I think the words "Bollox to this" were used a lot today. Last night I checked the map for Custer State Park and it said from the Blue Bell are to Coolidge peak was a 1800 feet rise. However what I failed to register was what that really meant. So I started the day at the sign for Wind Cave National Park and headed for Custer State Park.
So its a slight cycle down hill and then a wee bit uphill at the start. So off I went and my legs were hurting by mile one. Uh! Jewel Cave screwed up my legs! Anyway and hour later and 10 miles into a continual uphill barrage and 20 to 30 mph winds I was a tad bit tired. Still no state park.
Before hitting the state park I had to stop and figure out how to deal with some male bison who had taken up grazing on both sides of the road. A polite cough got them to look and start at me. Gulp! One of them relented and moved to the other side of the road. No cars were passing so they weren't spooked away from the road. So I took a deep breath and cycled passed. Very cool, I didn't however take a picture from 10 feet away.
At mile 14 I hit the park and then the Bluebell area. I nearly died. I had about 6 miles left and hadn't started the big climb. Here is how the day went. Strong head wind climbing a slight incline, then a very swift drop into a headwind (Ice cream headache). Then back another slow and arduous climb with a headwind. So by the base of the Coolidge climb I was fried.
The wind did swing round and help me up the 2.5 mile climb. Then it was straight down the hill into another icy cold headwind which was like another brain freeze! At the bottom my wife picked me up and I just sat miserable for a while.
To top it all I did everything with my Garmin except start tracking. So I was bummed to find I had no data. I have since gone onto the gamin web page and found all I did was climb and cycle in a head wind. Bollox to that.
Always cycle from Custer to Wind Cave if you are on a one way cycle. I think my average speed was 9mph (Again Bollox to that).
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