Hard Day of Downhills

Today I am emotionally drained.  We rode 92 miles from Lusk, WY to Hot Springs, SD.  While there were many miles that were fun, it has been overshadowed by 4 terrifying downhills.  We climbed a bit today.  At the top of the first climb was a sign that said "6% grade, next 1.5 miles" and it was going down.  I had no choice, so I went.  At the top of the next climb, the sign said "trucks check your breaks".  This time I was about 2.5 miles from the hotel and I was ready to be finished.  It felt like it was never going to end.  I was getting closer to town and the next sign said "Hill 9% grade"  - at this point I yelled "holy shit" because I was going too fast to do anything else.  I got to the hotel about .5 miles later and I was quite shaken from the day.  Overall, the downhills that have left me drained probably were about 20 minutes of my entire 7 hour trip and yet I'm still quite shaken.  When I got to the hotel, I headed over to Dairy Queen and many of my co-riders were enjoying their treats.  They congratulated me and were so excited that I made it through all of the downhills.  Hopefully, in a few days I will see the positive in all of this and be proud of my accomplishment.  Right now, I've been pushed beyond my limits and need some time to chill.

There were some highpoints of the day as well.  We crossed into South Dakota.  I can't believe we have biked across 3 states already.  I reached my highest MPH today (not surprising) at 35.2 MPH.  And I actually cleaned and lubed my bike, all by myself - OK with help from Matt, but now I think I can do it by myself next time.  Of course after a day like today, I brought my bike to mechanics to make sure everything is OK with my brakes for tomorrow when we climb up to Mt. Rushmore.  I am excited for the climb but I can guarantee you I will not be going down the 10% grade downhill.

Entering South Dakota - Having a good day...so far.