okearthbike.com | July 2004 - Northern Exposure

July 2004 - Northern Exposure

Road Trippers: Ward Combs and James Perry.
Destination: The Black Hills of South Dakota and points beyond.
Trip Skinny: After five years in the making, several riding venue adjustments and multiple participant changes, the venture north to the Black Hills finally came to fruition the first week in July. For eight days James and I roamed the northern tier of the US and rode several remarkable trails. All in all we covered 2,700 miles across 7 states and did eight rides for a total of 132 trail miles. Our first stop was Chadron State Park in Nebraska. Sadly this trail didn’t turn out to be quite as good as I had pictured it in my mind. A lot of fall-line trail but we did manage to find a really cool spine trail which ran for a half mile or so across a ridge with some pretty extreme exposure on both sides. Still worth the time if you happen to be in the area.

In the Black Hills of South Dakota, we rode the Deerfield Lake Loop, Old Badly, Rimrock, Spearfish, and Mickleson trails. I could spend hours talking about each of these trails and the things they had to offer but I’ll leave it at each was unique and exciting in its own way with excellent mixes of flow, technicality, and awesome scenery. After several days in the Black Hills (including visits to the Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monuments) we moved on over to Wyoming for some additional fun on the Bear Lodge trails.

The Bear Lodge ride turned into quite a venture because our guide (that would be me) got us lost. Made for a much longer ride but “It’s All Good”! Seeing as we were in the neighborhood we made a quick stop at Devil’s Tower. Quite a sight!

After a few quick phone calls back home for trail info (Thanks Paul) we got a wild hair to go to Winter Park, CO for some cross-country down hilling. Now let me say people, “cross-country down hilling is almost more fun than I’ve ever had in my entire biking life combined”! TOTAL & COMPLETE EXCITEMENT! Taking the lifts to the top of the mountain and then making 6 or 7 mile downhill runs with just enough uphill to keep you honest is incredibly fun. James and I made 4 runs that day and would have done many more but the Monarch Crest trial at Salida was calling our names, so on down the road we went. We arranged a shuttle to the drop-off point and started up the climb to the 12,200 foot elevation pinnacle. From there it was all down hill, with sweet single track above the tree line, past snow fields and across scree fields, slowly dropping down into the pines. 20+ miles of pure pleasure! If we’d of had any more gas in our tanks, we probably would have talked ourselves into another trail, but after 8 fun-filled days, 7 states, and eight fantastic rides, we were spent and ready to get back to the ole homestead.

One Great Trip! (Thanks Deasha for giving James an extended hall pass!)