Day 21
Day By Day Notes From The Road
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This document updated July 24th, 2004
Rapid City to Kadoka South Dakota - 101 Miles
By Erwin:
Today was a long ride through beautiful scenery, but it was (and is) hot, hot, hot. We left at 5:30 to avoid the heat and the first 70 miles were easy, downhill and with a tailwind. By 11am however, it had become very hot already (100f in the shade) and we still had some climbing to do.
The last 30 miles lead us through the Badlands, a bizarre landscape of very peaky sandstone rocks, worn down by rain and wind. After this scenery, we pedaled through 20 miles of rolling hills. Normally this is no big deal, but with the temperature up to 110f in the shade (of which there was absolutely none on our ride), the last two hours were brutal.
On the up side, my bike manufacturer, Cannondale, replaced my wheel and I now ride on a slightly improved new model - all is working well again.
Tomorrow, unfortunately the heat will continue and we have another 95 miles to go. Also unfortunately, there will not be a down hill 70 miles. Instead we will have rolling hills all the way. I am pretty worried about the heat, all the more because the powers that be decided to stick with a 6:30 breakfast time at a local restaurant instead of our own breakfast at an earlier time. So, tomorrow is going to suck big time starting at about 11am. Sweet.
By Lucija:
So you know that the weather is hot, and that we survived the badlands, but do you know how many forms of lubrication a biker carries with him or her on the bike? I counted mine a few days ago with much amusement.
1. Eye drops - my contacts have been drying out in this heat, and the eye drops keep me seeing clearly
2. A&D Lotion - nope, it's not just for baby diapers... this lube works magic against chafing bike shorts. You'd be surprised what kinds of stuff bikers squeeze into their shorts. Other popular options seem to be chamois butter and bag balm. You can always tell who is having chafing problems because their bike seat is shining with grease. Kind of gross, but kind of funny (and very true!).
3. Sun Screen - also re-applied every 20 miles
4. Lip Balm, with sunscreen - also re-applied very frequently.
5. Bike Lube - for the squeaky chain
Photos:
A view of the badlands - these odd land formations are basically heaps of mud that form due to rainfall. However it rains so infrequently here that formations are still standing.
Erwin and John biking through the badlands
Lucija cruising along in the heat