Today was a wonderful day for riding bikes on the Mickelson trail. A Shuttle service picked us and our bikes up in Custer and drove us to Rochford. We got a later start than we wanted because there was a problem with one of our rental bikes.
Rick had a spontaneous flat while we were waiting, but he fixed it in record time and was ready to go before they finished fixing the bike. When they decided they couldn’t fix it they drove John back to Hill City to get a new bike and then brought him back to a trailhead just beyond where we were located.
The scenery was beautiful and highly varied. Lots of trees, valleys, hills, rocks, and flowing water. The trail went downhill for a ways and then started up again. For some reason we could make good time going down but going up seemed to slow us down more than we expected.
Rochford Trail Head
Rest stop
First Tunnel
Mystic Trail Head
Second Tunnel
We had lunch at the Alpine Inn in Hill City (excellent!) and then waited at the bike shop while they fixed another flat and the brakes on another rental bike. We eventually got on the road to Custer at about 3:15pm. We knew that the 14 mile ride from Hill City to Custer was going to take a while – The map said it would be 9 miles up and 5 miles down. Again – it seemed to take forever to go the 9 miles and the last bit just zoomed by.
High Trestle
Rest stop on high trestle
Almost to the summit – one more mile!
Crazy Horse
Nearly to Custer!
We arrived back at the motel at 5:50pm showered/dressed and went out to eat at the Sage Creek Grille in Custer (also excellent!)
After dinner we gathered at the firepit behind our motel roasted marsh mellows and made samores.
Tomorrow we ride to Edgemont from Custer and then shuttle back to Custer. We are waiting to finalize our plans with a current weather update.
Because there will be thunderstorms in the area – we may modify the plan a bit.
More pictures soon!