July 7 – 78 miles through the Black Hills, from Hot Springs
to Rapid City, South Dakota. This
was our last day of mountains until we get to Vermont. Over 5,000 ft. of climbing and a 6,000
ft pass. The Black Hills are
lovely to ride through – forested, green, with interesting rock formations – I
can see why so many people like to go there. Highlights were supposed to be the statues of Crazy Horse
and Mt. Rushmore (see comments below) but the real highlight came early in the
day, as we rode through Wind Cave National Park. There we saw buffalo (American Bison) – lots of buffalo,
part of the largest herd in the
world. When one ran across the
road in front of us (Norm and I) we got a close up view of their power -
awesome. Nearby were prairie dog
towns, with thousands of the cute little critters (and none as road kill.)
July 8 – An easy day - 58 miles to Wall, SD in comfortable
temperatures and light winds, over pretty, very green rolling prairie. In Wall, we went to the famous Wall
Drug – tacky, touristy, but what do you expect for a place that essentially
advertises itself, for thousands of miles in any direction, as a tourist trap. In the evening, since it was a lovely
night with nicely variated clouds, I sat out on the balcony and played guitar
and sang for an hour – mostly to myself but sometimes with listeners – very
soothing.
July 9 – 118 miles to Pierre, SD, the state capital – all of
13,000 people (and pronounced “pier” so as to distance itself from anything
French.) A day highlighted by
endless wheatfields in full flush, some being reaped. While a lovely ride in
nice weather, any way you cut it, 118 miles is a long way, and I came in
tired. 11 miles before the end I had
my first flat – so much for the perfect record. The day ended with a walk in a nicew park along the banks of
the Missouri River (really a chain of dams and lakes in this area), catching
the “Capital City Band” concert – the local community band, playing, with
moderate skill, selections by John Williams – pleasant fun.
Thoughts:
Good Weather:
On a long distance bike ride, you pay a lot of attention to
the weather. I and many others
look up the weather on our computers nightly, and the weather channel is
frequently on. Got to know what to
prepare for – rain (bring the rain jacket), heat (better start early), cold
(bring out the knee and arm warmers), thunderstorms, etc.
As you probably have noticed, weather reports mostly tell us
about all the bad weather – heat, drought, heavy rains, tornadoes,
thunderstorms, high winds, etc. – and the damage this causes – floods,
wildfires, buildings ruined, lives lost, etc. Once in a while there is a comment about great weather for
outdoor activities, but this is relatively rare and always related to the local
forecast.
The ride thus far has had generally very good weather –
temperatures not too cold or hot, very little rain, only one day where we ran
from thunderstorms, winds more often favorable than not. But what also stuck me is how the areas
we have ridden through are also very much the beneficiaries of some really good
weather this year, on a large scale.
Examples:
- The
Rockies had excellent, even record snows.
The snow will replenish the reservoirs of the many rivers draining from
the Rockies, like the Colorado, Columbia system, and Missouri, and provide a
secure water supply, at least for now, for millions of people dependent on
these rivers (e.g. the southwest, Colorado) as well as the huge number of farms
that rely on irrigation water from the rivers (such as the wheat, potato and
vegetable farms we saw in Idaho and eastern Oregon.)
- Semi-arid
areas we went through in central Oregon, Idaho and the high plains of Wyoming
and South Dakota have had above average rainfall and the greenest they have
been for years (according to the Mayor of Wall.) This bodes well for replenishing some heavily used aquifers
reduced dependency on irrigation and bumper crops.
- Temperatures
so far this summer in all areas we have been to have been relatively mild – few
severe heat days, despite what the weather channel says. A nice comfortable summer for most,
which is a blessing for those working outside.
I understand that good events do not make interesting news –
“what bleeds, leads.” However, I
sure wish more people were aware that our weather is often kind to us, and
there is in fact some large scale good news in the weather. All is not hardship, destruction and
global warming. If all were as bad
as the weather channel reports, a bike ride across America would be sheer
foolishness, bound to end in tragedy, yet all is well on our trip and hundreds
do similar trips every year. By
and large, most of us in America reap the benefits, for both personal pleasure
and economically, of good weather.
A little more appreciation in our media, not to mention our hearts,
would be good.
World Class Sights:
There are quite a few works of art and architecture in this
world that are world famous - recognizable instantly to most educated people
and icons of their countries.
Sights such as the Pyramids, Great Wall of China, Taj Mahal, Eiffel
Tower, US Capitol, leaning tower of Pisa, Statue of Liberty, the Sydney Opera
House, etc., etc. And of
course, the list would include Mt. Rushmore, or more accurately the carvings of
Washington, Jefferson, Teddy Rooseveldt and Lincoln on Mt. Rushmore – which we
saw yesterday.
Nearly all of these “great sights” have become, for better
or worse, tourist attractions, and I have had the opportunity to see a whole
lot of them. My observation is
that, for the most part, the sights look exactly like the pictures we have seen
so often. Indeed, the great sighta
are iconic because their very name conjures up specific, detailed imagea in our
minds. However, some of the
sights, despite being exactly what we expect, exceed our expectations – we say
to ourselves “wow, really is terrific.”
On the other hand, others elicit a response of “nice – now I can check
that off”, to “is that it?”
I am not sure why some of the great sights surpass
expectations and others are in the let down category, and of course the
response will be different for different people. However, I do find that those sights that are tied deeply into
an active, living culture seem to move us, or at least me, more deeply, while
those that are static – museum pieces or simply tourist sights – more
frequently disappoint. No science
here, just my observation.
Anyway, for what its worth, here is my reaction to some of
the world’s “great sights”:
- Exceeded
expectations – the Taj Mahal; Ghats of Varanasi; US Capitol; Sydney Opera House
and Harbor Bridge; Venice; Temple of Karnak in Luxor; Angkor Wat; Hagia
Sophia; Edinburgh Castle; Prague’s
Charles Bridge; and Independence Hall (so small, but such history)
- Met
expectations – the Forbidden City in Beijing; Great Wall of China; statue of
Christ on Corcovado in Rio; Parthenon; Coliseum; St. Peters in Rome; Chartres
Cathedral; the Eiffel Tower, Golden Gate Bridge, Wat Po (the Reclining Buddha)
of Bangkok; Chateau Frontenac in Quebec, Toronto’s CN Tower; the Pearl Tower of
Shanhai; and Washington’s Mall monuments to Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and
Vietnam Veterans.
- Disappointed
me – Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, Buckingham Palace, Stonehenge; the Pyramids;
Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris (no religion there, just tourists); the Sistine
Chapel; Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria (the one with all the towers and
turrets used as a model for Disney’s castle); the Gateway Arch of St. Louis,
and the all time biggest disappointments – the Mona Lisa and the Little Mermaid
of Copenhagen (both of which are far smaller and less well executed than you
expect.)
(The list is of course far from complete, and New York
sights are not included, as I have lived there too long to have a tourist
reaction. Also, I have not
included sights I have not seen, nor any of the great squares and public spaces
of the world, as these are a whole different genre.)
So what about Mt. Rushmore – which I just saw? The hype is high, particularly the
closer you get in South Dakota, so perhaps its natural to be a bit let
down. But for me it goes firmly in
the disappointment category. Why? Hard to say, but I think io some extent
its the deliberate icon-making-to-attract-tourists history of the place as
opposed to something that grew from organic cultural roots. Then there is the huge patriotic ferver
of the place – no balance about our nations glorious but checkered history, and
close to idol worship of the four presidents pictured, imbuing them with near
god-like properties - Washington the creator, Lincoln the preserver, Jefferson
the voice of freedom, Roosevelt the energy of the American people. (Yes, the plaques at Mt. Rushmore
really put it like that.) And
finally there are the tourists themselves, flocking in, by car, bus and
RV, by the millions, a majority
noticeably overweight, each looking at the edifice for maybe 3 ½ minutes,
before heading to the gift shop. I
guess the enterprise was successful in its mission – to attract tourists – but
something genuine is missing.
