July 24- We woke up excited this morning! We had a full day of site
seeing ahead of us- first to see the Crazy Horse Memorial, then to see
Mount Rushmore! We took a bike path that led us through untouched nature
to the first memorial, and then hopped on a 9 mile uphill route to see
the faces in stone. Climbing to Mount Rushmore was some of the toughest
biking we had done, which made arriving at the top that much more
incredible. We got honks of encouragement along the way and smiles of
disbelief as we rode up to the summit and to the grand viewing platform.
We enjoyed tortillas and fresh fruit for lunch at the summit, before
beginning the 3,000 foot descent to Rapid City. Upon reaching the city,
we did some much needed laundry and got some complimentary bike repairs
from a friendly shop in town. We stayed the night with wonderful yoga
instructors who graciously opened their home to us and where we met another
cyclist who is touring the perimeter of the United States. We made
grilled cheese with fresh rosemary and ripe tomatoes for dinner, and
washed them down with a tall glass of mint tea made from our host's
garden.
