A spectacular ride today; I am glad that I am feeling well enough to have done it. We headed out of Custer on the Needles Highway, which leads past Sylvan Lake Resort, Cathedral Spires and other rock formations, and through several one-lane tunnels cut through the sides of the mountains. Later, the Norbeck Scenic Parkway showed far-away views of Mt. Rushmore, and curved through pig-tail spiral bridges. There were more killer climbs and descents than we could count, including a two-mile climb up a 10% grade to get to Mt. Rushmore. The final 20 miles were seemingly endless rolling hills, finally leading to Southwest Middle School in Rapid City, for a total of 71 miles for the day.
This is my second day of not taking of of the painkillers, and I’ve felt fine, so I’m taking that as a good sign. I did feel pretty exhausted during that final 20 miles, but I found out later that was the case for everyone. Some people who came in later were caught in a hailstorm.
Dinner at the school was catered by the local Great Wall Chinese Restaurant. The showers were nice and hot.
Filed under: Coast to Coast 2004 |
Miles 4 Melanoma 
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