We got up at a ripe 5am in Hardin in Crow country and got moving at 6am to beat the heat. Within eight miles got our first flat of the day. We continued biking and stopped at a fun gas station to refill and learned a little history of the reservation before stopping at Custer Battlefield Monument. We continued on to a Crow cultural center with the most amazing art and storytelling of their traditions. The center had mint hanging from the ceilings and fresh herbs everywhere. It was quite a day moving forward, not unlike the tortoise and the hare, where the alleged “slow group” got far ahead of the “fast group” which is really all an amazing way to say how strong everyone has become. We saw some rez dogs and maybe they like women and not men because they just gave Megan a big doggie smile and stopped barking 😂
Later one crew opted for the beloved and hated gravel route, where we found a rope swing and then middle of nowhere Wyoming land with steep inclines and bouncing deer. Just when the regret sunk in, we noticed the view around us and couldn’t have been more amazed.
The day got even more special when the Grace Anglican Church in Sheridan welcomed us into their country club turned church home. We swam, did laundry, met guardian angels who made us breakfast burritos and farm fresh eggs, and who offered to bring us breakfast on the route tomorrow when we are riding. The people we meet are phenomenal and the generosity is moving beyond words, from breakfast burritos to people rolling down windows to wish us luck, or strangers offering us water. It’s a reminder that we can’t do things alone, we need people, and we’re better off together when we just help each other along the way.