Pedal On and On...: Day 22 - Meet the Presidents

Hot Springs, SD to Rapid City, SD

Distance: 75 miles
Time: 6.5 hrs
Elevation Gain: 5,577 ft

Today was a BIG climbing day, and it was also a BIG day for scenery!! The weather was perfect for the amount of climbing we did; it was in the high 60's in the morning with overcast skies and only got into to the low 80's by mid afternoon. The overcast sky kept things cool for us, but there was a threat for severe thunder storms on our route, but I only felt a few rain drops late in the ride. We started our day with a 35 mile climb into the Black Hills and a ride through Wind Cave National Park. The landscape was a mixture of Pine Forest, green pastures with rolling hills, scenic valleys, red rock and winding roads. There was a lot of up and down as we road over rolling hills and at mile 35 you can see Crazy Horse Memorial in the distance and at mile 37 was the entrance to the Memorial. The landscape started to change to rocky mountains with hugh granite formations shooting up 100's of feet along side the road. Mile 52 brought us to Mt. Rushmore and the Presidents. A tourist trap, but the views of the Presidents carved in granite were spectacular. After Mt. Rushmore and a fast downhill run on a 10% grade, we reached the town of Keystone (a tourist town) and our 2nd SAG stop. We then had a three mile climb out of Keystone and another 20 miles of rolling hills to ride over before we reached Rapid City our destination for the night. Tomorrow we head for Wall, SD and the famous Wall Drugs Store, a short 57 miles, but the promise of a stiff headwind might make this short day very long.

Link to My GPS Route