In addition to endless views over gorgeous rolling hills, highlights included cycling to/through/across Devils Tower, Spearfish Canyon, Mount Rushmore, Iron Mountain Road, Needles Highway, herds of free-roaming wild buffalo, mountain goats, horses, and cattle, and the towns of Spearfish, Lead, Rapid City, and Hill City. These are some of the biggest climbs and highest elevations in this part of the continent, through a mixture of beautiful rolling grasslands and granite peaks whose summits reach over 2200 m, with multiple paved cols over 1900 m.
I drove from Winnipeg to Devils Tower with my mother, Christiane, 1100 km passing through Manitoba, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. We met on the road once or twice a day, and at the hotel after each day's ride.
Despite riding over 400 km of incredible cycling terrain in a popular US tourist desination, amazingly (sadly) I only encountered two or three other cyclists during my four-day cycle tour. Some large climbs (eg, on Day 1) don't even have Strava segments.
Riding a shorter distance worked well for the first day, allowing us to drive 250 km in the morning to reach Devils Tower, start riding before 11:00, and finish at 3:20.
After a long day in the saddle with lots of satisfying vertical, I checked in to the hotel, showered, changed, before enjoying steak and beer at the Mt Rushmore Brewing Company.
I booked hotels 24 hours in advance, once I arrived at my destination for the night and checked the next day's weather. I had planned each day's route months prior, starting and ending each day in larger towns. I rode the routes as planned; there were no road closures. The hotels were good: each was comfortable, clean, quiet, and located within walking distance from restaurants.