I finally made it to South Dakota to ride the Mickelson Trail. I've been wanting to ride this trail for 3 years. It's the closest rail trail to Denver - only a 5.5 hour drive (A LOT closer than driving across Kansas!).
We spent the first night of our trip in Custer, SD. It's a really pretty little town with a lot of outdoor artwork, most of it dedicated to General George Custer (whom the town was obviously named for). He was a Union cavalry officer who was known for his reckless battles during the Civil War and later against the Native Americans. I'm kind of surprised there were so many statues of him still standing given that city governments seem to be removing all historical memorabilia that are in any way "politically incorrect."
"Rail trails" follow abandoned rail lines, which means they shouldn't have an incline greater than 4%. I started my ride in Custer knowing there was an initial uphill section, but I should have realized that with the first rest stop being named "The Mountain" it wouldn't be an easy climb. Bruce and Charlie met me at the trailhead and I seriously debated getting in the jeep to ride the rest of the way to Hill City. But after a short break, I decided to suck it up and keep going.
Good thing, because only a mile later, the grade flipflopped and I was riding downhill spending more time with my hands on the brakes than my feet on the pedals. Since the trail goes through the Black Hills, there were a lot of bridges and tunnels with absolutely gorgeous scenery. Some of the tunnels are really old (from the time the train line was first laid), but others were more recent (this one was built in 1993 - historic enough for me).
One of the most exciting parts of the trail was riding past the Crazy Horse Monument. It's still not finished (as you can tell by the crane in the background). Some people wonder if it will ever be finished given that it was started in 1939. One of the interesting things about this monument is that it is 10 times taller than the presidential portraits at Mount Rushmore. But you can walk up to the Mount Rushmore Monument for free; it costs $30 to go into the Crazy Horse Visitor Center and you can't get any closer than I was when I took this picture from the trail. BTW, Crazy Horse was a leader in the Battle of Little Bighorn where Custer and all of his troops were killed (another controversial historical statue).
The Mickelson Trail was my last big ride on my Biking Bucket list. There are only a few minor trails left on the list which may or may not get done this fall. Personally, I sort of feel like switching to another activity for a while like hiking, walking, or just reading my Kindle.
In other activities this week, I went to a porch pot class at the garden center. This was similar to the class I took last Christmas. The biggest difference with this class was that all the plants were real, whereas the Christmas planter was filled with mostly dried greenery. They gave us a ton of plants to squeeze into that pot, which is what makes it look so full, but was really hard to do without breaking off all the flowers. I managed to get it into my car to get it home (a 3 ft pot is heavy!), and hopefully everything will keep growing. We'll see.
Poor Bruce, while I was at the garden center, I also picked up a new blue spruce bush (they were half-price). The catmint had spread to almost a 5 ft circle. The purple flowers were pretty, but they were a major bee and wasp magnet. The catmint always had an ominous buzzing sound whenever you walked by. So Bruce snuck out there Friday night after the sun went down (and the bees went to sleep) and cut down the catmint. The next morning, he was able to plant the new bush in its place. We still have some spots of catmint in the yard, but they aren't right up next to the porch.
I volunteered at our neighborhood club fair last weekend. Our club president (not this guy) tested positive for COVID, so he wasn't able to attend. Being the germaphobe that I am, Bruce and I went right out the next day and got our annual flu and COVID shots. Fingers crossed we won't get sick this winter.
