Day 22 – North by Northwest

July 9, 2018

Day 22 – Hot Springs to Rapid City, SD – 73 miles, 6,400 feet vertical 

The day started with a serene romp through Wind Cave National State Park where we were greeted by the sign, “DO NOT APPROACH THE BUFFALO, THEY ARE DANGEROUS”.  Well, that got my attention.  Sure enough, we saw wild buffalo (or were they bison?).  

Did you know that there is a grammatically correct, if awkward, sentence in American English that goes like this:  Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.  Make sense?  No?  Well, you can mull it over for awhile and when you give up, you can check out the explanation here.

We also saw prairie dogs and heard them “talking” to us.  Check out video below and turn up your speakers. 

The big problem today was that we were all ready for a relatively easy 73 mile day with a moderate amount of climbing – 3,400 feet.  Unfortunately (for us), Judy fessed up last night that there was a small typo on the master sheet and that 3 should have been a 6.  Our actual ascent would be 6,400 feet – which would make this the second highest vertical climb of our entire journey!  And … in just about half the distance.  Details, right? Yikes.  

Of course, the highlight of the day was our visit to Mt. Rushmore.  Quite the tourist attraction (and by that I mean, somewhat crowded), and for good reason.   Very impressive and awe inspiring – and that was just the gift shop!  I met Abbe at the entrance and after taking our obligatory photos, we just sat in the “viewing area” and took it all in. 

Leaving Mt. Rushmore, we negotiated a long steep decline at -10% grade, requiring due diligence and frequent braking.  What goes down must come up, and we had some tough climbs in the last 20 miles until we reached our destination for the night in Rapid City.

Please enjoy these photos of the day and don’t forget to track our progress at Where’s Jeff at jeffblye.com

*** UPDATE:  Sadly, we learned that one of our riders crashed on a descent and was taken to the hospital here in Rapid City.  We’re not sure exactly what happened, but it seems he may have lost control, perhaps when hitting some loose gravel on the shoulder.  The helmet saved him, for sure, and early reports are that he will recover.  But, his tour is finished.  Details to follow tomorrow. ***

 

Prarie dogs!!