Broadus MT mile 2270

Bright blue sky, 55 degrees when I start before 7am, and a headwind, 10 to 15 mph. Fairly flat, long views, manage 11 or 12 mph most of the day-- 98 miles in 8 1/2 hours. Does warm up, but still a great day to ride. See antelope, and a very out of place looking turkey, scrambling alongside the highway fence trying to escape into the fields.
Crossing into Montana I met Diego and Wenndy, from Spain, heading to Devils Tower and Yellowstone. They had flown in to Chicago, where Diego had bought the motorcycle on Ebay. He planned to ship it home when they depart from LA.
Diego assumed I was European since he never saw Americans touring by bike back in Spain, where he's a policeman in Navarro. And no, he didn't pull me over for speeding. 

Another Belle Fourche day

Woke up to thunder and some rain, then spent the day watching a long stream of showers move NE across my route to Montana. Tomorrow promises to be a better riding day.

But this afternoon a line of severe weather approached from the west, with a tornado watch until this evening. Storm hit at 4:30pm, with lightning, strong wind gusts, and downpours, even some small hail. Still raining.

Earlier I chatted with my neighbor in the Bunkhouse Motel, David. Busted up old cowboy, living here a year and a half, being treated for a heart condition but still smoking cigarettes. His life spanned growing up and ranching off and on in the Pine Ridge Reservation, and years in Alaska doing construction and fishing (until the boat he and two partners had scraped together the money to buy sank on their third trip, out of Homer). He had been a rodeo bullrider, had broken legs and been nearly gored, but he also explained in detail his gentle and patient method of "breaking" horses-- really using sensory conditioning to establish trust. He showed me his pictures, including some of his "house" on the reservation.

"Beautiful Fork" in the rain.

Woke to fog and drizzle, severe thunderstorms with softball size hail to the south. And a northwest wind at 10 to 20 miles, temp. in the fifties. First day of summer.
Since the next town of any size is over 95 miles away, not a day to get caught out on the prairie. Montana (and briefly Wyoming) can wait.

The small stream behind the "Geo center" park merges with two other creeks, thus the "fork." This was a big fur trade center, before the gold rush.

Belle Fourche SD mile 2165

Strong breeze from the north today, after a rainstorm rolled through last night. Followed the bike path along Rapid Creek out of the city-- site of devastating flood 41 years ago, now parks and a golf course. Then up steeply into the Black Hills, much cooler the higher I got. After 2nd breakfast, eggs and huge pancake, had to deal with 13 miles of road destruction on route 385 -- milled surface, with gravel dumped on shoulder to build it up before repaving. Miserable. After a mile at barely 7mph reached flagman and the stopped traffic. So I asked the people in the one pickup in line if they could take me past the construction. Mark and Connie readily agreed, even though only going five miles, and took me to their very deluxe ranch to wait until they would go on to Deadwood later. Spent a very  pleasant two hours on their shaded deck, relaxing.
In Deadwood I visited the Adams Museum, full of gold rush and frontier memorabilia, including the purported cards (Aces & eights, the "deadman's hand") held by Wild Bill Hitchcock when shot in the head from behind in a saloon. The guide said that a witness reported the cards as actually being "Kings full" and Wild Bill lost both the hand and his life.

And approaching Belle "Foosh" I passed a different commemoration of death.

Rapid City SD mile 2107

In case you're wondering about the composition of the peaks and pinnacles of the Badlands, think sand castles. Very crumbly, made up of layers of  brittle rock and dried mud. Erosion is a constant ongoing process here.
Another hot sunny day and a tailwind for much of it. I took the route south of the park, avoiding traffic and enjoying the long views. After about ten miles I noticed a cyclist coming up behind me, Danny from Germany doing an out and back ride to the park. Fascinating fellow: 33 year old architect, on vacation, arrived in NY and planned to ride across country; frustrated by rains, tried to take his bike on bus or train but they insist bikes be boxed and treated as luggage. So unlike enlightened Europe. His solution: rent a car, sleep in it to save motel costs and carry groceries. Plus he can now see more national parks, take nice rides (and long runs and go swimming since he wants to do a triathlon)
Frankly, I became envious when he listed all places he will see. My linear route contrasted poorly with his leapfrogging and flexibility.

Badlands mile 2027

Camping tonight at the park, after a pleasant day of riding helped along sometimes by a light SSE wind. Brilliant sky, quite warm again in the afternoon, but now clouding up. Hoped to star gaze tonight. The colors in the "castles" -- the eroded craggy hills -- were washed out by the bright sun earlier but really show up with the clouds and setting sun.

White River SD mile 1944

Storms west, wind from north. I decided to forgo Yellowstone, in high tourist traffic season. Mostly, I was tired of Nebraska. So I decided to head north and pick up my 1973 route: Badlands, Rapid City, and the more direct route to Spokane.
Weather fatigue more than anything.
Terrain seemed to change as soon as I left Valentine: open plains rather than sandhills, even before crossing into South Dakota. Casino at border, with much bigger sign than SD's "great faces great places."

Continued my Weather Channel ready TV show, "Storm Dodger" as I outpaced another threat apparently headed my way.

And I've seen so many small towns proclaiming their sports prowess on signboards, it was neat to see tiny White River give equal space to their state champion one act plays!