June 30 - The Last Day

 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).  I'll just have to come back to this part of the country and visit the National Parks and surrounding countryside in a car with my lovely wife.  That sounds more enjoyable!!

OK, back to June 30.  Surprise, surprise - 71.6 miles to Gillette.

I left the church in Clearmont at 7am.  It was a nice, sunny, still morning.  But, as the last post said, I knew there would be no place to stop between here and Gillette.  So I loaded extra water bottles and hit the road.  I saw quite a few antelope in the fields along the road.  Also a lot of sheep for some reason.

Beside that it was just long roads stretching as far as you could see.

If you notice, there are no vehicles on the road.  It was often 20-30 minutes between seeing a car or a truck.  It would be a tough place to break down.

Google maps lists "Spotted Horse" as a location on the map.  In reality it's just this old store (presently closed).  That's the whole town!!

I stopped here and ate a granola bar in the shade.

Getting closer.

When I got to the outskirts of Gillette I stopped at the first gas station I saw and drank a liter of iced tea.  Then I made my way to Dairy Queen for my reward for the day!!

That was such a treat!!

Well, the trip is over for me.  It's really disappointing to call off this trip.  In some ways it feels like a failure.  But I've made peace with my decision and look forward to getting home.

 Looking at my bicycle GPS unit it says I rode 1,154.6 miles and climbed 53,946 feet.  It's not what I had planned but it's a good bit of work.  And I got to see some very interesting places and met a few nice folks along the way.

Thanks to all of you who have followed along and left comments along the way.

I hope to see you all soon.