Day 21 Journal Lusk, Wy to Hot Springs, SD

I biked 91 miles today. Day 21 of this journey across the USA on my bicycle was another winning day. All I kept thinking about today was comparing today with this date in 2001 and what a contrast it was. It must have been 99 degrees in the shade that first trip through here. It was so hot I remember after leaving the second SAG stop at Edgemont, SD and we had to climb for 4 miles at 6% grade I had to stop the ABB van and get in the air conditioning to cool my body down before I could continue. I was such an inexperienced biker 5 years ago that the heat and my asthma bothered me terribly. But oh what a good day it was today. I looked outdoors about 5:30 AM and it was raining very lightly. So I took out my clear plastic rain jacket and also the new featherweight jacket. I packed an extra pair of socks and extra pair of bike gloves – to change into dry ones if needed later down the road. I ate at the motel this morning instead of going back to the Outpost Café where the ABB official breakfast was. I knew it would be really slow there and with 91 miles, and the rain and possible headwinds I wanted to get on the road as soon as possible. I put on the plastic jacket and it rained, lightly, not a downpour, for the first 20 miles. I don’t mind riding in the summer time rain. And in July the rain isn’t cold. It actually felt good. I kind of put myself back in time when as a little kid I would ride my bike in the rain around town. I would ride to the swimming pool every day all summer long, and some days it would close because it would start to rain and I would have to ride home in the rain. I thought it was so fun to be out there in the rain. So I tooled along at a steady clip on the rolling terrain. The first SAG stop was beside the road at mile 35. There were only 4 people ahead of me and as I was leaving, after eating some cookies, banana, trail mix, corn chips, there was quite a few others just pulling in. They said the rain was really coming down hard back where I had just come from. Guess the rain was coming our way, so I hustled to keep ahead of it. I got in a pace line for about 10 miles and that was fun, and saves a lot of energy. When we turn directly east after going north for 45 miles – the party was over. HEADWINDS right in the face. I got dropped real fast right then and there from the pace line. The hills were steeper, longer and the winds got me and I couldn’t keep up. I hit a low about then and it took about another 10 miles before I struggled through that. I stopped at the Wyoming/South Dakota state line and yelled some whoopee’s and halleluiahs, took a picture and got back on the bike. The winds began to change and pretty soon it was almost a tailwind. The terrain off to my left and to my right was hilly. Nothing flat, but VERY desolate. Every once in a while I could see some cattle grazing out on the grasslands. I did begin to see a few more trees – it had been several days since we saw a good number of trees during our riding. At the 67 mile point was another SAG stop. There was also a convenience store there too so I went in and bought a cold bottle of V-8 Juice. That hit the spot and went to the SAG van and made myself a PB&J piece of bread. Leaving there we started the real climbing of the day. It wasn’t bad at all because it was cool and cloudy. Sure makes a HUGE difference in the way you feel when you get a break from the heat. The rain cloud was drawing closer though, and just after I came on down a 2 mile 6% grade decent it started to sprinkle on me for about 2 miles. Felt good and I pulled out my lightweight jacket from my back pocket and wore that for a little while. Coming in to Hot Springs I was really hungry and it was about 1:15 PM and I was at the 90-mile point in today’s ride. A group was eating at a local café and I stopped in to say “Hi” to them and asked it they had home made pie there – I would stay if they did. No, none there today. So I continued the last mile down the road and checked into the Best Western and went next door to the Dairy Queen for lunch. The guys that had been eating a meal at the café I stopped in to say hi to them, they were now pulling in to the Dairy Queen for some more food! We eat a lot. It takes about 5,000-7,000 calories a day to keep up our energy levels for these endurance rides we are doing. After I had my carbo loading snack I joined several others outdoors with my rags to clean the bike. It got dirty from the rain today – and we must lube the chain after a day like today.

All in all this was a great day. I feel very, very blessed! I have ridden my bike 1,568 total miles these past 3 weeks. I can’t believe we are already in South Dakota! This group of 60 people is the best. I would describe these people I am riding with each one having these characteristics: Committed, Dedicated, and Determined. And we certainly are in love with getting from point A to point B on a bicycle! And nobody whines! Whiners would not last long on something like this.

Road Kill: bunnies, antelope, deer

Bananas: Yummy. 2