South Dakota!

By the time I get around to updating my blog, i always seemed to be pooped and then I forget everything i meant to include. I'll do my best to remember all the important things from the day.

I was just having one of those days where I just wanted to ride by myself at my own pace and just ride and think and enjoy the scenery. I'm interested to upload my data from my gps watch because I wouldn't be surprised to see an average of 18-20 mph for these 80+ mile days once you take out the slow starts. I enjoy the fast pace lines, but sometimes I just want some Suzanne time. :)

The day started off with a lovely catered breakfast from the Senior Center- quiche, oatmeal, granola, sausage, chocolate milk, orange juice, and cinnamon rolls the size of your face! It was great! Kristin, Timmy, Izzy, and I were the last four to roll out. The ride began with some long rolling hills and then after 11 miles, we entered South Dakota! My third state for the trip! After taking pictures with the sign, i took off on my own. We were going through the black hills of South Dakota and were headed to Custer for lunch. Sue turned off route to go to Jewel Canyon without me realizing it, so I ended up in front. As I was getting closer to Custer, I saw a cute little place that i wanted to stop at to look for a state pin and keychain. I'm collecting pins in the states that we visit, but I'm kind of failing since i have multiple pins from some states. Struggle. Isang is doing much better in only collecting one pin from each state.

After my little adventure at Four Mile, I headed into Custer for lunch. PB&J, of course! Then I headed out on my own again, but I ended up catching up to Tim and George, Sue, and Izzy caught up to me. We ended up forming a pace line, which was fine. I had enjoyed my time riding alone, but friends are always fun too. We had an incredible descent through Custer State Park, but we didn't get to see any bison. :(. We did see some mountain goats successfully cross the street. :). We stopped at a gift shop towards the bottom of the hill to get ice cream and just check it out. I was pleases to find a South Dakota keychain for Cilla's collection. After our brief little break, we continued on our way to mile 60 for Frank's water station. It was really cute that he was wearing a bike chain bracelet that i had given him earlier in the day. The crew is awesome!

After refilling on water and sun chips, we went on out way to Rapid City with a great tailwind. We've been very lucky so far with favorable weather. We were flying, and I was struggling to keep up. What kept me moving was knowing that tomorrow is our rest day. The five of us ended up being the first into Rapid City, and we stopped at a gas station to get drinks. Then we made our way to the School of Mines and Technology, which is where we will be staying for the next two nights.

After settling into the room and unloading the gear truck...oh, and showering, I set out to find a bike shop to get a new seat. I found one less than a mile away, and it worked out perfectly! They measured my sit bones and picked out a saddle. I had them put it on my bike so that i could test it out, and I immediately knew it was much better! Unfortunately, the ride director is not as optimistic as me and said that it won't be comfortable on a 100 mile ride...but I don't really believe here. This new seat is a million billion gajillion times better than what I was riding on. I'll let you know how it goes.

It was still early, and I had 2 hours until dinner. I asked if there was anything to do, and they didn't really have any good suggestions. So, I got directions to the mall that was supposed to be less than 2 miles away. False. It was more than 2 miles and completely uphill. Haha, struggle. But I made it...and almost died several times with all the traffic...but I made it. Once I got there, I realized that I had no reason to be at the mall and didn't need anything. I went in anyway and just walked around looking really cool wearing spandex and glittery jelly flip flops and carrying a helmet and biking shoes. Fantastic. I ended up getting two t-shirts for camp since I only brought 3 and the next stretch is 6 days without a rest day. This stretch of 5 without a rest day was a little bit of a struggle in terms of having enough clean clothes.

After my big purchases of the day, i began my journey back to the dorms...not really remembering how to get back. Struggle. Luckily I made all the right turns, and I made it back in one piece! Dinner was provided by the cafeteria here, and isang and I made great plans for tomorrow. Go to the movies and sit in the dark theater in cushy chairs and eat popcorn. We're even considering seeing multiple movies. And I'm also going to go to Mount Rushmore. And organize my life. I just did laundry, and it is currently hanging across the room to dry. It is quite the sight.

I think that pretty much covers everything. Oh, I got a sun burn today...I promise i put on sunscreen! It's not too bad, but sun burns are never good. Oh well, I guess it will just make my awkward tan lines even more attractive. And P.S.- my tan lines are coming along rather well...just in case you were wondering.

Love from SD,
Suzanne

(251) Minnie Mouse strawberry fruit bars from Disney (252) sneaking candy onto the movie theater (253) long summer days (254) trying to play the harmonica (255) playjng the kazoo better than the harmonica (256) being happy (257) hope (258) summer beach houses (259) Ordinary, Kentucky (260) bendy straws (261) clean bikes (262) locking little fingers (263) warm cookies and cold milk (264) red velvet bows with long streamers (265) making wishes (266) wishing coming true (267) reusable water bottles (268) laughing at myself (269) reading out loud (270) abracadabra (271) all the tiny bumps that make up a basketball (272) a friendly smile from a stranger (273) toasty warmth (274) hybrid cars (275) a love you can count on