Day 7, 8 and 9

Day to Gillette Wyoming

 

 

Today was another early day for me and it was a beautiful morning as the sun came up over my back. It was all chilly but more important it was windy with gusts over 45 mph. Otherwise it was deep blue skies and lots of great scenery. It was a lot of prairie but still exciting to me. We went through the Bad Lands and the Lakota Indian reservation. From there we moved into the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore. Climbing the road up to the summit had me believing Big Red was showing his age as we could barely hold 45 mph. I was relieved to learn later that everyone had the problem caused by angle, elevation and strong head winds.

On the road down the backside of the mountain, were I would normally be doing 70 I was working hard to see 60 because of the head wind.

We are now on the down hill side of the Cannonball with only four more days.

I think all our riders did well today but will not know until later.

Thank you Big Red!!!!

 

You have taken on more the 50,000 miles of great joy on the road. I hope we have many more together.

 

 
 
 

Parking lot repairs............

 Really? In the parking lot. A full engine overhaul

 

 

 Gonzo is one of the few that could do it!!  He refuses to give up!!

 

Sloppy Joe decided to take a nap in the grass so Yanabobo joined him. Bill was digging through a tool bag. Scooterista decided of ol' Joe was going to lay down she would change his rear tire.

 

So Sloppy Joe and his new tire brought Scooterista to Gillette rapidly and I am sure she kept her positon in the top 10.

 

Day 8 to Livingston Montana

 

 

Spectacular is the only way to describe todays ride. The longest day but by far, 375 miles, but the best for me. We departed the hotel late because it was a bit chilly this morning for a Florida boy and there were no thunderstorms to worry about or high temperatures in the afternoon. The first several hours was like out of the song "were the deer and the antelope roam" as there were a lot of them. Saw 6 point buck on the side of the road grazing with velvet still on the antlers.  The sky was a deep blue with a occasional wisp of a cloud.

 

By far the most spectacular part of the day was riding over the Big Horn Mountains. Big Red and I clawed our way up the forested east side seeing speeds in the thirties. Then we hit the high planes and finally topped out at over 8400 feet. It also got cold, down to 48. Then we dove off the back side of the mountain looking out over dry lands with multi-colored layers of dirt with the brightest being red.  Sorry the pictures did not come out well.

 

The last 60 miles was on I-80 into a strong wind. The speed limit is 80 but I was lucky to hit 60.  Several riders were very nervous on this stretch but I never felt uncomfortable. The traffic was light and there was other traffic trucks and buses traveling at the same speed.

 

It was almost a 7 hour day but did not seem like work at all.

 

 

The other advantage of leaving later is I got to see some of the other riders. Some passed me and I passed some.

Bill passing me......again

 





 There were way to many of these. They are for snow closrues

 

It is still used

 

 

 We all ordered the Gill's Signature burger and it was great.

.

 

Day 9 to Hamilton

 

 

 

High plans riding crossing several mountain ranges, with lots of long distance bike riders. The whole story today is the sky and here are the pictures.....