Jim has been a willing participant in my sojourn down memory lane as we have traveled through South Dakota. Entering the northwest side of the state, we cycled into Spearfish and up Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills

We took a brief detour off route to visit our friends Donna and Mario in Sturgis. They are bikers, not cyclists, not surprising, since Sturgis is home to one of the largest motorcycle rallies in the world ( and an old stomping ground of mine). Somehow in the midst of our endless chatting (at a distance of course) I neglected to get any photos 😔.

Back in the saddle, Jim rode a section of the Mickelson Trail, a rails to trails path for about 100 miles through the Black Hills.

Regrettably the day was marred by two flat tires…worrisome since I was the support person and couldn’t check in with him due to limited road access and no cell service. But all’s well that ends well and he had a beautiful ride. We arrived at Echo Valley our destination for the next two nights near Keystone, best known as the location of Mount Rushmore. I lived in a cabin there when I was about 20

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It is also just down the road from a campground where my family camped when I was in elementary school

Perhaps now you can see why I started this post by talking about what a good sport Jim has been!

We had not expected to be able to see very many old friends and family on this journey, but fate kept making opportunities for outdoor visits. Turns out that Kari, also a resident of Echo Valley 45 years ago, happened to be visiting and staying with Rass who was my boss when I worked at a bike shop in that same era. We got together in his backyard and he worked on installing my new wheel and drivetrain. I helped and he told me what to do…just like in the old days.

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Now Jim knows that all those tales he heard about my youth are true!

We escaped Keystone just before the roads closed for the rally “someone” held at Mount Rushmore on July 3 and left the wooded beauty of The Hills behind for the grasslands to the east.

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This area gets blazingly hot and the headwinds are actually welcome to help cool you down as you cycle. This section took us to the Badlands National park, an other-worldly area: stark, beautiful and baking.

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We started the ride at 6am to beat the heat and see the terrain in the early morning light. Prairie dog colonies provided entertainment along the way.

Heading east out of Wall, once again there were headwinds, grass, cows and not much else

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Thank goodness for the stalwart cottonwood trees that dot the prairie and provide the occasional bit of shade from the hot sun

A taste of riding across the prairie was enough. We decided to complete the journey across the state in our trusty air conditioned van. Since we’ve been here we were able to visit my aunt and uncle, Bumps & Bev as well as several of my cousins. Seeing them was the goal of this trek and we thoroughly enjoyed it

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Thanks to you as well for putting up with our trip through my past (unlike Jim, I haven’t inflicted you with pictures of my childhood home, schools etc etc)

Tomorrow we head back towards home. We plan to drive for a couple of days and then ride south and west of Glacier National Park for a few days. We look forward to leaving the humidity behind and returning to higher altitudes, drier air, and forests. It’s been a great visit. See you all soon!