Day 25 - Keystone to the Badlands, South Dakota

We resumed our journey near Keystone from where we left off the previous day. The ride began with a smooth and rolling 20-mile stretch of highway into Rapid City. We descended more than we climbed as we moved away from the higher elevations of the western mountains and headed into the mid-west prairie lands. We made a quick stop at a Starbucks along the route before leaving Rapid City for the straight, relatively flat road leading to the day's highlight, the Badlands! Today, we covered 76 miles with about 1,600 feet of climbing. The first 50 miles or so were mostly open, treeless prairies with a favorable cross or tailwind.

Then we reached the beginning of the geological wonder known as the Badlands. To me, it looked as if giants had built sandcastles everywhere! It's a really cool and very alien-looking area of the country.

At around 70 miles, with temperatures steadily rising throughout the day and peaking at 92 degrees, we encountered a rather unpleasant headwind. It really took the wind out of our sails, so to speak! We'll be back tomorrow to keep moving forward. It seems like we'll face another day of wind in our faces. But early in the morning, when we're fresh and the temperatures are lower, hopefully, it will just be a minor annoyance, and we can pedal our way through it. After about 20 to 25 miles tomorrow, we will enter Badlands National Park and ride through it. That will be fun and beautiful!