A Day in the Life of Monica

by Monica Busby

It’s 5:23am, I managed to hear my phone alarm go off…Yes! The last ride of the week and we are off for 2 days straight in Rapid City, SD! I managed to get up 10 minutes later after staring at my floor mate, Michael L., still soundly asleep as the hustle and bustle of shoe clips didn’t budge him one bit.  6:00am rolls in…time for breakfast! I’m still amazed by my fellow riders who have already eaten, while I’m just picking up my bowl of cereal. I’m on TIME People!! They are so over-efficient!


Time to record my Day 36 Morning Roundup Edition on Facebook. Gerry Bear and Big E (Everett) getting their stretch on….Glad to see that my cycling family have come to embrace my interviews and are no longer camera-shy. Lindsey B has perfected my "PEACE" expression for me…my signature ending to every video. Love it!

Little did I know what beautiful surprises await for me as we cycled 86 miles from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to Rapid City, SD. After I managed to outmaneuver 3 dog chases, I was WOW’d by the beauty Badlands National Park offered! I really think its name didn’t do it justice! Experiencing a National Park by bicycle is something special alright. Probably my favorite FCBA ride to date! Hardly any winds, if there was, it was tailwind…some dark clouds, but glad it didn’t rain, and half of our ride was a decline…add the beautiful surroundings and cool friends… I got myself the perfect cycling ride! I absolutely loved it! 

I also passed thru a ghost town from 1906 on Bombing Range Road. Interesting to find a 2-person prison…

Not only was this ride fabulous, we topped it off by seeing Mt. Rushmore’s lighting ceremony! This was my first time seeing the national monument and I absolutely loved the fun facts I learned along the way, feeling proud to be an American, especially an American Military wife. This is what Mt. Rushmore truly means…

"The Four American Presidents carved into the granite of Mt. Rushmore were chosen by the sculptor to commemorate the founding, growth, preservation, and development of the United States. They symbolize the principles of liberty and freedom on which the nation was founded. George Washington signifies the struggle for independence and the birth of the Republic; Thomas Jefferson the territorial expansion of the country; Abraham Lincoln the permanent union of the States, and equality for all citizens, and Theodore Roosevelt, the 20th century role of the United States in world affairs and the rights of the common man."

Rapid City…2 days off!  More adventure awaits!  In the meantime, PEACE OUT Peeps!
 

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