September 12, 2023
Mickelson Trail North
Day 2 on the Mickelson Trail was a joy. It makes you want to make every city or state trail planner come for a visit and a bike ride to see how to correctly build and surface a trail.
The first 5 miles north were on a gentle incline with excellent views as we climbed our way through the forest. Once on the top, the Crazy Horse Monument could be seen to the east although it wasn’t enough of an attraction for us to pay the steep entrance fee to see it up close. After that, 10 miles of gentle downhill before we reached Hill City. The return was just the opposite. 10 miles of incline followed by 5 miles of decline.
We did meet two other recumbent trikes riding Catrikes. Roger and Jenny, ages 85 and 76, were a delight to chat with as we learned we had both been part of the recumbent world for a long time. They have done a lot of traveling and cycling and Roger was once stationed in Alaska a “long time ago.” We also discussed the addition of an electric hub and I believe they might just be joining that club as well.
Once we got back to Custer, we tried to take the spur Trail to Custer State Park but found the trail was simply in bad condition between the cracks and lack of general maintenance and decided not to put a damper on an already great day of cycling.
Today's ride: 34 miles (55 km)
Total: 426 miles (686 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 2 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |