of green vegetation! I stopped at a cute little Norwegian/Swedish store where I tried and fell in love with salted black licorice! One of my main goals of the day was to see Mount Rushmore. Some people, a while back, told me that it was not worth going out of my way to see but I now disagree! I think it was an amazing feat to make those faces in that rock at such a day in age. Even though I had to climb up the hills to get to the monument it was well worth the effort. I just wish I had a little more time to spend there hiking around and exploring the landscape!
As it was starting to get late and I only had about an hour and a half of sunlight left I headed out towards a couple campgrounds that were on my route and still open for the season. This is where I am SO glad that I purchased my warm weather gear (arm warmers, leg warmers and windproof gloves). With the sun going down fast the shade kept on getting colder and colder. I put on my cold weather gear and was in heaven! It really works! Hopefully it works in colder weather as well!
I made it to the Oreville Campgrounds with just enough time to scout out a camping spot, meet a girl who was traveling across the country for job relocation and decide that it would be better to share a campsite and save some cash ($5 each for the night instead of $10). We ended up going into Hill City to get something to eat and it was fun to have someone to talk to who was also on the road exploring the US!
Oh yeah, I broke another spoke just 30 miles into today! What is going on with my rear wheel? This should not be happening. The wheel immediately went out of alignment and I made some tension adjustments on opposing and adjacent spokes to prevent rubbing. After a few phone calls and checking the internet on the phone I was sad to find out that the next 'potential' bike shop was not until right before the Big Horns. The adjustments made enough of a difference that I was comfortable waiting until the next bike shop. Unfortunately, there were no certain bike shops anywhere on my route before the Big Horns, this made me a little worried but I figured I could fix it myself if need be.
Day 31 - Tuesday September 22nd
Wall, SD to Rapid City, SD
57.49 miles
5:14.28 hrs
33.1 max
10.9 avg
It was just the previous day that I found out that it was legal to cycle on the interstate in many states. That is what happens when a state does not make roads along all major interstates. Other states that allow this include, but are not limited to, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, California, etc. This was very fortunate for me because today's journey was going to be nearly all highway! I do have to say that traveling along the highway on a bicycle is not my favorite thing in the world, specifically through SD. It is boring, there is not much to look at and traffic goes by very fast! What is nice about it is that the roads are well kept and there are very wide shoulders to ride on.
The Weekes family hooked me up once again with a place to stay in Rapid City, thanks again! And a huge thank you to the Korb family for being so patient with me at the bike store, putting me up for the night and feeding me a great meal! It was much appreciated and left me in a great place the next day to attack the Black Hills.
When I got into Rapid City I went straight to the bike shop to get my spoke fixed. In forecast of the potentially cold weather ahead, I could not resist from stocking up on cold weather gear. I spent quite a bit of money and was feeling like I could potentially have gotten a better deal somewhere else and maybe I should have waited to make those purchases... boy was I mistaken!
As I was riding that day I dislocated my rear brake because it was rubbing so bad on the rim. It was both annoying and inefficient! When the bike shop in Rapid City looked at it they noticed that the rim had been bent pretty bad and the rim had actually been worn away for some odd reason. This is potentially a manufacturer's defect in the rim and I was advised that I may want to take this up with Trek. I also purchased new brakes in anticipation of wanting to change them out before I started hitting the Black Hills and Big Horn Mountains. I changed the rear breaks out that next morning before taking off towards the Black Hills.
57.49 miles
5:14.28 hrs
33.1 max
10.9 avg
It was just the previous day that I found out that it was legal to cycle on the interstate in many states. That is what happens when a state does not make roads along all major interstates. Other states that allow this include, but are not limited to, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington, California, etc. This was very fortunate for me because today's journey was going to be nearly all highway! I do have to say that traveling along the highway on a bicycle is not my favorite thing in the world, specifically through SD. It is boring, there is not much to look at and traffic goes by very fast! What is nice about it is that the roads are well kept and there are very wide shoulders to ride on.
The Weekes family hooked me up once again with a place to stay in Rapid City, thanks again! And a huge thank you to the Korb family for being so patient with me at the bike store, putting me up for the night and feeding me a great meal! It was much appreciated and left me in a great place the next day to attack the Black Hills.
When I got into Rapid City I went straight to the bike shop to get my spoke fixed. In forecast of the potentially cold weather ahead, I could not resist from stocking up on cold weather gear. I spent quite a bit of money and was feeling like I could potentially have gotten a better deal somewhere else and maybe I should have waited to make those purchases... boy was I mistaken!
As I was riding that day I dislocated my rear brake because it was rubbing so bad on the rim. It was both annoying and inefficient! When the bike shop in Rapid City looked at it they noticed that the rim had been bent pretty bad and the rim had actually been worn away for some odd reason. This is potentially a manufacturer's defect in the rim and I was advised that I may want to take this up with Trek. I also purchased new brakes in anticipation of wanting to change them out before I started hitting the Black Hills and Big Horn Mountains. I changed the rear breaks out that next morning before taking off towards the Black Hills.
Day 30 - Monday September 21st
Philip, SD to Wall, SD
69.46 miles
6:56.13 hrs
34.8 max
10.0 avg
Even though it was only 30 miles from Philip to Wall. I took a round about 70 mile round about route so that I could see the Badlands. At first I was skeptical if I wanted to even visit the Badlands, I was sure glad I did when I finally got there! Although, about half way through my scenic route through the Badlands I was ready to get out. The driving factor was not so much the scenery, it was the high winds that have prevented me from making good time for the past couple days.
This morning when I woke up I was not feeling well. My stomach feels a little woozy and I am hoping that I am not coming down with anything. While riding today I thought a lot about my diet. I made a pact with myself that I would eat as healthy as possible at all times from here on out. No more going off my diet and submitting myself to foods of low quality. This should allow me to really listen to my body preventing me from being able to blame anything for my hard days of riding and narrow down how certain foods affect me physically and mentally.
Tomorrow it is predicted that the winds will only be 20-25 miles per hour! I can't believe that they approached that as ONLY 20-25. That just means that over the past few days the winds must have been much higher! Anyone know what they were?
Due to the camping facilities in Wall charging $20 for a night I opted for the $35 motel room instead. I ended up meeting my neighbors, an elder couple traveling around SD and ND, and they offered me great conversation and some cheap wine. It was fun to sit back and relax with them a little, after having a shower of course because I am sure I smelled pretty bad!
Somewhere along my route I broke a spoke without knowing it. I knew this at the beginning of the day but since it was on my rear rim and I did not have the tooling to take off the cassette to replace the spoke I had to ride it out. While carrying such a large load on the rear rim, I knew that any riding on the rim could be detrimental to its life as we know it! More on this later!
69.46 miles
6:56.13 hrs
34.8 max
10.0 avg
Even though it was only 30 miles from Philip to Wall. I took a round about 70 mile round about route so that I could see the Badlands. At first I was skeptical if I wanted to even visit the Badlands, I was sure glad I did when I finally got there! Although, about half way through my scenic route through the Badlands I was ready to get out. The driving factor was not so much the scenery, it was the high winds that have prevented me from making good time for the past couple days.
This morning when I woke up I was not feeling well. My stomach feels a little woozy and I am hoping that I am not coming down with anything. While riding today I thought a lot about my diet. I made a pact with myself that I would eat as healthy as possible at all times from here on out. No more going off my diet and submitting myself to foods of low quality. This should allow me to really listen to my body preventing me from being able to blame anything for my hard days of riding and narrow down how certain foods affect me physically and mentally.
Tomorrow it is predicted that the winds will only be 20-25 miles per hour! I can't believe that they approached that as ONLY 20-25. That just means that over the past few days the winds must have been much higher! Anyone know what they were?
Due to the camping facilities in Wall charging $20 for a night I opted for the $35 motel room instead. I ended up meeting my neighbors, an elder couple traveling around SD and ND, and they offered me great conversation and some cheap wine. It was fun to sit back and relax with them a little, after having a shower of course because I am sure I smelled pretty bad!
Somewhere along my route I broke a spoke without knowing it. I knew this at the beginning of the day but since it was on my rear rim and I did not have the tooling to take off the cassette to replace the spoke I had to ride it out. While carrying such a large load on the rear rim, I knew that any riding on the rim could be detrimental to its life as we know it! More on this later!
Day 29 - Sunday September 20th
Pierre, SD to Philip, SD
89.21 miles
7:51.43 hrs
30.6 max
11.3 avg
I could tell during the early morning that this day was going to be lagging and slow. I ended up getting three flat tires on my trailer from many different reasons, some of which I don't even know. One was from a thorn that punctured through the tire. It was a small little thorn that I could not believe would hold up when being rolled over by 50 lbs of gear. With all these flats it seemed like the day would never end and that I could never make up any ground. I became paranoid with getting a flat and I constantly had to stop and check my tire every time I felt a little extra drag being produced. Most often it was just an increase in slope or wind.
Today I took in a lot more scenery than usual and this lead to me peddling slower as well. Fortunately, the winds seemed to shift perpendicular to the direction I was headed for most of the trip. The first 2/3 I had the wind shifting in my favor but the last 1/3 of the trip the winds got nasty!!! I had at least 30-40mph constant gusts of wind out of the NNW as I was heading west. At times my bike was at a 20-30 degree angle to the road as I shifted my weight into the wind so that I could stay up straight. Thank goodness there were not a lot of cars on the road because there were times that I was pushed 5-7 feet out into the road because of this wind before I could correct and fight back to the shoulder. It took me 3 hours to go the 26 miles to my final destination and there were times when I was fighting to go 10 mph downhill! I was surprised that nobody stopped and offered me a lift. One gentleman stopped in his small car and wished me good luck in my trip and I was just happy to use his car to get out of the wind for a min or two.
When I got to Philip the local gas station attendant sent me in the direction of a kids park to pitch my tent. It was supposed to rain pretty hard that night so I set it up under a tree and with the strong side wind I placed a picnic table on its side to slow it down. It didn't rain that night but the sprinkler system did turn on in the park before I fell asleep and I had to improvise putting up a blockade by each sprinkler so that my tent would not get soaked!
89.21 miles
7:51.43 hrs
30.6 max
11.3 avg
I could tell during the early morning that this day was going to be lagging and slow. I ended up getting three flat tires on my trailer from many different reasons, some of which I don't even know. One was from a thorn that punctured through the tire. It was a small little thorn that I could not believe would hold up when being rolled over by 50 lbs of gear. With all these flats it seemed like the day would never end and that I could never make up any ground. I became paranoid with getting a flat and I constantly had to stop and check my tire every time I felt a little extra drag being produced. Most often it was just an increase in slope or wind.
Today I took in a lot more scenery than usual and this lead to me peddling slower as well. Fortunately, the winds seemed to shift perpendicular to the direction I was headed for most of the trip. The first 2/3 I had the wind shifting in my favor but the last 1/3 of the trip the winds got nasty!!! I had at least 30-40mph constant gusts of wind out of the NNW as I was heading west. At times my bike was at a 20-30 degree angle to the road as I shifted my weight into the wind so that I could stay up straight. Thank goodness there were not a lot of cars on the road because there were times that I was pushed 5-7 feet out into the road because of this wind before I could correct and fight back to the shoulder. It took me 3 hours to go the 26 miles to my final destination and there were times when I was fighting to go 10 mph downhill! I was surprised that nobody stopped and offered me a lift. One gentleman stopped in his small car and wished me good luck in my trip and I was just happy to use his car to get out of the wind for a min or two.
When I got to Philip the local gas station attendant sent me in the direction of a kids park to pitch my tent. It was supposed to rain pretty hard that night so I set it up under a tree and with the strong side wind I placed a picnic table on its side to slow it down. It didn't rain that night but the sprinkler system did turn on in the park before I fell asleep and I had to improvise putting up a blockade by each sprinkler so that my tent would not get soaked!
Day 28 - Saturday September 19th
Miller, SD to Pierre, SD
73.84 miles
5:41.39 hrs
20.9 max
12.9 avg
Since I rode the extra mileage yesterday to make it to Miller I had a much shorter ride to Pierre today. The wind was stronger than the previous day and there were many more hills to climb but it was fairly easy because I knew that I could push the pace without wearing myself out.
As I pulled into town I stopped at a truck stop to use the restroom. As I was checking out I met a couple of locals who were interested in my story. They were sitting in the casino/bar and offered me a beer. No mom, I was not there to drink and gamble, but I did take them up on the beer. One of the gentlemen graciously offered to show me around town. It was fun to see the town from the eyes of a true "old western" city rancher. He showed me the local park of which I ended up camping at, some local shops that might have been of interest if I was not so hungry and tired and I met some great local folk of which he knew. It was fun to see the difference in my lifestyle compared to those of the "wild west".
I ended up camping about 30 feet from the Missouri River at a very nice park that was free. You really can't beat that! The gentleman that was showing me around offered to put me up at his ranch for the night but I felt that it was better to be near my route out in the morning than 5 miles outside of town.
73.84 miles
5:41.39 hrs
20.9 max
12.9 avg
Since I rode the extra mileage yesterday to make it to Miller I had a much shorter ride to Pierre today. The wind was stronger than the previous day and there were many more hills to climb but it was fairly easy because I knew that I could push the pace without wearing myself out.
As I pulled into town I stopped at a truck stop to use the restroom. As I was checking out I met a couple of locals who were interested in my story. They were sitting in the casino/bar and offered me a beer. No mom, I was not there to drink and gamble, but I did take them up on the beer. One of the gentlemen graciously offered to show me around town. It was fun to see the town from the eyes of a true "old western" city rancher. He showed me the local park of which I ended up camping at, some local shops that might have been of interest if I was not so hungry and tired and I met some great local folk of which he knew. It was fun to see the difference in my lifestyle compared to those of the "wild west".
I ended up camping about 30 feet from the Missouri River at a very nice park that was free. You really can't beat that! The gentleman that was showing me around offered to put me up at his ranch for the night but I felt that it was better to be near my route out in the morning than 5 miles outside of town.
Day 27 - Friday September 18th
Volga, SD to Miller, SD
109.77 miles
7:35.30 hrs
25.8 max
14.4 avg
Again, another long ride through South Dakota. Miller was a little farther away than I wanted to travel but it was the only city over 80 miles away with a campground. The wind was quite a factor in today's ride. It came from the south west and I had to "ride and grind" for many hours in the Western direction until the road turned north. When this happened I found myself traveling at a steady 22 mph and it felt great! It was a real morale booster and made me feel like I could make it to Miller after all.
Of course this windy advantage could not last forever. The road soon turned back West but I did not mind it so much any more because I was not too far from Miller. When I pulled into Millar I found out that there was a free park just inside the city. It was my lucky day! After I set up my tent I rode towards a local bar and grill to get something to eat. As I was locking up my bike some high schoolers drove by yelling at me to tell them who I was. They got out of the car and came up to meet me. I told them what I was doing and conversed with them for about 20 min or so. I gave them all livestrong bands just so that I could go and eat... I was starving!
After eating, I headed back towards my tent and ran into the high schoolers again. They wanted to converse some more and there was one girl in specific that seemed very interested in me. We will leave the story at that for now... you can ask me more about it later if you are interested. The story is not that good anyways, just kind of funny.
109.77 miles
7:35.30 hrs
25.8 max
14.4 avg
Again, another long ride through South Dakota. Miller was a little farther away than I wanted to travel but it was the only city over 80 miles away with a campground. The wind was quite a factor in today's ride. It came from the south west and I had to "ride and grind" for many hours in the Western direction until the road turned north. When this happened I found myself traveling at a steady 22 mph and it felt great! It was a real morale booster and made me feel like I could make it to Miller after all.
Of course this windy advantage could not last forever. The road soon turned back West but I did not mind it so much any more because I was not too far from Miller. When I pulled into Millar I found out that there was a free park just inside the city. It was my lucky day! After I set up my tent I rode towards a local bar and grill to get something to eat. As I was locking up my bike some high schoolers drove by yelling at me to tell them who I was. They got out of the car and came up to meet me. I told them what I was doing and conversed with them for about 20 min or so. I gave them all livestrong bands just so that I could go and eat... I was starving!
After eating, I headed back towards my tent and ran into the high schoolers again. They wanted to converse some more and there was one girl in specific that seemed very interested in me. We will leave the story at that for now... you can ask me more about it later if you are interested. The story is not that good anyways, just kind of funny.
Day 26 - Thursday September 17th
Cottonwood, MN to Volga, SD
95.59 miles
6:48.28 hrs
22.7 max
14.o avg
Today was a very difficult day of riding. My legs hurt from the very beginning and it seemed like they didn't want to go over 12 mph. There was a slight headwind and it felt like I was always climbing. What ever happened to SD being perfectly flat? I kept on pushing and sooner or later I was able to increase my pace as my legs finally settled into the ride.
I stopped at a little convenience store in Taylor, SD to use the restroom and eat a little lunch. As I was checking out, the cashier inquired about what I was doing and I was more than happy to tell her the summary of my trip. After I checked out, I went outside and sat down at a table to consume my grilled chicken sandwich and 'ice pop' (you know, those long sticks of flavored ice). Not more than 2 min later the lady for the register came out and said, "I hope you wouldn't mind if I called the local newspaper to come down here and interview you would you? Cuz I already did. Would you be able to stick around for a few minutes?"
I laughed and said that would be fine...
A reporter from the Tyler Tribute came out and I had an interview. The article should have been posted on www.tylertribute.com. I have tried to search the site for an article but navigation of this website is difficult and I was unsuccessful in locating the article. It should have been posted on September 25th.
I spent the night with the Tevdt family outside of Volga, SD. While I was there, Mrs. Tevdt approached me in a similar fashion as the convenience store clerk and hoped that I wouldn't mind if she already contacted the local newspaper to interview me. Two interviews in one day! I feel like a celebrity, not really but it is flattering.
95.59 miles
6:48.28 hrs
22.7 max
14.o avg
Today was a very difficult day of riding. My legs hurt from the very beginning and it seemed like they didn't want to go over 12 mph. There was a slight headwind and it felt like I was always climbing. What ever happened to SD being perfectly flat? I kept on pushing and sooner or later I was able to increase my pace as my legs finally settled into the ride.
I stopped at a little convenience store in Taylor, SD to use the restroom and eat a little lunch. As I was checking out, the cashier inquired about what I was doing and I was more than happy to tell her the summary of my trip. After I checked out, I went outside and sat down at a table to consume my grilled chicken sandwich and 'ice pop' (you know, those long sticks of flavored ice). Not more than 2 min later the lady for the register came out and said, "I hope you wouldn't mind if I called the local newspaper to come down here and interview you would you? Cuz I already did. Would you be able to stick around for a few minutes?"
I laughed and said that would be fine...
A reporter from the Tyler Tribute came out and I had an interview. The article should have been posted on www.tylertribute.com. I have tried to search the site for an article but navigation of this website is difficult and I was unsuccessful in locating the article. It should have been posted on September 25th.
I spent the night with the Tevdt family outside of Volga, SD. While I was there, Mrs. Tevdt approached me in a similar fashion as the convenience store clerk and hoped that I wouldn't mind if she already contacted the local newspaper to interview me. Two interviews in one day! I feel like a celebrity, not really but it is flattering.
Day 25 - Wednesday September 16th
Chaska, MN to Cottonwood, MN
116.1 miles
7:14.41 hrs
25 max
16.0 avg
Today was pretty flat and fast. There was not much to the day besides miles upon miles of corn fields, cows and dead sunflowers. I was really looking forward to seeing some amazingly bright fields of sunflowers following the sun but was sadly disappointed. My mood is good and I am still feeling a pull from home but I just keep looking forward to what lies on the other side of SD.
Before I left from WI yesterday I stopped at the local bike shop because now that my bike was under a load the rear cassette was slipping again. The mechanics at the shop said that it looked good but the only real way to know was to replace the cassette and see if it still slips. I had it replaced and it didn't slip on my trial run before I headed out of town for good. They tell me that this cassette (sram) is of equal quality as my shimano but I find it more noisy and it makes a lot of high pitched tinking sounds when climbing and changing gears. The shifting also does not seem nearly as smooth as my ultegra. As I look back on getting the cassette replaced I think that might have only needed to adjust the rear derailleur a little bit and it would have been fine. I guess that was a waste of $35. Oh well, too late now.
I spent the night at the Dieken's household in Cottonwood, MN. I had a great time conversing with Mrs. Dieken and was treated with great hospitality. I had a great nights sleep and it was a pleasure meeting some of the Weekes's family friends. Thank you Dieken's and Weekes's!
116.1 miles
7:14.41 hrs
25 max
16.0 avg
Today was pretty flat and fast. There was not much to the day besides miles upon miles of corn fields, cows and dead sunflowers. I was really looking forward to seeing some amazingly bright fields of sunflowers following the sun but was sadly disappointed. My mood is good and I am still feeling a pull from home but I just keep looking forward to what lies on the other side of SD.
Before I left from WI yesterday I stopped at the local bike shop because now that my bike was under a load the rear cassette was slipping again. The mechanics at the shop said that it looked good but the only real way to know was to replace the cassette and see if it still slips. I had it replaced and it didn't slip on my trial run before I headed out of town for good. They tell me that this cassette (sram) is of equal quality as my shimano but I find it more noisy and it makes a lot of high pitched tinking sounds when climbing and changing gears. The shifting also does not seem nearly as smooth as my ultegra. As I look back on getting the cassette replaced I think that might have only needed to adjust the rear derailleur a little bit and it would have been fine. I guess that was a waste of $35. Oh well, too late now.
I spent the night at the Dieken's household in Cottonwood, MN. I had a great time conversing with Mrs. Dieken and was treated with great hospitality. I had a great nights sleep and it was a pleasure meeting some of the Weekes's family friends. Thank you Dieken's and Weekes's!
Day 24 - Tuesday September 15th
I have renumbered my days to only include days I ride. Therefore today was my 24th day of riding instead of my 26th day on the road + a week at home.
Here are the stats!
Hudson, WI to Chaska, MN
71.85 miles
5:12.32 hrs
28.4 max
12.5 avg
Leaving home was very difficult both emotionally and physically. I had not been on my bike for more than 2 hours during my week off and Hudson seemed like a place that I should be ending my bike trip, my final destination versus a midpoint. I knew this portion of the trip would be challenging mentally as well. Western MN is full of flat land and rolling hills (if you can even call them that) giving me much time to ponder the vast unknown and think about my life in general. This, of course, is something that I feel I need but is not something that I looked forward to. Knowing that this was going to be an emotional, mental, and physical challenge I decided to face it head on by not listening to my ipod. I did this also for safety because making my way through MSP would have have been safe while listening to an ipod.
My mood was pretty gloomy today with all the emotion running. I met up with another biker on a 30 mile ride who joined me for 10 miles or so, just over the boarder of MN. It was fun to chat with him and he seemed very impressed with my trip. I was impressed with the half ironman that he just completed the previous weekend!
I never would have thought that I would ever have any trouble navigating through Minneapolis/Saint Paul. I guess it is because I know how things should work in this area and when things weren't exactly how I thought, or roads were closed, it was overly frustrating. It took me a VERY long time to get through these cities and therefore I did not get as far as I hoped during today's ride. I made it to Chaska, MN, the birth place of my grandfather Raymond, and I spent the night illegally in some wildlife preserve on the south side of the 41/60 intersection. I was nervous the whole night that someone was going to come by and kick me off or even worse; give me an expensive ticket!
When I pulled into Chaska and it was starting to get dark, I spent about an hour and a half asking people if they knew of a place to camp near by. I had high hopes for someone from MN to offer me a place to stay (their back yard), but was unfortunately not granted this privilege. Come on' Minnesota, you people are supposed to be some of the nicest in the country! I suppose it doesn't help that I was asking people coming out of Wallgreen's.
Since I did not make very good time today, tomorrow will be quite a long ride; at least 115 miles. At least I know that I have a place to stay in Cottonwood, MN.
Here are the stats!
Hudson, WI to Chaska, MN
71.85 miles
5:12.32 hrs
28.4 max
12.5 avg
Leaving home was very difficult both emotionally and physically. I had not been on my bike for more than 2 hours during my week off and Hudson seemed like a place that I should be ending my bike trip, my final destination versus a midpoint. I knew this portion of the trip would be challenging mentally as well. Western MN is full of flat land and rolling hills (if you can even call them that) giving me much time to ponder the vast unknown and think about my life in general. This, of course, is something that I feel I need but is not something that I looked forward to. Knowing that this was going to be an emotional, mental, and physical challenge I decided to face it head on by not listening to my ipod. I did this also for safety because making my way through MSP would have have been safe while listening to an ipod.
My mood was pretty gloomy today with all the emotion running. I met up with another biker on a 30 mile ride who joined me for 10 miles or so, just over the boarder of MN. It was fun to chat with him and he seemed very impressed with my trip. I was impressed with the half ironman that he just completed the previous weekend!
I never would have thought that I would ever have any trouble navigating through Minneapolis/Saint Paul. I guess it is because I know how things should work in this area and when things weren't exactly how I thought, or roads were closed, it was overly frustrating. It took me a VERY long time to get through these cities and therefore I did not get as far as I hoped during today's ride. I made it to Chaska, MN, the birth place of my grandfather Raymond, and I spent the night illegally in some wildlife preserve on the south side of the 41/60 intersection. I was nervous the whole night that someone was going to come by and kick me off or even worse; give me an expensive ticket!
When I pulled into Chaska and it was starting to get dark, I spent about an hour and a half asking people if they knew of a place to camp near by. I had high hopes for someone from MN to offer me a place to stay (their back yard), but was unfortunately not granted this privilege. Come on' Minnesota, you people are supposed to be some of the nicest in the country! I suppose it doesn't help that I was asking people coming out of Wallgreen's.
Since I did not make very good time today, tomorrow will be quite a long ride; at least 115 miles. At least I know that I have a place to stay in Cottonwood, MN.
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