Biking Dude Blog

I traveled about 6 miles today.
Transcribed from notebook, July 4: Rest day at Devils Tower. Biked to gate for lunch, postcard, snacks, sticker. Hiked about four miles on tower trail and red bed trail. Red trail very good, best way to see the tower. Met Frank in AM, had breakfast. Very interesting fellow, living the dream of living and working at devils tower. Phone completely shot by now, wrote out directions to Glasgow, should arrive by July 8, when a new phone will be waiting for me at the post office. Will be a fun few days to Glasgow (I'm excited, venturing into the unknown). A fitting way to celebrate the 4th of July. No fireworks (because it's so dry), just the wonder of one of the greatest places in the United States. During dinner, a big wind came through with some rain to the east of the tower. We saw a brilliant double rainbow stretching across the sky, with the upper arc touching down right on top of the tower. Far better light show than any fireworks I've ever seen. Early to bed, early to rise. Big day tomorrow.

I traveled about 60.7 miles today.
Transcribed from notebook, July 3:
Biked from church outside Spearfish to Devils Tower via Highway 24. Great ride, especially when road got better crossing into Wyoming. Could see devils tower as we approached from many miles away. An awe inspiring sight. Camped on Frank's property, haven't been and to meet him yet, hopefully tomorrow. Great view of the tower from camp. Met lots of climbers staying here as well, very friendly and generous people.
Met Juliana at a cafe in hulett, talked with her about the trip and climbing.
Food running low, will need to resupply tomorrow and find a place with power and wifi to plan next several days of trip and make plans for mailing a new phone.
Down, but never out!

I traveled about 68 miles today.
Transcribed from notebook, July 2: Continued phone trouble, trying to get new phone, without communications for the time being. Chris in Spearfish helped us find a place to camp behind his church. Lisa at Blackbird coffee very kind to let us charge our phones and use their internet. Nearby mountain (crow peak), has been on fire for a few days, can see smoke from spearfish (fire on the mountain, run boys run). Great ride through spearfish canyon, on par with the badlands. Hit 45.5 mph on 7% grade in black hills, new record for trip, lots of fun. Kathy was a great host last night, a former helicopter pilot and lawyer. Flat tire in morning, waiting until Havre to get new tires, still have some life left. Feeling stressed, down, but will persevere. Devils tower tomorrow, excited to meet Frank.

So, as you may have guessed, my phone troubles did not get fixed. Phone is currently non-functional, but I'm having a new one mailed to Glasgow, where I will pick it up in two days. I am writing this from a library computer. Finding the local library has pretty much become priority one when getting into town at the end of the day.

I've been keeping a written journal over the last few days that I will eventually turn into blog posts to fill the missing space. Here are some highlights:
- Ride through Black Hills, Spearfish canyon was excellent.
- Visited bike shop in Spearfish, very helpful. I decided to run my tires until I reach Havre before replacing them. A little risky, but 'should' be fine
- Rest day at Devil's Tower. Warm showers host really cool climbing guide. Took a nice hike around the tower.
- 130 mile day from Devils tower to state park just north of Ekalaka.
- Met Dean this morning in Baker. Really helpful guy, filled up my water bottle and offered to help find places for me to stay with his friends across Montana.
- Got a ride with Ty the last 20-25 miles into Glendive. He pulled over and offered a ride because of a big storm brewing. Good thing he did too.

Heading to Wolf Point tomorrow, Glasgow after. Things are going well, hope to reach Glacier in about a week.

Phone trouble seems to be resolved. Not definitive, but I'm feeling much better about it.

I traveled about 55.5 miles today.
Spotty cell service, so this will be short. Nice ride today to Mt. Rushmore, despite a good rain storm for most of the day. Rain system works well, first test of the trip. Rushmore covered with fog on arrival, cleared momentarily enough for pictures, but was lost in fog again when we left.
Black Hills beautiful riding, though hills do slow progress. Staying near Silver City tonight with Kathy and Jessie, our excellent hosts. Phone trouble still up in the air, will know more tomorrow.

I traveled about 98 miles today.
About 15 of that was from yesterday. Ran into some potentially very troublesome phone problems today. Feeling very stressed out about this. Host tonight is Fred, very wonderful fellow who made us fajitas. Also wanted to mention Rick and Dawn, the owners of the campground we used, who were very kind and generous to us. Hopefully will post more when I'm not feeling so stressed out.

Sign from the campground breakfast area. Made me smile.

Fun day exploring the badlands and resting up for the next leg of the trip. Will post more later, going to bed early tonight.

Got up a little before 5 this morning to watch to sunrise, then wrote postcard until 7, when they started the all you can eat pancake breakfast at the campground. I ate nine before I had to throw in the towel. Sourdough pancakes made from a hundred year old starter (or so they claim, that's a story I'd like to hear). Yum.