Day #51 (6/26/24) – Bike Across America

Last night after dinner and doing my laundry at the laundromat next door to my hotel, I couldn’t keep my eyes open and went to bed at 8:00. So, I woke up early too – 4:00.

The hotel I was staying at was kind of a dump, and my legs felt good, so decided to ride instead of taking a rest day. I made hotel reservation for Hot Springs, SD, which was less than 60 miles away. I planned to bike easy today.

I left the hotel at 5:30 and went to McDonald’s for breakfast. I bypassed the hotel breakfast, because I was sure it would be poor. Then over to Walmart for some supplies. I was biking by 6:15.

It was cool to start, with a temperature of 60 degrees. Forecast to get to 84 and be sunny. The wind was blowing at 10 mph in my face, which slowed me down some. But I had plenty of time and just downshifted and went slower.

As I climbed the hill out of Chadron, I could see the buttes of western Nebraska to my south and west. I’ll put a picture here, but it may be hard to see.

I was heading north today, so instead of buttes, I was biking through the prairies to start my day. The two-lane highway I was on was on a ridge. While that wasn’t good for my headwinds, it did offer some amazing views of the prairies. I stopped my bike several times just to take it all in. Here are some pictures.

This Yellow Sweet Clover was blooming everywhere, and added a yellow swathes to the prairie.

After a couple of hours I crossed over into South Dakota.

The crossing into South Dakota was over a big hill. There the two-lane highway, that didn’t have much traffic, turned into a four-lane highway without much traffic. Also, I got my first glimpse of the Black Hills.

The shoulder was under construction for most of the way, but with so little traffic it was no problem riding on the road. If you couldn’t see the Black Hills in that previous picture, here is a close up from further down the highway..

I stopped at the only gas station in the first town I came to in South Dakota and had first lunch. I chatted with the cashier for a while and her dog really liked me.

I had to navigate some road construction, where the highway was down to two lanes without a shoulder to ride on. They were working on a bridge. I biked in the lanes that were closed to traffic until right before the bridge. Then waited for a break in the traffic to get over the bridge without holding up traffic. Then I was back biking in the closed lanes. I passed a Sheriff while I was biking in the closed lanes, but he didn’t do anything.

Second lunch at a gas station five miles outside of Hot Springs. Then I was at my hotel by 12:30. Luckily, I was able to check into my room early and get a shower. Then I walked around Hot Springs to check out the town and eat first dinner.

I’m pretty sure there is a second dinner in the near future. 😀

For the day, I biked 56 miles and climbed 1,500 feet. My legs continue to feel good, and it looks like I’ll be biking on the Mickelson Trail tomorrow.