Pacific to Atlantic at 10mph

 As the title of the post says, this is the last day of the ride for me.  I've decided to ride to Gillette and pack up the bike and fly home.  This is just not the trip for me.  I followed the blog of other riders who were doing 70-75 miles a day and figured I could do that too.  But it's just too many miles for me.  Riding 70-75 miles on a good day can take 7.5 - 8 hours.  Add in some wind or hills and then it can be 8.5 - 9 hours.  That's exhausting.  That results in a routine of riding all day, getting to my destination, taking a shower, washing my clothes and hanging them to dry, eating dinner, and going to bed.  Only to do it again the next day.  There's no time to go on a walking tour, stop at area attractions, or visit a museum, or anything like that.  Of course, all of this is just due to my poor planning.  I honestly don't know what I was thinking when I put in all those 70+ mile days (even some 80+ mile days)....

 75.4 miles to Clearmont.  Another long day on tap. I got up before 6 and was on the road at 6:30.  It was cold and the wind was blowing already.  I had on every piece of clothing I brought with me and I was still cold.  One big problem is that as I am working hard going uphill I am hot and sweating.  Then the wind starts to evaporate the sweat and all of a sudden I'm freezing.  It's a challenge to maintain temperature regulation.   Despite what the girl at the lodge said yesterday I reached the top in 12.1 miles.  It was too cold to stay up there so I took a quick picture and started the descent. The descent from the mountain top was crazy.  As the road wound itself around the mountain, the wind would sometimes be at your back and other times right in your face.  Going downhill my speeds ranged from 6.7 MPH to 40 MPH.  About 28 miles from the top of the hill I met 3 cyclists going up and we chatted for a few minutes....

 64 miles to Deer Haven Lodge. Got up early (of course) and had breakfast at a local bar/cafe and hit the road.  The first 46 miles were relatively calm and took me to the town of Tensleep.  I saw some interesting rock colorations and formations along the way. Once in the town of Tensleep I stopped at a convenience store to refill my water bottles for the upcoming climb to Powder River Pass.  I had 18 miles to go and 16 were up a mountain. Here the road starts heading uphill. Signposts along the way indicated what type of rock you were seeing and it's relative age.  (Really old!!) From the beginning of the climb it took me 3 hours and 40 minutes to reach my campsite.  I was wiped out.  Even my diaphragm hurt from so much deep breathing.  I went into the lodge to register for the night and I asked the girl behind the counter "How much further to the top of this mountain?".  She said "You have more climbing to do tomorrow than you did today"....