South Dakota - Day 3
Today I rode 65 miles, about half on the Mickelson Trail and half on gravel roads that seemed like they were in the absolute middle of nowhere. It was a chilly 50 degrees this morning when we got on the bikes, and it did not warm up much during the day.
We started by heading on the Mickelson back the way we came into Deadwood yesterday. This meant that yesterday’s 14 miles of downhill turned into this morning’s 14 miles of uphill. I have to say that cruising down yesterday at 20 mph was much easier than biking up at 9 mph. We continued past where we got on the trail yesterday until we got to a support van at mile 17.
At mile 17, riders had a decision to make. Trek typically offers a short, medium and long ride each day. At the van support, short or medium riders kept on the Mickelson Trail while long riders split off on a gravel road which was the route I chose. After another 6 or so miles of climbing, the road leveled off as this photo shows. This section, after the climb, was challenging not because the cycling was hard, but because regulating temperature was very tough. The wind was blowing hard, but some of the time I was protected and sometimes not. The sky was mostly cloudy, but sometimes the sun popped out. Sometimes, I was biking up a short climb working hard and sometimes I was cruising down not working at all but going 20-25 mph. The difference between biking up a short hill, protected from the wind, and in a pocket of sun and going downhill into the wind with the sun behind a cloud felt like at least 25 degrees. However, these switches happened every couple of minutes. The result was that I was never comfortable from a temperature perspective.
That being said, the scenery was beautiful. After a couple of miles of ups and downs, there was a wonderful 10 mile downhill until I rejoined the Mickelson Trail.
This is the only photo from the descent since I generally did not want to stop. However, I liked the look of the logs, trees, and cliff behind, so I did stop for this. While I can take photos while riding uphill, or on the flat, or even a modest descent on pavement, doing so on gravel just seems like a very bad idea.
Shortly after getting back on the Mickelson Trail, we got to a support van. Because the temperatures were still in the low 50s and the wind was blowing, I did not stay long. A couple of minutes after departing, I came across one of our fellow riders having a standoff with a cow. My arrival tipped the balance in our favor, and the cow turned and left the path allowing us to continue on our way.
This section of the trail went through some choppy terrain. Here, a path was blasted through the rock. However, in other places there were short tunnels.
There were also times where we had bridges to go over the river which switched from one side of the path to the other. This is looking down from one of the bridges.
Here is a photo of one of the tunnels we road through.
I could post dozens of photos from the ride on the Mickelson Trail since it was always lovely.
At the 50 mile mark, there was again an opportunity to add miles by going off the trail. Again, I took the longer route. The road that I was on was not much wider than the trail; however, it was not groomed nearly as well. There were washboard sections, washed out sections, potholes, ruts, and loose sand. This made the riding more challenging. However, the scenery was truly amazing.
The Mickelson Trail was wonderful, but it is also highly utilized. We met many other bicyclists and some hikers as we rode along. However, out here, I often felt like I might be the only person within 5 miles in any direction. Occasionally, an ATV would go by, but that was quite rare.
In honor of my friend Ruth, I am including this photo. Clearly, this house was haunted at some point, but is it still, or have even the ghosts given up on it? Ruth, we need your expert opinion.
One more photo just to end on a nice note. After 65 miles, we ended our ride at a winery where we had a very late lunch. After lunch, we hopped into the vans and drove to Sylvan Lake Lodge in Custer State Park. We will be staying here for two nights. Tomorrow, we will bicycle on the Needles Highway which should be wonderful.