Now we do not talk of mountains but “hills”. We entered and almost crossed The Black Hills today which are here on the border between Wyoming and South Dakota. Custer was one of the first settlements in The Black Hills because gold was found here back in the 1870’ies.
Between Newcastle and Custer we crossed the state border in high spirits because we did not know how much we had to climb to Custer. It was not that bad compared to earlier days, so just to make us appear a little tougher than we are.
Wyoming has been a good acquaintance. Though it is very monotonous, we have had four very different rides with the climb over the Big Horn Mountains as the toughest butt also the most spectacular. And the locals inform that Wyoming is unusually green this year because of winter snowfall and rain in spring.
Many dead snakes on the road 
View over the Black Hills
South Dakota is our fifth state, so is it not time for a comparison of the states on the six most important variables?
Nevada, Wyoming and probably South Dakota are very dry states not suitable for dairy production. The Central Valley in California is also dry at this time of year but California is now the largest dairy state in the US. Before Troels came, I visited a dairy (eq. to a dairy farm). I spoke with a Mexican gentleman who mostly moved steers from the farm but he was so kind to give a quick tour around and showed where the cows got their fodder and were sprinkled with cooling water. He also showed my the 40 cow milking carousel where a cow enters at a point the circle and is discharged after 7 minutes.
It becomes clear by passing through the country that from a standard American there are many levels of government/jurisdictions. Federal, State and County. In Europe focus is on federal policy and the Democrats preparation for the primary elections but the Federal part is not what matters most for many Americans. More people say that they have stopped discussing federal politics because the atmosphere has become so polarized. There seems to lack a general understanding that “I have my opinion, you have yours, let us see how we can compromise and move forward”. That was also the view of the angler we sat next to for breakfast in Moorcroft.
Crazy Horse
It almost feels like committing a crime to check in at the motel here in Custer and not take the bike up the hill to see the Crazy Horse Memorial. I am not sure, f we will have a glimpse of it tomorrow on our way to Mt. Rushmore. In short it is the native Americans’ parallel to the four Presidents’ monument at Mt. Rushmore. Work on the monument commenced in 1948 and before that there were forces who wanted the Chief Crazy Horse as the fifth person at Mt. Rushmore. Work is still ongoing, so I had three reasons to postpone a visit to a later occasion: fatigue, a little rain and the fact that the momument is still not finished.
Tomorrow there are flash flood warnings for Custer and a risk of thunderstorms. We plan for an early start.
popscycletour.com 