RCN 72.32pg - Steve Briggs

ing easy. There weren’t as many trees. It wasgetting later and hotter. It’s a good thing thedownhill continued. We saw many horses grazingand a few cows. There were too many scenicareas to photograph. In no time we were atour night’s lodging: Plenty Star Ranch. We hadour choice of a cabin or a teepee. The cabinwas far nicer and had thick foam pads on thebunks for the sleeping bags Isa (the owner)provided. Jesse had recommended we ride intotown to eat at the Hitchin’ Post Restaurant. Wehad showered and were feeling lazy. Isa’sRanch offered Navajo Tacos for dinner ($6.95).It was rather like eating in someone’s home,as dinner was served in the dining room of herhouse. We chose to eat outside at the picnictable in the shade. It was obvious that the frybread had been cooked ahead. Dinner was OK,but again not what a hungry cyclist had inmind. Our breakfast was included the nextmorning, or we wouldn’t have bothered. It wasyogurt, cereal, and German quick breads. Sinceit was free it was fine, but I wouldn’t have beenhappy paying the $4.50 otherwise.We did like the two-room cabin with itscouch to lounge on and read. The bathhousewas large and clean.Friday, 5/31—Plenty Star Ranch (Pringle)to Edgemont34.83 miles, 8.63 mph averageWe started out early, intent on beating the heat.Luis and I hadn’t gone five miles before hesaw a rock shop that was open at 7:30 a.m.Luis was entranced with all of the rocks. Whilehe was window shopping (and I was remindinghim he had to carry whatever he bought),the sun rose higher and higher. I tried to remindmyself that this is how he felt while Iwas chatting with people on the trail or checkingout the bike shop. Luis finally ran out ofmoney and did manage to buy smaller rocks.The entire ride to Edgemont was one longdownhill today, with the exception of one ortwo short uphills. I was happy we weren’triding the trail out and back. The ride fromEdgemont back to Pringle would be a long one.The surface of the trail was rougher on thisend. More ruts and large rocks. There werefrequent areas with red landscaping-typegravel strewn across. There were also smallareas of soft sand.Early in the morning we paused to photographa cattle drive going down the road. Notmuch further down the trail we stopped for awoman on horseback. The horse didn’t knowwhat to make of us. The woman did keep atight rein on her mount as he danced past. Thiswas the only horse we saw on the trail, and itsolved one of our mysteries. Frequently alongthe trail surface we would bump throughclosely placed small depressions. As we rodealong the trail where the horse had just walked,I realized that the small depressions wereslightly-filled-in hoofprints.This area of the trail reminded me of westernColorado. More open with sagebrush,yucca, and sparsely placed pine trees. Mesasand buttes in the distance. There were floweringchokecherry trees lining much of the trail.Their perfume was so strong that the scentquickly went from being fragrant to overwhelming.I took to holding my breath whenwe passed through large patches of the bushes.I never though I would find the scent of a floweringbush to be unappealing, but there youare.Luis prepares to ride through one of thefour tunnels on the Mickelson Trail.They were short enough that lights werenot necessary. The tunnels were alsorefreshingly cool inside. Three of themhad benches just inside the entrance.The Sheep Canyon area reminded me ofUtah with red sand and interesting red rockformations. The Sheep Canyon Trestle was thelargest on the rail line at 126 feet high and 700feet long. Local historians tell about the dangerof the old trestle. It was so dangerous thatthe engineer and the person in the caboosewould walk over the trestle instead of ridingon the train. Luis wondered who was “driving”the train and how the engineer and cabooseperson managed to get back on afterwalking across.We passed through many small gates on theMickelson Trail. Most were connected to a postby a weighted chain. After we pushed the gateopen and let it go, the weight pulled the gateshut again. Many of these small gates were setnext to large cattle gates so local landownerswould have access to their property. The largegates were locked shut. At Sheep Canyon wefound both gates locked together. We had tolift our bikes over the fence. Luis and I feltquite strong because we managed to heft thebikes over without taking off our bags.We had one last sweeping downhill into thevalley. The last few miles ran between the highwayand the train track. It wasn’t a pretty finishto our spectacular trip. This is the only areaof the trail that we had to ride on the road. Wewanted to ride to the actual trailhead, but wecouldn’t find it. This is where we met our towheadedescort. Edgemont is a town on its lastlegs. The last mile or so of the trail is on streets.Luis had obviously been trail riding too long.Not only did he ride in the center of the lane,but he rode down the street in the center of thewrong lane. For his sake it’s a good thing themain street consisted almost entirely of emptybuildings. We asked directions to the citycampground and found our pickup parkedthere. Luis and I had chosen to have our truckdelivered to the end of the trail rather than geta shuttle back to Hill City. The showers at thecampground were basic, but they were free.No complaints here. I spoke with the womenmanning the campground and told them aboutthe locked gate. They knew just which gate Iwas talking about. They said one of the landownersdidn’t think the rules applied to him.I would ride the Mickelson Trail again in aheartbeat. It was worth the drive to ride fourdays and 114 miles. This area would be a goodcompromise for those who think every tripshould be a cycling trip. There are many, manyactivities in the area. Our family has agreedthat we all need to go back and see more ofthe tourist attractions. Prices on food and lodgingare very reasonable. Our trip withRushmore Cycles was $450 for both of us. Itincluded a shuttle, three nights lodging, andfour meals. This trip was self-guided.Rushmore did the planning, but they did notSAG us. I found this to be the perfect degreeof help, and I plan to do a self-guided tripagain. The locals know the area best, and Ithink it’s worth paying them a little extra fortheir knowledge. Luis and I didn’t need someoneto hold our hands or fix flat tires.For more information on the MickelsonTrail, call the Black Hills Trail Office (605-584-3896) or check www.mickelsontrail.com.You can also South Dakota tourism info getinfo by calling 800-732-5682 or going towww.travelsd.com. ◆Writers Wantedto write for the world’sfirst and foremostrecumbent publicationEmail to:bob@recumbentcyclistnews.comNovember/December 2002 23