Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Day 4 Nothing But Nets ride to Rapid City!

Today we rode from Hayes to Philip. We bucked a strong head/cross wind for the first 5 miles of our journey, and then turned south. By turning, we were able to use the wind in our favor for a nice 22 mile stretch into Midland. Because of the extra help from the wind, we decided not to lunch in Midland, but to press on. Unfortunately, Midland was the end of our Southerly travels and we turned back into the wind, which by now was much more of a headwind. We made 12 miles and stopped for a great road-side lunch (pics available on Facebook). After lunch we had an absolutely grueling 13 miles into Philip. Windy and hilly. Fortunately we didn't see any rain all day and the skies were mostly sunny.

At one point along the way, I was riding alone and passed by a herd of cattle eyeing me with great curiosity. As I have been known to do while riding, I gave them a couple great 'Moos' which to my surprise started a mini stampede! The cattle began running straight towards me and I didn't think the measly 3 foot fence was going to do anything to stop them! I had several thoughts racing through my mind, but luckily they stopped at the fence as abruptly as they starting running. I should really rethink my roadside antics ;)

Philip is a bustling town of 800, and the people at the church have treated us well. A great meal of Indian Fry Bread Tacos and homemade brownies made the ride seem like a distant memory. We had great shower facilities at our disposal at the local ambulance garage and I was able to launder my smelly cycling clothes at a local laundromat.

We are anticipating tomorrow's ride to Wall. A very short 30 miles with the wind predicted to be a very brisk TAILWIND! C'mon weather guys, come through for us!!

A huge THANK YOU to my mom and dad for driving the support vehicles all the way from Madison to Philip!!! We will meet our new driver tomorrow morning, and I'll check in again from Wall Drug U.S.A!!

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