Sunday, July 22, 2018

Day 15 - Custer to Rapid City SD

Ride Stats:
Distance: 45.8 Miles
Climbing: 3,271ft
Ride Time:  3:20
Temp:  57-82

Today was a well earned active recovery day.  We became tourists for most of the day, visiting the Crazy Horse Monument (carved in side of a mountain) and Mount Rushmore.  We generally took our time and rode easy to Rapid City.  We arrived in time to catch up on things we needed to do (laundry & naps).  And yes, we had strong headwinds again, but with the shorter mileage it did not drain us.  All of us are feeling much better.

We had a voluntary weigh in after yesterday's ride.  Many riders are losing significant weight.  This morning the tour operators emphasized the importance of making sure we are eating enough and staying hydrated in order to survive the tour.  Over this ride I have turned into an eating machine, easily consuming 2 - 3 times what I normally eat.  A big breakfast, lot's of snacks at our 3 Sag stops, a big lunch on the rode, then a healthy size dinner, has helped me maintain my weight within about  2 pounds of where I started.

We are loosing one of our team members, Jim, who is leaving a couple of days early to handle some business matters.  He was effectively the leader of our group, fun to ride with and will be missed.

Not much else to report on today, so just see the pictures below.

Tomorrow we start high mileage days (140 range), so I may be more sporadic on my posts.  In one week we will cover all the remaining distance between here through Wisconsin, then have a rest day to take the ferry across Lake Michigan.  If I can physically handle this week with higher mileage, then I know I can handle the final legs.

Pictures from today:
Crazy Horse Monument

Mount Rushmore


Lots of progress over two weeks

Black Hills Forest


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