Careful what you wish for.

July 1, 2023

Careful what you wish for

Ive been either riding in, camping in, or hiding from rain since riding the Trail of the Coeur d’Alene a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been wishing for clear skies and summer time warm weather with no more hail storms. Careful what you wish for!! Today was crystal clear and in the low 80s. Trouble is, there is nowhere to hide from the sun. I am in the land of trees once again but SD keeps their highways free of trees. The only trees near the main roads are 30 feet from the shoulder and almost always beyond the barbed wire with the no trespassing signs. Beats being wet and cold though. Now if these hills would go away!

Late start today as I had to go online to find places to stay Saturday and Sunday nights. Poor planning on my part. This is the Fourth of July weekend. It took me over an hour and a half to find places to sleep. Hopefully Monday I will have a WarmShowers host again.

I left Belle Fourche around 10 or 1030 this morning after using a car wash to clean out my drivetrain and re-oiling it. Breakfast was a gas station pizza and Pepsi. The ride to Spearfish was not too bad. A bit up-and-down, but I was on a two-lane highway and the gradient was not so bad. I stopped at the local bike shop as I have been having some sort of clicking in my drivetrain that I have not been able to isolate. The mechanic found a slight bend in my derailer hanger and repaired that and adjusted the rear derailleur. It seemed to help a little bit, but I really believe the problem is in my pedals. I believe I have worn the bearings. If it gets much worse, I will buy new pedals and send these home for repair later.

Getting out of Spearfish was an uphill climb. Getting from there, to Deadwood was even more serious, uphill climb. This took me up over a Black Hills mountain pass that was probably 5500 feet in elevation. From there there is a fast descent into the town of Deadwood at an elevation of about 4200 feet. On one section of the highway the gradient increased to 7 1/2%. I was walking and pushing my bike when a guy on a motorcycle stopped in front of me. He then stopped his girlfriend who was driving a SUV. He ran to the back of the SUV and brought out a can of something. I was hoping it was either a cold beer or a cold Soft drink. But it was an emergency can of gasoline. He asked if I was out of gas because I was pushing my bike. I guess he thought that was funny. At least he had a good laugh. Glad to make people happy.

Though I had made a note to myself to pick up groceries for the long ride along the Mickelson Trail, I forgot to do so. So I am a little bit low on food, and there is no place to purchase anything for the next 30 miles or more. I do have some snacks and breakfast food so I should be OK.

Long ago, I decided to take the Mickelson Trail as it is a rail trail and goes through the Black Hills. Because it is a rail trail, I assumed it would be an easy flat ride. This is not necessarily so. From Deadwood to the top of the next pass along the Mickelson Trail , I pedaled uphill for over 16 miles. At one point the railway had been washed out by the stream that flows nearby and so the trail headed up the mountain. This was a hike a bike deal as the gradient increased at some points to 17%. If you plan on riding the Mickelson Trail, be prepared for hills. I climbed from Deadwood at 4200 feet to the top of the first pass on the trail, which was 6140 feet in elevation.

Except for the very steep portion, the trail is crushed gravel. The steep portion is more rocky but there was an alternate route that I missed that was not as difficult. Tomorrow I will be taking the trail to Custer. This is just south of the Crazyhorse monument which I hope to visit. Again the trail will take me to nearly 6000 feet on two separate passes.

The scenery along the trail is fantastic. I would rate it equal to that of the GAP, in certain areas. I have seen more deer on this particular trail than I have since leaving Seattle.

Cell service is poor to nonexistent along the trail and so I will post this to my journal in cycleblaze tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to download some photos also.

Good night for now

Today's ride: 58 miles (93 km)
Total: 1,420 miles (2,285 km)

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