We decided not to ride today. The Mickelson Trail is challenging. We needed a second rest day, which gave us time to get ready to leave tomorrow. While I did the laundry, Billie went to the local grocery and bought some ground buffalo – for grilled burgers tonight. So Billie took this picture as I was grilling and immediately exclaimed,
“Oh my god, the smoke is getting into my clothes!” She quickly set down the camera (I picked it up) and went to rescue everything.
We’re having a great time … and the burgers were delicious!!
We drove to Pringle, intending to start riding by 6:30. But we got lost and only started at 7:30.
The goal was to ride to Custer and back.
The first 9 miles would be uphill but (fingers crossed) not at a 4% grade.
3.8 miles to the White Elephant trailhead, all of it along SR 385.
Three trees at different stages seemingly growing right out of the rock:
We stopped in the shadow of a gigantic boulder and that’s when you can spot rust-colored lichen and ferns growing in crevices:
Almost to the 9-mile point and time for a little downhill run into Custer – therefore no picture-taking.
Custer trailhead at
Today was the hottest day of the week – 93 degrees by noon. Not my kind of riding weather! We stopped here for a rest break, cold drink and something delicious from the bakery.
Time to ride back. It was now officially HOT! I put some ice in a rolled-up handkerchief and tied it around my neck – that helped. 3-mile uphill climb out of Custer then what should have been a nice downhill run back to Pringle. But the wind changed and we were fighting a 15 mph headwind. Darn. We were both rather spent by the time we got to Pringle. 25 miles total. Ugh.
Rest day. We booked a “Buffalo Jeep Tour” at Custer State Park for 10 am. There were 7 of us plus the guide.
We drove on roads open to the public but not suitable for the vehicle we drive.
The 71,000 acres of Custer State Park can support a herd of about 1400 bison. Every September, the third weekend, the herd is rounded up and evaluated – it’s a management tool to prepare for the annual buffalo sale in early October. The number of buffalo in the herd must be compatible with the available forage. There are man-made watering holes that look like they’re natural, but there’s a nearby pump and well.
A family of Pronghorns:
These pictures do not do the park justice. There are so many incredible vistas and sights to appreciate. After the tour, we ate lunch at
Excellent bison burger! The 1922 original fireplace was embedded with local rocks, minerals, rose quartz, milk quartz, petrified wood, cave boxwork and various crystals.
On to our next stop, the Crazy Horse Memorial, under construction since 1948. The 87-foot face and head were finally finished in 1998, they have a long way to go. This was as far as we got, we were underwhelmed.
Sunday August 8. Barbara, Jane, and Cheryl rode 45 miles! Congratulations.
Monday August 9. Jonathan took this picture of Dani, Kathy, and Cheryl:
Barbara went for a solo ride:
Tuesday August 10. Dani took this picture of Kathy, Jonathan, Leo, and Cheryl:
Wednesday August 11. Cheryl goes on more rides than everyone else which means that – in the past 9 months (almost to the day) – she has pedaled 4314 miles. This is the perfect picture to celebrate her achievement (thanks Leo).
Thursday August 12. Leo took this picture of Cheryl.
We rode south this time from the campground. Uphill again. Still beautiful of course.
Billie checks the tires before every ride. Today, she lowered the recommended PSI – a very good idea as it turned out. There were many patches of sand and the tires handled the challenge quite well.
MM 52. I did not want to climb anymore. 8 miles in 2 hours. I turned my bike around and texted Billie who was ahead of me.
Now for the really good part. Downhill for 8 miles, minimal pedaling, maybe 12 mph. The back tire fishtailed through the sandy gravel spots, so faster was possible but not smart. Less tire pressure was a really good idea. 16 miles total. Tired legs.
The brochure says the trail is generally a 4% grade. So, pretty much, you’re always riding uphill or flying downhill. Hill City is at one of the low points on the trail which means every ride that starts from here will be UPhill. Today we rode north from Mile Marker 60, the first 8 miles were uphill .. I’m not used to this.
We had ridden a very nice 2-mile downhill to MM 70. I was ready to turn around and .. climb back up that “very nice” 2 miles.
Billie had a flat tire on the way back. She only had a short walk to a shelter and the tire change + insertion of a boot didn’t take very long.
Just 21 miles in total, but so beautiful. It took about 2 hours to get to our turnaround and just 45 minutes to get back to Hill City – a wonderful 8-mile downhill run, but not too fast – gravel and sand were definite hazards. In Hill City, we veered off to go to a grocery store. Our saddlebags easily held 2 bags of groceries. Yikes, my legs are tired!
We felt lucky to get a week-long reservation during part of the Sturgis motorcycle rally. Sturgis is just 34 miles up the road. Our site backed up to a gurgling creek and then (noisy until 10 pm) US-385, a major route through the Black Hills. An endless parade of motorcycles all day – quite entertaining actually, I saw a white Jedi Knight go by and a motorcycle that looked more like a missile.
I took a 30 second video and later counted 35 motorcycles go by.
The main downtown street of Hill City is closed to all vehicles except motorcycles, so you can probably imagine, we won’t be going there.
On Tuesday we drove to a campground in Oacoma and today we’re in Interior SD at Badlands KOA. Motorcycles are abundant (understatement) – the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally is this week. We arrived early, set up and went for a drive. I was completely surprised by the beauty of Badlands National Park. Add this park to your bucket list.
We drove just 29 miles from Sioux Falls to a one-night Harvest Host: Porter Sculpture Park.
It was a slow curvy drive on a dirt road through a cow pasture to the fenced area where the sculptures were located.
Setting up went fast since there were no hookups available.
Our view from the “patio” –
The wind was blowing which cooled the air. We didn’t walk the grounds until early evening. Wayne Porter is the sculptor and proprietor. You can easily see some of his biggest pieces from I-90.
There was usually a hand-painted poem to go with each installation.
And finally, revenge for my persistent use of a fly swatter, inside and outside:
arletelouise 