Day 16: Sheridan to Gillette

A great 108 mile ride! The weather was again almost perfect with bright blue skys, cool temperatures, and moderate winds.  We followed U.S. Highway 14 the entire way - there was almost no traffic and the road condition was good.  The 62 miles I soloed before lunch was through some of the prettiest countryside I have seen from the seat of a bicycle. Here are a few of the views along the way.

After lunch I cycled with a few others and we just had to stop for some ice cream at the town of Spotted Horse which has an official population of 2 - one of whom served us ice cream in the interesting shop shown here while her husband (resident #2) was out back doing chores.  

As we neared Gillette we stopped to look at the huge Eagle Butte open pit mine where coal is extracted and shipped by rail for use in power plants all over the U.S.

There is not much to say about Gillette - it's a working town where a lot of wealth has been created from mining, but it appears that little or none of that wealth has been invested in beautifying the town.

Tomorrow I am going to spend my 70th birthday pedaling 75 miles to Sundance WY.  There is the option to visit Devils Tower for an additional 13 miles of pedaling.  As a present to myself, I am skipping that option since Jan and I visited there in May.  Only pedaling 75 miles will be a real birthday treat after doing 650 miles in the past 6 days.

Steve