The Illini 4000 on the Fourth of July didn't miss a beat. A couple of our riders lit a field on fire, but luckily the people in the town didn't seem to mind and nothing was damaged. We also saw some great fireworks in Murdo, and Brad lit his bike with sparklers and rode around the block.
The ride after the fourth was a 100 mile ride that went through the Bad Lands. I have to say, the Bad Lands topped the ride through Everitt. Even though there were some big climbs, everything about the Bad Lands is absolutely amazing. We ended the ride in Wall, where we visited the infamous Wall Drug. Ever since we entered South Dakota, there have been signs advertising Wall Drug- "5 cent coffee" "Free Ice Water" "Homemade Donuts and Ice Cream!" How could we resist? Wall Drug was definitely not what I had expected, in fact I found it pretty overwhelming. There was stuff everywhere. Regardless, Wall Drug is definitely an example of how successful advertising is.
Yesturday's ride into Rapid City was really awesome. It was a short 59 mile day, and we arrived before 12:30. Rapid City is a cool town, and has a really cute town decorated with statues of the presidents. We can see all the hills (they're called hills, but they look like mountains) that we will be riding into tomorrow. Even though the hills look exhausting, we'll be going by Mt. Rushmore, so that will be cool.