2278 Miles Day 3

Today, Thursday 7/10, we had a few fiascoes! We had a great night at the Badlands and enjoyed our interpretive show at 9pm in the outdoor amphitheater; however, the family camping next to us set of their car alarm twice in the middle of the night. Lovely! Then I wake up after Sean and as I drag myself out of the tent I notice the entire contents of the car are on the ground...at like 6am! He proceeds to rant and rave about losing the key to the bike racks. I spent another 1/2 hour searching over in case he had missed them. Soo...we drove into Rapid City and called a lock smith. The funny part was the only bike locked was Sean's road bike. The locksmith picked it for a bargain of $10! We stopped at the local bike shop to locate the best local mountain bike trail. Just out of town was a sweet 12 mile loop in the Blackhills. Considering how little sleep I am getting and the long days in the car, my legs were not happy when I started the ride. I warmed up though and couldn't get over how beautiful of a day it was! Despite the beauty, the thermometer rose to the upper 90s and started to roast me. I had the bonk of all bonks about 3 miles from the finish. The only thing keeping me going to the weight of legs on each pedal strong, that is if I was on the biking and not walking! It was embarrassing and horrible! I kept telling Sean to ride to the car and I would find him. He said he was concerned about my ability to do so and stayed with me. I think I averaged about 1mph the last mile. We drove down the mountain and saw Mt. Rushmore then through Custer State Park thinking we find a campsite by a lake. Custer State Park is BEAUTIFUL; however, everyone else thinks so too. There were no vacancy's. Take a couple with no sleep, a bonking hungry Melissa, and at a splash of Weddell and Huston we have a problem! Luckily, we found a private site off the main road and are happy to report we have showers and a laundry facility! We head to Montana tomorrow and Glacier on Saturday.

2067 Miles Day 2

Today was a long day in the car. We drove over 10 hours to reach the Badlands. It was well worth the long journey through the baron lands of South Dakota. We had a great hike that ended at sunset and saw 4 deer. Tomorrow will be mountain biking in the Black Hills.

1517 Miles Day 1

We left Indiana around 10am. Thanks to Mom for a great dinner at the Olive Garden the night before we left; however, the heavy dinner made it impossible to do any late night packing. Once on the road we remembered what we forgot, which included the tent rain cover in SC, the bike pump, laundry detergent, and my rain jacket. NICE! The miles went fast and we decided to try to hit a group ride in Iowa City, the home of the University of Iowa. It was a typical group ride with about 30 guys, no girls, and a lot of testosterone. We started the ride with dark clouds looming above. The group rode away from the storm in an attempt to stay dry, but to no avail. We turned out of town on a country road straight into a head wind with sheets of rain drenching us. Unfortunately, I got dropped and Sean had to come back and drag me in. We met a guy who had lived in Carbondale during the 1908s and was friendly enough to direct us back to our car. I find cyclist in the back of the pack to be the friendliest and most helpful, a scenario Sean has never had to experience. Needless to say it was a rough ride! Iowa City is very progressive with sidewalks and bike paths laced throughout the city. Iowa is a smoke free state and has wireless at all rest stops. Beautiful country with progressive ideas…a nice surprise! We stopped at a Lowe’s to pick up a tarp in case another storm rolled in overnight. We camped at a roadside RV park, happy to have a shower and laundry area considering we were covered in road dirt and looked like salt licks. We head to the Badlands in South Dakota next. It will be a long day of driving, but the good news is gas is around $3.78 for super unleaded due to higher ethanol content. The money we save on gas will wash out considering the drag of 4 bikes on the roof.

Heading West

We head out for our trip West today. We will be staying outside of Iowa City tonight then arriving in the Badlands for a few days of mtn biking. We leave SD and will stay in Glacier NP over the weekend. Sean returned from Masters in KY. He didn't have the race he wanted, but was able to help Jim deliver the goods. Jim finished 6th in the criterium for Team CTM. Stayed posted on the the teams blog for race reports. Great racing guys! Time for a little R & R now.

Mile 1078

This weekend Sean and I took separate paths as he headed South to visit his family in Columbus, IN and race Masters in Louisville, while I went with my family to our lake home on the Michigan/Indiana border. Locals creatively call it "Michiana." We had great weather and I was able to meet my nephew, Grayson, for the first time. We leave for the West on Tuesday. Sean races Sunday morning so stay tuned for the race report.

Masters Road Race

Sean competed this morning in the Masters Road Race, which was 60 miles. He was in a break for over half the race and towards the end of the race was caught. Another break took off and he wasn't in it. Sunday is the criterium. Check out his new bike from AeroCat! You don't need to make your legs look any bigger Sean...nice try!

Don't Do It!

Out of respect for the cycling community at large don't ever wear neon knee socks, especially to a race!