Friday, July 8th, 2016

Last night we turned the lights out at 8 pm, but it was still bright as day out. This morning, when our alarms went off at 3:45, it was pitch black. Why so early, you ask? We had an 81 mile day with 6,400 feet of climbing, and we wanted to spend some time at Mount Rushmore. We didn’t want to be rushed or climb the majority of our hills in the hot afternoon.

If we’re all honest, I think we were pretty nervous about today. We hyped up the climbing to be pretty brutal in our minds. We all did really well though! The climbs were long, but they were gradual. The toughest was at mile 20 when we rode up a 3 mile hill to get to the viewing point. We got up to Mount Rushmore by 8:30 in the morning, which was perfect because it was not yet crowded. We monopolized a prime photo spot for about a half hour. We also got a glimpse of Crazy Horse, another monument being carved into the Black Hills. It has been in progress for 64 years and is supposed to be enormous compared to Mount Rushmore.

The rest of our ride was beautiful. The Black Hills are very forested and the roads wound through and around them. We were surprised, yet again, at the change of terrain in South Dakota. Additionally, for every big hill we climbed, there was an awesome downhill to speed down. We crossed into Wyoming around mile 77, and had fun at the state border taking pictures with the sign. It has become an unofficial rule that you have to take a creative picture with your group. We arrived shortly after at Christ the King Church in Newcastle. We all enjoyed showers, and we ate pasta and lentils for the first time in a while.

Tomorrow is only a 72 mile day, and we are rolling at 7. We are looking forward to our upcoming rides in Wyoming!

DR