Thursday, July 10th: Interior, SD or ... there is more exterior than interior in Interior!

An eager woman is soon ready to jump on her Sweet Machine. I wonder if I still can find the way - I've once spotted some stones here. We get a view of Rapid City once we got on top of that first hill. 

Our route leads us through the center of Rapid City - on to main street. Here my woman gets a bright idea: "Let's rob a bank... I need some paper money." Her plastic card is gratefully accepted by the machine. It munches on it, making a lot of sound ... and it takes its time... "Woman, this is not good! Your card is eaten and now you do not have your card anymore!", I tell her. She starts to panic a little and she's already making up a plan to stay behind (tell Cycle America staff). "Oooo... ", she says "The bank doesn't open until 9 AM!" Finally, the machine has enough and expectorates the card again - with a note that there is not enough money available. Along Main street I notice different men sitting or standing on each corner. Curiously, I ask one what he's doing here, but he doesn't answer! 

The next stop is the post office. And then we can finally leave Rapid City. We cycle on a nice road with a good shoulder, bringing us past the airport. I know already which people we will see a lot today: Ann and Dave ( a couple now living in California), Alan Bubna and the 70 yr old Eli from Texas. Those are the smells I will learn today! The store (and bar) in Caputa is a jewel: inside some men are having their morning coffee. The owner is a talkative woman. She tells us the movie "Dances with Wolves" was filmed on her land - right across from this building. Inside a wall is decorated with posters and newspaperclips about the filming.

When Ann and Dave show up, they buy the rest of the birthday cake which was just sitting there in the store. I must say: dogs do love birthday cakes and I had a piece too! 

Along hwy 44 I suddenly smell something old - something very old - something prehistoric old: 

this guy is the last inhabitant of the town Creston. He probably ate everyone! Let's get across the Cheyenne River and up to the bluff where Eli is cycling! It's another 10 miles to the very very small town of Scenic. Believe it or not, but a Philipino Church bought this ghost town for 800000 dollar! Just recently! There are a few people living here in this place. The woman in the Trading Post Tatanka is a very good story teller and she will not move to another town!

Once my woman has cooled herself in the trading post, she finds the courage to go on cycling. The route is now taking us through a very small part of the badlands. A sign along the road worries me and tells me to stay put in the handle bar bag - no playing with the other dogs today!

My woman finds this scenery fascinating: it's very barren and not many cars pass us. Behinds us, clouds are gathering to form a huge pack of black clouds - a thunderstorm is building. "Step on it, woman! I'd like to be home before it hits us!". 

It becomes a race - which we win! The town of Interior is indeed very small too! This time, we camp in the town - not in the KOA, which is a couple of miles further. Finding a good camping spot is not so easy - there is no protection against wind or rain. But ... we do need the protection. The clouds drift away! A shower and then dinner, followed by the daily (too) long meeting (which my woman almost misses). The rest of the evening she spends her time taking pictures of the sunset in this great spot! 

Wednesday, July 9th: Rapid City, SD or ... an afternoon at school

My woman gets up and finds her cell phone. "I'll phone my sister", she says while heading towards the rest room. When she comes back, she looks a bit upset - trouble at home? She then decides she's not going to cycle today. Instead she needs to clear things out: trying to get on internet (is very hard in the schools!) and make more phone calls to Belgium. In a hurry we scramble all our belongings together, dump Sweet Machine near the van, talk to Gregg and head for breakfast with the laptop. Most cyclist are already on their way of this great ride (we've done this ride years ago - with that other Belgian Céline). My woman sits in front of the bakery (which is a very good one!) and goes on with her business. The difficult phone calls are for the afternoon, when in Rapid City. When Gregg comes to pick her up, she already feels a lot better. It is sort of different to see how hectic things are behind the scene. It's even getting a bit funny when he drives the loser machine beyond the turn towards Mount Rushmore. Once turned and riding the right direction, we even enjoy the scenery. I stretch out to see if those guys up in the mountain are still watching over us...Yup, they do! If cyclists want to visit the monument they have a 10% grade up! Keystone is that typical wild west town - with lots of tourists. The staff at picnic station is surprised to see Sweet Machine on top of the Loser Machine. My woman explains what is wrong. I tell her to make a sandwich for me - for the afternoon. Some time later Gregg gives the sign to go back into the Loser Machine. "Hey woman, I remember this rolling road to Rapid City. And there, at that campground, you bought a gatorade to get yourself going uphill!" Once at the school we help unload all the luggage - this is fun! After work, I'm hungry and while my woman makes the phone calls, I want to eat the sandwich. But where is it? How hard I even try, I can not smell it... It's gone!!! Hungrily I spent the afternoon sitting next to my woman in the school gym - the coolest place to relax. I'm glad she's already feeling more happy, but I'm hungry! When cyclists arrive my woman helps out, but I have no energy left... I need food. I have to wait until 5.30 pm when food on wheels arrive at the school. Boy - this is good stuff! After the meeting, Gregg comes to my woman with... the sandwich bag. It had been laying on the seats of the back row in the Loser Machine. One mystery solved again!

Tuesday, July 8th: Custer, SD or ...a day of careful cycling

After breakfast in the motel in Lead, my woman must use all her muscles again to go back to the man on top of the hill (remember his picture). Once on top we take a left on a smaller country road with some nice rollers. Next to us lays the George S. Mickelson trail - it's not paved but my woman wants to cycle it, but she isn't sure where it's going. More info on the trail! At mile 18 we can quench our thirst. Cycle America staff does know how to pick great water stops! 

And for those who are eager to go shopping - there is a mall!

The next 10 miles is like riding on eggs: careful, woman, I do not want to fall on this gravel road. A few nasty climbs make our speed go down - way down. But the views we finally get are awesome. 

4 co-riders are also struggling with the terrain and the road surface: they jump in the van which is riding next to them. Even the very steep downhill, followed by steep uphill do not change my woman's mind. Just as we get to the paved surface we join the Shuli-woman! It's nice to see her out riding her bicycle. Together we struggle the last 3 miles to the picnic station at Deerfield Lake.

Staff Shelley and Tom are there to great us with some goodies. Once my woman's energy level is high enough, we leave this great spot. Another climb - all alone again - and then rolling terrain on the way to Hill City. Here I tell my woman to stop at the gas station. It's still 16 miles to Custer along a busy highway - luckily there is a good shoulder. Again, a bike path runs along the highway ... The noise of the cars thundering over the surface of the highway is a big contrast to the ride in the morning. A strange road sign gets my attention and believe it or not...

... a chopper just flies over our heads. Some miles further my woman gets a smile on her face, as she reads this sign:

At the top of the climb out of Hill City we reach the road going to the Crazy Horse Memorial. The rolling road to it discourage my woman to go and visit it. From a distance we take a picture:

Its a fast down run into Custer, where my woman cycles toward the High School. The Green Turtle is placed on the grass fields of the school. A shower for my woman and off she goes to dinner in a van of Cycle America. The dinner is excellent: chicken and ribs ("Hey woman, can I have a good bite?") and ... corn on the cob. The daily evening meeting, where the route for the next day is explained, takes way too long. Once back at the school, my woman feels how tired she is. We crawl in the tent and go to sleep - dreaming of the rolling roads!

Monday, July 7th: Lead, SD or ... now the sitting bones hurt!

I wake my boss in the middle of the night: there's a thunderstorm rolling in. Together we cross our fingers and paws the Green Turtle will be good to us and protect us from the rain and the wind. It has been a while since it has been in a storm! It's still doing a great job. Some riders get rain inside their tents, but Green Turtle keeps us dry! At 5 am riders start getting ready... bye bye sleeping in till 7 am. A wonderful morning sky greets us as we open the fly:

We are one of the last ones to leave the breakfast place. No way we'll catch up with the others. Before we really start out cycling, my woman takes another picture of the Tower:

It's nice to cycle early in the morning along country roads - there's hardly any traffic. Some riders pass us - of course. The first town we run in to is Hulett. Here, some people of the group have slept last night - they are named the motel people. The town has a great western look over it. Somehow though, I have the feeling of being watched all the time and is that an empty spot in that coffin?

Outside town our first climb of the day brings us to the last viewpoint of the Tower:

 A nice donwhill let us fly into the almost deserted town of Alva. An old mine shaft catches our eye. 

A second climb, followed by the descend and we already hit mile 34 and a second water stop in the town of Aladdin. No - there is no lamp to rub! The wind is picking up and we get a new surface when we cross the border of South Dakota. Again, that eerie feeling of being watched comes over me:

The 9 mile to picnic are rather boring - except for this remarkable mailbox, which brings a smile to my woman's face:

The picnic is just at the outskirts of the town of Bell Fourche - please pronounce this the American way! The golf course looks inviting: I'd love to stretch my legs and run to fetch some balls, but we still have a long 40 miles to cycle! 

Out of picnic, my woman's stomach is a bit upset from eating too much. Also the divided highway is very busy - traffic just flies by - using the two lanes going in each direction! So it takes a while to reach Spearmint ... oops, Spearfish. A rather big town and a gas station gives my boss relieve: a gatorade will give her enough energy to climb the rest of the day. What... climb??? Yup... Here we stand at the mouth of Spearfish Canyon. The gradual climb on this winding road in the Black Hills Forest is fun: we missed the rain storm which came through here and now we can cycle in the shaded woods. We view the Bridal Veils Falls and meet up with Alan and a young couple: they have a flat tire. 

Mile 77 is another water stop: the Q-sheets says swim in the lake, but it's not that warm. My woman takes a short break of the bike (the sit bones are hurting). At the Cheyenne crossing store the real climbing starts. With the speed of a turtle we work ourselves up this 2.7 mile climb. A serious looking man is waiting for us at the top. I hope he doesn't mind my peeing here!

It's not all down to Lead, but almost. We arrive just in time to go to the dinner place: my woman sits with all these men - she hardly knows their name, but they look strong and older. The food is not so great and dessert... well, there is no dessert. My woman does not feel like walking up 99 steps to pitch the tent - we find ourselves a place in the gym - high up in the stands. It's narrow but it's away from any possible snoring persons. It was a long day and it was the longest trip since a few years - we're happy! We climbed 6567 feet in one day and cycled almost 90 miles!