The third day of riding in the Black Hills began early as we had planned to do two rides in one day. It was brisk and the sun was just beginning to warm the air when we reached Custer where we were leaving my truck for our son Chase to pick up and take to Deadwood for us. The plan was to ride from Custer to Hills City, shuttle to
Rochford and then ride from
Rochford to Deadwood in time for Cool Deadwood Nights. The first ride of the day is one I look forward to as it is one of the easiest. A short four mile climb takes you out of Custer and to the entrance of Crazy Horse Memorial. It is a spectacular ride with Crazy Horse in the background as you catch glimpses of it through the trees as it is slowly unveiled at the top of the hill. Then from the main gate of the memorial the fun begins, it’s all downhill the rest of the way into Hills City. It is one of those times you can sit back and enjoy the ride. Not long on exercise, but long on fun. It does not take very long at all and before we are back in Hills City and sitting down for breakfast before we began ride two. Nothing like some eggs, bacon, hash browns and pancakes to get the fuel take filled up and the energy levels back into riding levels. For leg two o
r our ride we had engaged the services of a shuttle service to haul us and our bikes to
Rochford. Loaded in a cargo van we made our way through the trees on a ruff gravel road. It was not long before I noticed it was getting harder to breath and the road dust was sifting through the van. It was a miserable ride all in all. It was like being reborn when we stepped out of the van and back into the fresh mountain air. Back on the trail we went headed for Deadwood. The ride from
Rochford to Deadwood is a pretty stead climb the first 12-13 miles and once at the crest the views are magnificent. This is a very pretty section of trail with dense trees and some rock cliffs. There are spots where you can see forever, passing creeks with people panning for gold, old mines on the side of hill and always looking for the animals that inhabit the area, hoping to see an Elk, some deer, maybe a mountain goat or two yet hoping not to see a Mountain Lion. We have seen one lion from our car that was good enough.
The third day of riding in the Black Hills began early as we had planned to do two rides in one day. It was brisk and the sun was just beginning to warm the air when we reached Custer where we were leaving my truck for our son Chase to pick up and take to Deadwood for us. The plan was to ride from Custer to Hills City, shuttle to Rochford and then ride from Rochford to Deadwood in time for Cool Deadwood Nights. The first ride of the day is one I look forward to as it is one of the easiest. A short four mile climb takes you out of Custer and to the entrance of Crazy Horse Memorial. It is a spectacular ride with Crazy Horse in the background as you catch glimpses of it through the trees as it is slowly unveiled at the top of the hill. Then from the main gate of the memorial the fun begins, it’s all downhill the rest of the way into Hills City. It is one of those times you can sit back and enjoy the ride. Not long on exercise, but long on fun. It does not take very long at all and before we are back in Hills City and sitting down for breakfast before we began ride two. Nothing like some eggs, bacon, hash browns and pancakes to get the fuel take filled up and the energy levels back into riding levels. For leg two o
r our ride we had engaged the services of a shuttle service to haul us and our bikes to Rochford. Loaded in a cargo van we made our way through the trees on a ruff gravel road. It was not long before I noticed it was getting harder to breath and the road dust was sifting through the van. It was a miserable ride all in all. It was like being reborn when we stepped out of the van and back into the fresh mountain air. Back on the trail we went headed for Deadwood. The ride from Rochford to Deadwood is a pretty stead climb the first 12-13 miles and once at the crest the views are magnificent. This is a very pretty section of trail with dense trees and some rock cliffs. There are spots where you can see forever, passing creeks with people panning for gold, old mines on the side of hill and always looking for the animals that inhabit the area, hoping to see an Elk, some deer, maybe a mountain goat or two yet hoping not to see a Mountain Lion. We have seen one lion from our car that was good enough.
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