Today's ride was an enjoyable shorter ride from Wall to Rapid City. The scenery along the way was breathtaking at points, and refreshing for the entire trip. We were able to see some really interesting valleys and geological features as we rode along I-90, and had a great deal of fun racing up and down the rolling hills. Matt and I were neck and neck in the climbs!
The storm cloud that appeared to our southwest as we arrived in Boxelder loomed large on the horizon, providing the occasional distant lightening strike, but the storm maintained its distance. As we pushed further west, we began seeing the striking change from plateaus and valleys to the black hills. Upon arriving in Rapid City, we were welcomed by the road workers, working to improve the roadways on the eastern portion of the city. We had a couple short climbs to get the directions necessary for our final ride to the church. We were welcomed at the Lutheran church by Bill and Josh, the pastors here, and after a short chat, we went over to the adjacent Dairy Queen. At Dairy Queen, Praveen went to place his order, and 20 certificates good for Blizzards were handed to him! He thought it best to distribute them to the other riders, and we enjoyed the refreshment, which tided us over before an awesome pizza dinner. The local bike shop is cool, and we'll make the most of our rest day tomorrow by hanging out in coffee shops, and watching the sunset light up the rapidly evolving cloud formations that stem from the Rockies. Until then, John