Miles 4 Melanoma

I got on the road with Brian, Meg, Bruce, and Robert around 7:30am, after breakfast at the Senior Center. (Robert had decided to stick it out and stay with the tour, riding the short days or partial days as best he could.) The route took us finally out of Wyoming and into South Dakota. Several rolling hills and gradual climbs took us into the Black Hills National Forest, and to Jewel Cave National Monument, where we took a tour of the caves. Then, it was a short twelve-mile ride into the town of Custer, where we camped at the Flintstones Campground. Even though the mileage was shorter (38.5) than the partial day I rode yesterday (43 miles), it felt good to have the first full day of riding under my belt since the crash. There was an optional six-mile loop up to the Crazy Horse Monument; I would like to have seen it, but felt I had done enough riding for the day. My legs and shoulder felt fine, but with the cold, I felt my lungs weren’t working at full capacity. But the group I was riding with enjoys frequent site-seeing stops, so the pace was good for me.

Dinner was at the Elk Canyon Steakhouse in town. I stopped for a coffee with a few other people afterwards. Most people turned in to their tents early, because as I am writing this, another spectacular thunderstorm is heading our way.

Filed under: Coast to Coast 2004 |