Temperature at start: 62
Temperature at finish: 81
Sunny skys with moderate wind
Elevation gain : 5200+
Today was an exciting day for our adventure. Our main destination was Mount Rushmore. And the terrain certainly justified the Mount in Mount Rushmore.
Today's ride started with a climb out of Hot Springs to Wind Cave National Park. Often riders through here see herds of buffalo and multitudes of prairie dogs. Although no herds were sighted, a couple of lone stragglers were seen, including one that even came onto the road!
After the national park, Bob and Erin were off to the town of Custer. Custer was a neat, little tourist trap of a town. Beware of student drivers! (Erin had a close call with one.) The town is most memorable to us because of a steep hill when exiting the tiny town. Next stop: Mount Rushmore.
It was about here where I went ahead and drove directly to the mount and ride the course backwards until meeting Erin to ride to the top with her. Before reaching the monument, I stopped in the car and got a picture of the Crazy Horse monument. Although it isn't finished, it is certainly shaping up to be something special in the future.
Some of the hilliest terrain we had were the hills leading up to Mount Rushmore and Keystone, but the view and company certainly made it worth while. As you can see in some of these pictures, all three have been put up on the mountain.
Descending from Mount Rushmore is quite the rush! The gradient of this particular descent is a whopping 10% for two miles. As I used with care, Bob achieved a speed of 54 miles an hour. He claims he would have gone faster had cars not been in his way, as they were following the speed limit of 25. We stopped at a pizzaria in Keystone and each had a delicious pie. Bob and I ended up with a whole pizza left over between the two of us while Erin, after a hard day of climbing, wolfed the entire eight slices. An additional note is that Erin was the second rider to reach the 57 mile mark at the top of Mount Rushmore. It was a phenomenal day of mountain climbing for her, and I enjoyed riding the last eight miles of climbing with her. Erin, Bob, and I rode the last 24 miles into Rapid City. Some of the toughest climbs were left as we left the Black Hills as we entered the prairie lands surrounding Rapid City. It was also done at a high temperature with a dry atmosphere (not fun).
Tomorrow is a short ride of 57 miles into Wall, SD. Erin and I will ride the entire distance as Bob has agreed to SAG tomorrow.
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