June 30, 2023
All good things come to those who….,.
Pedal hard.
Late start today. Tried to leave early, before the 8 am WarmShowers breakfast, and stop at the KOA cage for a bite. Breakfast was a bit slow and didn’t get out of there til almost ten. I was going to head south from the Tower and take I95 thinking there would be less hills. But a quick look at the weather radar showed yet another severe storm heading directly that way. So I stuck to the original plan and continued to follow the Parks, Peaks, and Prairies route. This follows the amazing canyon carved millions of years ago by repeated ice age floods. The cliffs along the canyon walls are a red clay color. Beautiful pastures lie at the canyon floor along side the small river that now carves its way to lower elevations.
Devils Tower is the core of an ancient volcano, the cooled lava forming upright columns frozen in time. It was much larger at its birth but huge floods from many ice age melts eroded away it’s softer covering and base and formed the huge canyon at its feet.
Since I slept little last night by 25 mikes in I was wiped out. Keeping an eye on the massive storm cloud that was to the SE all day, I knew I was gonna get wet again today. What I feared most was another severe hail storm. And more locals spoke of multiple tornadoes nearby just yesterday. At Aladdin I was to turn south but instead rode an extra half mile to a100 year old general store with the hope of a sandwich and cold drink. Not to be had. The store is old and unique but just a souvenir shop, a tourist trap. One thing I have learned on this trip is what one REALLY needs to survive and be happy …….food!!!! You can’t eat t shirts and ball caps with pictures of Devils Tower on them.
Disappointed I began to mount my steel stead when a local began to stink up conversation about my ride, anc the bad weather they’ve had for the past month. He says they have had more rain this June than they have altogether the past several years. Good for the farmers and tourist as everything is green and growing like crazy. Bad for the cyclist who just wants a break. Well, good for me in one respect. Since there are few roadside trees to hide behind when nature calls, I have taken advantage of the six foot high weeds that now line every roadway.
I asked the local gentleman if I should head south to I90 or continue east on 24. He thought long and hard and said he would continue east as there were almost no hills and once in Belle Fourche the route to Spearfish would be all downhill. He thought extra hard in this as we both decided driving in a car with a gas pedal makes it difficult to truly judge elevation gain and loss. But he was adamant. So I took his advise. I soon became concerned as I was going mostly downhill, and with a bit of tail wind was never slower than about 13 mph. Once topping out at 21 with very little effort. I figured before I got to this Belle Fourche place I would be hit with a 10% grade over some mountain. But no! This guy was spot on. What a great ride. Even crossed into my 5th state.
That storm cloud I had been watching all day was still hanging around to the south do I decided to stay put and head to Spearfish tomorrow.
Beautiful scenery today beginning with the amazing Devils Tower and ending with a nearly flat ride through the bottom land of a green and luscious pasture land surrounded by short ridges outlining the valley. AND……no rain or hail. HAIL YES!!!!!!
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Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 1,362 miles (2,192 km)
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