Cycle Across America – Day 38

Moorcroft to Sundance

66 miles / 3776ft climb

To suggest that Devils Tower is an incredible sight would be an understatementt. Realising that we were within 10 miles of it but we hadn’t factored a visit into our plans, none of us felt we could miss this natural phenomenon. So, we replanned our route, adding 20 miles and 1,000ft of climb to an already hilly long day.

Setting off at 6am, we agreed to tackle the day in two parts. The first part to take us to Devils Tower. The second to our destination, Sundance.

It did indeed turn out to be a day of two parts. In the morning, there was little evidence of the torrential rain or thunderstorm that had awoken us last night. In fact the weather was perfect. A few clouds, lots of sunshine but not too much and a light tailwind. The hills were manageable this morning and I could sustain the 9% which until now would cause me to stop and catch my breath. Without doubt I am fitter, stronger and have more stamina than I did a month ago. My Parkinson’s symptoms rarely affect my cycling at the moment. In fact, my Parkinson’s symptoms are as good as they have been for a long time and today feels great.

Aware that the visit to Devils Tower would add significant hills, we left our heavy panniers under some hedgerow as we took the turnoff for Devils Tower and returned to pick them up when we had finished the tourist bit and climbed back uphill to rejoin our route to Sundance.

Part Two

Following lunch, we congratulated ourselves on such a beautiful day and what good time we were making. Clearly a hex. It wasn’t long before the sky was black and we were caught in a torrential rain storm. Taking cover under some trees initially until we realised there was thunder and lightening, we attempted to cycle along the road for a minute or so further but it was clear we couldn’t cycle in these conditions.

We pulled into the first driveway we saw and took shelter under some garage eaves but as the storm worsened, the garage eaves proved no shelter for us. We ran to what looked like an empty house to use the veranda for shelter. The house wasn’t empty. An old man sat in his living room and looked startled as we all arrived. His wife came and spoke to us through the door. Very polite but clearly not going to invite us to shelter inside which was entirely understandable.

Within half an hour, the storm had abated, soaking wet, we were able to cycle the last 15 miles to our accommodation for the night, a basic, tiny cabin on the edge of the mountains. Exhausted, cold and wet, we managed a change of clothes, a quick bite to eat and we were just glad of somewhere clean and dry to put our heads for the night.

I am reminded today that it was with good reason that I said ‘no’ to camping during this adventure!