Big Ride - Day 18 - Gillette, WY to Newcastle, WY

Woke up to a prank: our bikes were toilet papered and Saran Wrapped.

I didn't sleep well the night before because someone stole my thermarest. Since it was supposed to be a short day, I hauled ass to get it over with. What should have been an easy, short day was in actuality a long, dragging one. Lots of headwinds, climbs, and gravel road conditions made it worse.

Stopped in Moorcroft for an early lunch and watched as other riders rolled in for breakfast. I found out how close we were to Devil's Tower and debated over and over biking off course to see it. Since my cell battery was almost gone I opted not to. Side note: I've wanted to see Devil's Tower since finding out about it when I was 15. The new plan was to get into camp early and try to get one of the support crew to drive me and some other riders.

Nick was up for the ride, so he drove Doug, Catie, Rachel, Tony, and I to see the Tower. It was pretty amazing and well worth the trip. I kicked myself for not going off course as the country side was waaay better than the route they had us take. We stayed at the senior center, so we had access to lots of stuff: computers, wifi, pool tables, and sleeping in doors. We did a shirt exchange game that night and I ended up with a cool sleeveless jersey.

Went to bed fairly early as I was recovering from the past two days and looking at a big ride the next day as I was going to go off course to visit Mt. Rushmore and some other sites.

Final Ride Stats

Mileage:

76.58 miles

Time:

4:43'12

Avg Speed:

16.22 mph

Max Speed:

26.9 mph

Photos

Prank: Saran wrap, toilet paper, and some bikes

Devil's Tower and I

Devil's Tower, just outside the park entrance

Devil's Tower is HUGE

At camp: shirt/jersey exchange night

At camp: Noah getting to know Austin better.