Biking, Day 17: August 2, 2009

Day 17: Newcastle, WY to Wasta, SD
Distance: 130 miles
Route: 16East to I-90E to Old highway 1416 to the dead end of Old highway 1416 3 miles before Wasta to I-90 to exit 98 - Wasta, SD
Lodging: Red Motel, $98 total rip-off, preying on the bike rally

I woke up today knowing I had a long ride in front of me. The bike rally made it impossible to get lodging in any of the bigger cities - Rapid City, even New Underwood. So, I was booked at a total crappy motel in Wasta, SD for probably about three times what they normally charge.

I headed out on Route 16 out of Newcastle. It was a beautiful morning. The ride was slow for some reason. I knew my first big stop would be Custer, SD, about 40 miles. I just wasn't feeling very fast. I hit a lot of hills, too. I thought SD was going to be flat, but alas, I hit the Black Hills and it was, well, hilly. One of the first big hills I hit was too steep for my bike to climb, so I walked. I went in and out of the valleys of the Black Hills. A lot of bikers passed me, which made sense since they had totally taken over the region.

I finally came out of the Black Hills and hit a long downhill into Custer. Custer was filled with bikers from the Sturgis Bike Rally. I got a coffee and rested for a bit.

When I started up again, I saw that I had 20 miles to Rushmore and 40 miles to Rapid City. Riding out of Custer was all up-hill until I hit Crazy Horse. I decided not to go check out Crazy Horse since my ride was so long for the day. I forged on.

I got to the intersection for Rushmore and started the hilly ride to the monument. On the way, I was passed by *tons* of bikers. Like, a ton. A lot. So loud. After about 8 miles I pulled off where I saw about 100 motorcycle riders pulled off. You could see part of the monument. I took a picture of the monument, and the riders. They were taking pictures of me. hmph.

Finally, I got to the front of Rushmore. It's amazing. I almost didnt come to see it, but I'm so glad I did. It's truly magnificent. I took a few pictures and headed out.

When I got to the bottom of the hill I was greeted by Keystone, SD. keystone is basically a city that survives on tourism brought in by Rushmore. There are fake 'western' little cities, lots of bars, fudge shops, etc. It is the epitome of a tourist trap. It's actually a little like the fake cities at Disney World. And today, it was filled with bikers, which isn't very Disney-like.

They were drinking, hanging out, and then getting on their motorcycles to ride in the 20 MPH cross winds next to me on the highway. Awesome!

I rode out of Keystone up a huge hill on 16A and connected with 16. The cross winds were pretty intense, but I was thankful they weren't headwinds. 20 miles in, I hit Rapid City.

I got a drink at Rapid City and sat outside. A woman came up and started asking me about my ride. She told me how awesome I was and asked me my name so she could watch for me on the news. Ha. she also offered to let me stay at her house, which was very nice. The people who I have met in the Western US have been super nice. I thanked her, but said I had a motel in Wasta.

I got back on 16 and my directions told me I had to get on I-90 briefly to switch off to old highway 1416, which would take me into Wasta. The ride on I-90 was more like 8 miles. An unpleasant 8 miles. Lots of motorcycles whizzing past (probably just a post-beer cruise), trucks, etc. I hit the exit and got on Old Highway 1416 which *was* the highway before the advent of interstates. It was a decent road, rolling hills, through farm country.

It was *hot*. I couldn't drink enough water. After about 20 miles I hit New Underwood. I stopped for a cold beverage. I sat outside and made small talk with the motorcycle riders. one was bitching about how hard it was to ride with headwind and cross wind. i demasculinized him by suggesting that maybe it was harder to pedal through the wind and actually use your muscles. he concurred.

I checked and saw I had about 20 more miles to go. It was about 530. I started riding. I rode down Old highway 1416 and was making good time. With about 5 miles left, I hit an intersection and there was a sign that said 'no outlet'. I rechecked my directions and they said I was supposed to take Old highway 1416 the entire way, so i continued.

The road was starting to get more rough - like almost gravel. About 2 miles in, 3 from the motel according to the directions, a motorcycle came up beside me. I took off my headphones and stopped. The guy told me that the road ended in about a mile. I told him where I wanted to go and he said I had to get on I-90. I was pissed. I thought I was almost done! The mental affects of setbacks like this are hard to describe. After a long day, I just want to get there. To make things worse, it was another 9 miles when I hit 90 because the Old Highway route that googlemaps had given me was more direct.

i backtracked to the intersection that warned me of the 'no outlet'. I turned toward I-90 and got on the highway.

I rode the 9 miles, which really weren't that bad because it was mostly downhill. Finally, I got to Wasta. I pulled off the highway and saw my super crappy motel. I decided to get some food before I checked in because I knew I would collapse upon entering my room.

I went to the only restaurant - Dixie something - and tried to order something. He informed me that they were *out of food*. Like, they sell food, but they RAN OUT. Who runs out of food? And it's not like this place was selling organic produce that goes bad. it was frozen stuff - chicken patties, burgers, etc. I pressed him on the 'running out of food' thing. He scrounged up 5 cheese sticks for me. Fine, that will do.

I took my five cheese sticks and checked into my super crappy motel. Outside was a couple, probably in their 60s, driving from Carmel, CA to VT. They refused to pay the rate the woman was charging. It was completely criminal what she was charging for her rooms, but as a newly-minted MBA I understand her opportunism. She has one week a year to completely rip people off and probably pay most of the year's mortgage. Wasta is totally off the beaten path, twelve miles from Wall, 38 to Rapid City. It had one restaurant which was known for its inability to property order food quantities and a gas station. I understood her blatant abuse of the bike rally.

I talked to the couple for a while - they were really into biking, their son works for Trek. Then I went to my motel room, showered, and got ready for bed and to wake up and go to Wall Drug. I have been seeing signs for Wall Drug for days now. And my running coach in college, Mark Young, had a Wall Drug sticker on his car. Clearly, I was excited. Plus, with 5 cent coffee, it was bound to be a good time.