With Apologies to the Boys of Summer...

Over in France at about this time of year there's a quaint group ride involving about 190 blokes who spend a quiet month taking a scenic pedal around France. Le Tour, as it is referred to rambles up Hill and dale for about 2,000 miles with average mileage of about 100-120 per day. My wife Sophie and I are spending 6 days covering 218 miles and with all due respect to the folks turning the pedals over in France we're perfectly happy with our little jaunt through the Black Hills.

We're back in Custer this afternoon having made it to Deadwood, which is the end of the Mickelson Trail, and then turning around yesterday with a 49 mile day back to Hill City.

Hill City welcomes
you with the
mother of all
benches

The trail definitely is more of a climb heading north so we are enjoying the downhill grades on the return journey. Deadwood is a gambling town, somewhat similar to Colorado's Black Hawk and Central City and the folks up there looked at us as if we were slightly crazy for having ridden non-motorized cycles to their town. Perhaps they know something and Sophie and I really are a little off kilter.

On one of the 18 mile-long climbs going into Deadwood I was passed by my first E-Bike with a little old lady slowly turning the pedals while her steed zoomed up the 3 percent grade at probably 20 mph. I've got to admit that I was a little conflicted. Technically the Mickelson bans all "motorized" vehicles and I'm not aware of a waiver for electric powered vehicles (are golf carts next?) but on the other hand the joys of the trail would likely be impossible for little old ladies, and anyone else, who doesn't have the physical ability to truly pedal the trail under their own power. I know some mountain bike races now have categories for E-Bikes but still it's going to take some getting used to hearing the quiet hum of these bikes blazing past us as they become more and more popular.

Sophie keeps asking me what my favorite thing about the trail is. I can't pick one segment as on each section there are parts that are absolutely wonderful along with a couple of patches that are just long, slow, hot grinds up, and then up some more until we reach the top of the hill. The trail also has a different feel to it heading south than it did north and there's a lot of scenery we hadn't noticed on the way to Deadwood.

As far as we've seen there is only one bike shop along the route. Rabbit Cycles in Hill City is a fully stocked shop run by 5 or 6 ladies (mothers and daughters I'm assuming) and much to my wife's joy they had all sorts of cute Mickelson Trail-inspired clothing and accessories. As if our BOB trailer wasn't heavy enough already we left Rabbit Cycles slightly more loaded than when we arrived. Surprise, surprise...

The long days see us in the saddle by 6 a.m. to beat the heat. And heat there is - talking with one of the South Dakota Parks staff at one of the trailheads he told us he hadn't seen it this hot, for this long, since he's lived here. Thanks much for sharing. Just like the Ride the Fault Line trip we did in June by 9 a.m. our jerseys are soaked through and we're drinking as much fluid as we can to keep up with our A.S.P. (astronomical sweat production). The good news is that with tomorrow's 44 mile ride back to Edgemont, the southern end of the trail, everyone tells us that the temps at that end of the trail are usually about 10 degrees warmer than the northern sections. As always with these rides it will feel weird to be off the bike and behind the steering wheel but certain parts of my anatomy are looking forward to sinking into a plush Toyota seat. The heck with E-Bikes, there's nothing like the quiet rumble of a V-6 engine in an air-conditioned minivan.

Out and About on the Mickelson Trail

Railroad enthusiasts know that the maximum grade for trains is about 3 percent and since the Mickelson Trail is a rails to trails route we knew that we'd be facing long steady climbs as we headed north out of Edgemont. And the trail lived up to that expectation. Coming from Colorado where folks brag about climbing mountain passes topping out at 10-12 thousand feet you'd think a miniscule 3% grade would hardly be even noticeable. And it wasn't for the first 10 or 20 miles. Past that the relentless nature of the continual climb up towards Custer slowly said "Hello!" and what with the 95 degree heat we were mighty glad to finally catch a short descent into Custer and the "Mile High Motel" which was home for the night. We like Custer a lot having visited several times before but the journey in via the Mickelson Trail was a first for us.

Folks say the Edgemont to Custer segment is perhaps the least scenic of the route but the first 16 miles climbing through Sheep Canyon was as pretty as anywhere we've ridden. The trailheads are scattered every 10-20 miles and are a welcome place to find water and restrooms as well as some welcome shade in the trailside shelters. Even though we were starting out on a Saturday we saw very few other cyclists in the 44 miles to Custer.

This morning we mounted up and headed over the hill from Custer to Hill City. This was a short day for us of only 15 miles which was fine as our legs and behinds were a little tender from yesterday's ride. Tomorrow we'll be out at the crack of dawn for the 50 miles to Deadwood which is the trail's northern end. There we'll turn around and repeat as we head back to Edgemont. There is limited camping along the trail and the motels are in the towns so there doesn't seem to be a good way to split the ride into true thirds so whenever we see a short day we know a long day is soon to follow.

The climb out of Custer is beautiful as it wanders through mountain meadows, pine forest, and stunning rock formations. Half of the distance to Hill City is climbing but at the top you are rewarded with a view of the Crazy Horse Memorial off to the right. From a distance the head and face is quite distinctive but the rest of the monument - the torso and horse - seem to have not progressed much in the last decade but that doesn't seem to deter the steady stream of cars headed up to see what there is to see. In all fairness there is an impressive museum and visitors center that is worth half a day if you're in the area but today we were looking forward to the 7 mile not-much-need-to-pedal descent so decided to save a revisit to the monument for another day.

Hill City, like Custer and the other towns in the Black Hills, is all about the tourists. Sophie has a special tie to Hill City as she has a teddy bear on display at the "World Famous", "Guiness Book of World Record-holding" Teddy Bear Museum. Of course, so do more than 10,000 other folks who have donated their own special teddy bear over the years. The stories behind some of the bears will likely bring you to tears so bring a hanky just in case. There's also a very talented chainsaw log carver who turns out carved bears, buffalo, mutant ninja turtles, and all sorts of other wooden critters while you watch. Sophie and I of course had more pressing business to attend to which is why I sit here lounging by the pool drinking lemonade and writing this blog.

Michelson Trail Here We Come...

Six hours out of Denver and you're in another world. The tiny hamlet of Edgemont, South Dakota is, as the locals might say, a fer piece from the hustle and bustle of the big city. That big city now stretches almost to the Wyoming border what with the pace of new development along the I-25 corridor but once you cross the border into Wyoming the pace becomes more sane and instead of tract homes and retail centers one sees mainly the wind-blown prairie. Though I'm sure Wyoming is undergoing its own modest growth only noticeable change Sophie and I see as we head north is that the speed limit has now been raised to 80mph from the 75 in Colorado. I'm dating myself but my first trip to Yellowstone was back in the Jimmy Carter years when the national speed limit was 55. On the way home that trip I received one of my first speeding tickets when the friendly folks of the Wyoming State Patrol nabbed me blistering down the road at a staggering 65mph. Of course in today's world everyone seems to tack on another 5-10 over the posted speed limit so in the great state of Wyoming 85-90 is the new norm.

Getting off the very well-beaten path of I-25 at Wheatland the road that beckoned took us on a meandering path through Lusk, WY and then to Edgemont where we're camped out at the Cowboy

Inn where Glenda, the manager, couldn't be friendlier if you'd known her for a lifetime. Such pure, open, welcoming friendliness sadly takes some getting used to for us city folks but I suspect that 'come on in, we're glad you're here' is the norm in these parts so Sophie and I will do our darndest to adjust. It's a tough life but hey.... Oh, and the rooms are clean and comfy, the AC is downright frigid compared to the scorching heat outside, so what more could we ask for.

Tonight we're packing the bikes and BOB trailer. Tomorrow at the crack of dawn we set off on the

George S. Michelson Trail for a 6 day jaunt to Deadwood and back. We'll pass through Custer, Hill City, and Rockford along the 109 mile path to Deadwood where we'll turn around and head back the way we'd come. It's not often we get to ride a trail both ways so we're looking forward to some leisurely 35-50 mile days in the saddle taking in the scenery of the Black Hills. So enough for one night, pardner, we'll catch up out along the dusty trail...