Today was the last day in Wyoming and the operative word was "tailwind." A wonderful, brisk tailwind pushed the riders along this 106 miles like a friendly giant in the vastness of green prairie grasslands and horizon-to-horizon views. Blue skies, sunshine, moderate temperature and gentle terrain. Wow, sounds like a perfect day! With these amazingly favorable conditions, riders sped into Lusk, WY at record speeds. Terry had the fastest century ride ever and averaged 17.4 mph, with one fantastic straight downhill section where he flew at 40 mph---without pedaling!! I think after the last two ride days, everyone needed this kind of day.
They passed through wide-open country of emptiness---truly a sea of grass and wildflowers, where the only diversions were the occasional cars, buses, or vans on the road, huge coal trains--over 1 mile long---one tiny town (population 4), and some wildlife. A SAG stop in the "middle of nowhere" really got Terry's fancy. Riders saw bears, buffalo, coyotes, deer and antelope, though this was a cause of some concern. They would come out of nowhere and run right near them. Sometimes, deer would jump out in front of a rider who had to avoid it, and keep running across the road, which unfortunately meant the end for two of them (the deer, not the riders) , as they had the very bad luck to run right into a semi-truck that just happened to be passing in the opposite direction. It was a very unsettling experience for the riders.
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| Prairie Grasslands |
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| SAG Stop Somewhere Middle Of Nowhere |
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| Terry Like-y |
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| The Coal Train (NOT Coltrane, For You Jazz Fans) |
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| Definitely Looks Lost |
Terry had a ball today, called it "quite thrilling". He loved the emptiness and the vastness. Yesterday's Rest Day was very, very helpful. He felt rejuvenated and fully refreshed. His back is fine. He went to town for lunch in Lusk and found what he called an "American Icon"---a drive-in restaurant. However, he didn't drive in, of course. Nevertheless, he got a real kick out of it, watching people drive-in, park, and have the wait staff come to their cars and bring their food. Lusk, Wyoming is a crossroads place. It is the gateway to the prairie lands of eastern Wyoming (which they had just cycled through) and the Black Hills of South Dakota (where they are going). And of course, Mt. Rushmore, which they will also visit. After lunch, Zippy and other riders watched an old-fashioned parade down Main Street in town, celebrating Lusk's Founders Day, complete with covered wagons, horses, cowboys, Indians, antique classic cars, and tractors & farm equipment. Now, Main Street is also the ONLY road through town and is also the cross-country truck route, so the parade held up the semi-truck traffic until it was over, but the truck drivers didn't mind. They enjoyed it, too.
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| An American Icon??? |
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| Lusk Parade |
Tomorrow, they begin the 8-day tour of South Dakota, with a rest day in Sioux Falls. Amazingly, on Day 25, they will reach the mid-way point (in terms of total mileage) of the entire tour! The map below shows the South Dakota route. Don't forget to also click on the Follow Along On My Ride link, under the Map Of Progress Heading in the right-hand Side Bar. You can manipulate that map to zoom in or zoom out to get any level of detail you want.
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| Midway Point on Day 25......and rolling.......!! |
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