Gillette, WY. Today was a stellar ride. We rolled out with a strong start, maintaining about 22 mph average into mile 14 of our total 80 miles. We ended up flying over the gentle grades through various railroad towns, and having lunch at mile 60. The wind changed directions for the post-lunch ride, and we slowed it down until we arrived in Gillette. We arrived to some oppressive heat, and cooled off with delicious ice cream from a vendor in the parking lot (they must have known we were coming).
The rec center we're staying at is awesome! We had full showers, and were able to enjoy some of the indoor sports offered, including basketball and soccer. To celebrate the fourth of July, we'll watch Gillette's firework show. Nick draped a flag over his bike for patriotism, and Nick, Praveen and I sang America the Beautiful at lunch. We had to provide the music, since the car battery had died from overuse without enough time to be fully re-charged. A kind man with a nice diesel truck jumped our car, and we were back in business. Unfortunately, we had to miss the Devil's Tower, one of the first National Monuments. The columnar joints look awesome in pictures. Check them out in Google images!
Until then, John