Newest Future Coast to Coaster??

This fine looking young biker is my grandson Aidan Patrick who lives in Viera, Florida. A cell call from my daughter Kim while I was crossing South Dakota last week changed my plans immediately. I was graciously returned 90 miles to Rapid City by Cycle America staffer Matt to fly to Florida where my wife Susan had come down with an unknown, life threatening illness while visiting Aidan and his family. It has been a week of serious lows and slow but sure progress. After a week in the cardiac unit in Rockledge, Susan is now getting stronger each day. We bought Aidan his first "big boy's bike", a two wheeler, and he was off and riding! A future Coast to Coast rider? Maybe, because he wanted to go to bed with his helmet on the first night!!! If all continues to go well for Susan, I plan to rejoin my friends Sandy, Mike and Bob in Ludington, MI next week on Sunday to finish the final three weeks of the cross country tour. Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers for Susan and me!

Hydration Critical

Here Mike and Sandy drink water left for us by our support staff of Cycle America. Since we are in such desolate areas of the country as we tour, obtaining safe drinking water is critical for our personal health. We consume about 32 ounces of water an hour (one to two water bottles) and we cannot take the chance of getting dehydrated. Sandy and I use backpacks that have water tanks that hold as much as two water bottles with the benefit of having a tube that we can get water from easy. Cycle America leaves the containers for us every 15 to 25 miles and we are told where they will be each day. This is the road leading to the Badlands.

Riding on the Moon

If you've traveled through the Badlands of South Dakota you'll recognize the moon like crust of the earth behind Sandy and Mike as they speed along the road into the interior sections of the Badlands. What is amazing is that just 100 miles west we had mountains and forests!

Entering the Badlands of S. Dakota

Here Sandy takes a moment to stop in front of the National Park sign for the Badlands. Sandy, Mike and I rode for 89 miles into Interior, S. Dakota to a camp ground. Temps were in the low 90s with little humidity.

800 Foot Climb for Two Miles - Worth It !!!

We decided to skip our lunch stop on this day and instead climb to the top of Mount Rushmore. I made it 1.75 miles before I just ran out of energy and walked the last quarter of a mile to the monument in granite. Here I am in front of this amazing structure honoring Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. Any idea why Jefferson's head is tipped to the air more than the others? (Had they not tipped his head back some his nose would have been built over a huge crack that would have fallen apart quickly when weakened by sculpturing!). This day was 89 miles!

Needles Highway - Tall Needle-like Rock Formations

In all of my 30 years on a bicycle I cannot remember riding along such a remarkable highway as Needles Highway in S. Dakota. After climbing the highway pass for over an hour we started seeing these rock formartions everywhere, many with holes in them that made the structures look like large needles several hundred feet into the air.

Pig Tail Turns on Needles Highway

Here my riding friend Sandy comes under the bridge that is part of a pigs tail turn, one of three, that we had coming down from the 6,000 foot mountain top. To put these heights into perspective, our home sis at 700 feet and when we are in Cincinnati near the river we are about 400 feet above sea level. We climbed from 3,000 feet to the 6,000 on this mountain then dropped for a half hour, some 2,700 feet! These pig tail turns were necessary to make the road fit the terrain!