A memorable 100 mile day. A morning ride through the other-worldly Badlands National Park. And an afternoon celebration and photo-op at the halfway point on this coast-to-coast trip.

Pictures capture only a slight sense of magnitude of Badlands Park. An otherwise open grass prairie suddenly has it’s underbelly exposed in layers of geologic rock strata and spires. A windy road magically weaves a path over awesome vistas, then descends through rocky canyons that you can almost reach out and touch. One of the best bike rides I’ve ever experienced, and certainly a highlight of the tour.

Even some bighorn sheep were enjoying the morning views.

Reluctantly bidding adieu to the Badlands, the second half of today’s ride was a straight easterly shot over rolling South Dakota hills. Rollers after rollers. And then more rollers. Until suddenly, between two hills, I triumphantly came upon the halfway point of this cycling journey from Oregon to New Hampshire. Time for a little celebration:

A strong crosswind from the south eventually turned somewhat favorable for the final 20 miles into the metropolis of Murdo (population 452). A friendly hearty dinner at the Murdo Drive-in, and it’s back in the saddle tomorrow. Oh, and we lost an hour crossing into the Central time zone today. I better get some rest!

~Dan

Have you been to Wall Drug? It’s about 58 miles east of Rapid City, by bike. If you are unable to make it to Disneyland, Wall Drug is a close second. Or maybe a very distant second. A tourist mecca built around the concept of free ice water.

All the rivers on the tour this year have been running high and strong. Rapid Creek, which flows through Rapid City, was no exception. We had to make a few bike path water detours on our way out of town in the morning.

The worlds smallest biker bar happens to be in New Underwood South Dakota (according to the locals). Along with the other Dan on the tour, we were going to stop in to celebrate our Dan-ness – but alas, the bar wasn’t open. I’m not sure there was enough room inside for the two us anyway.

We did some riding on the Interstate highway today. I-90 offers a nice wide shoulder, and traffic was not too heavy. Even so, it’s not the most relaxing bike ride. It was only for about 10 miles, with a nice rest area for a quick bio stop.

A wicked thunderstorm is rolling through Wall as I write this. Evening storms are fine. Let’s hope it clears out by daybreak, for tomorrow, we ride through the badlands.

~Dan

An action-packed 74 miles through the Black Hills today, including a memorable visit to Mount Rushmore.

The day started with a ride-by photo of Evans Plunge, a mineral water park that brought back good memories from my three boys. They stopped here to swim and plunge after dropping me off in Iowa for a prior bike ride (RAGBRAI 2012).

Then it was a steady climb up to Wind Cave National Park. Appropriately, a strong morning headwind welcomed us to the park, along with roaming bison and chirpy prairie dogs. Compared to their city cousins that reside in crowded barren patches along the Bear Creek trail back home in Denver, these rural prairie dogs have more room to spread out and better grass to munch on. I guess the downside for these rural dwellers is they are farther away from the downtown action, and they have to watch out for big clumsy buffaloes.

More climbing up to Crazy Horse monument. It’s still under construction and in need of funding, despite the fact that I bought a donation rock while visiting here as a kid 40 years ago (I’m not sure whatever happened to that rock?). Hopefully, this will one day be a spectacular memorial to the Sioux warrior from the Black Hills who lead the defeat of Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn.

Onward to Mount Rushmore. My rolling hills approach from the backside of the monument was cooled by a mountain shower that seemed to follow me for about 10 miles. It was wet, but also refreshing and exhilarating.

Then, a pleasant surprise was awaiting at Mount Rushmore. Among the throngs of tourists (who gave us spandex-clad cyclists an odd glance), I came across a person who worked on the monument as a driller. Nick Clifford was sitting quietly at a small table in the gift shop with his wife. Stunningly, nobody seemed to notice them – so I walked up and met an authentic man with amazing first-hand stories of excavating Mount Rushmore. Out of the million or so questions I could have asked him – the first one that came to mind was “What kind of drill did you use”? Mostly Jackhammers, was the answer. Turns out Nick was a fine baseball player, and helped the Rushmore Memorial Baseball Team advance to the State Tournament two years in a row. So the second question I asked was “What position did you play?”. Pitcher and Right Field. In part because of his baseball prowess, he was hired to be a Rushmore worker in 1938 at the age of 17.

Mr. Clifford signed a baseball card for me, as well as a small book that answers over a hundred questions that he regularly gets about being a Mount Rushmore worker. It was a true pleasure to meet Nick and his wife Carolyn.

Then, with a signed book and card in the back of my cycling jersey (way better than any Mount Rushmore trinket!), I made the mostly downhill trek into the town of Rapid City where we’ll spend the night. A great day.

~Dan