05/19 Left the KOA campground and made my way over to the Crazy Horse Memorial. For the first couple miles I was riding on US-16 which is a pretty well-traveled, divided 2 lane highway. Every once in a while I’d notice what looked like a path running almost parallel to the road. Finally I rode down to it and saw that it was the George S. Mickelson Trail. Very similar to the Katy Trail and Steamboat Trace, it’s another trail that was built over an abandoned railway line. I ended up riding on it for maybe 6 miles or so and had some mixed feelings about it. The grade was flat so I know it saved me from a lot of hills. On the other hand the surface is much softer than either Katy or ST. My average speed was about 5 mph and that was even with the ground being completely dry. Great scenery though and it was nice to be off the road. I rode it all the way to the Crazy Horse Memorial. At one point I broke 6000 feet which is my altitude record so far this trip.
At CHM I rode up to the gate and paid $5. The welcome center had a bike rack outside it so I took my handlebar bag (after stuffing my gps and bike computer in it) and locked the bike up to it. It was a bit stressful leaving my bike unattended but we needed some time apart anyway.
Inside I wandered around the museum, watched the short film that talks about the history of the site and then took the standard tourist pictures. They have a restaurant there so I did a quick bike check and then sat down and had a buffalo burger. The memorial itself was gigantic. If it gets completed it’s supposed to be the world’s largest sculpture. I skipped the bus ride to the bottom of it because I would have had to have left my bike for too long.
Next stop was the city of Custer (which used to be called Stonewall). Wiki says Custer claims to have the widest Main Street in the United States. It did seem like it took me a little extra longer to run across the street to DQ and get a Snickers Blizzard.
I probably should have tacked on a few more miles today but I would have had a headwind for the rest of the day. So I decided to stay in town tonight and rest up for my crossing into Wyoming tomorrow.
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Good pictures and fun to follow your trip. Stay well.
Thanks Tom.
Hey Scott!
Well, that’s pretty cool to see Mt. Rushmore….we’ve never been there. Is it worth a trip?
That dog does look pretty terrifying….lucky to escape w/ your legs intact!
What lens are you using BTW….I just ordered a new one to get wide angles like yours.
I would say its worth it. Your best bet would be to tie it in with a visit to Crazy Horse and then drive the wildlife loop in Custer State Park. Everyone raved about wildlife loop but it was too far out of my way so I missed it. There’s also the towns of Wall and Deadwood that sounded kind of cool. Custer is a neat place too. Here’s the lens I’m using: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0807/08073001Tamron18270.asp Love it.
If Scott keeps eat those blizzards that wide angle will come in handy….Love ya neph….
whoops… I meant eating
Very funny.
Hey there…this is Nicole from the South Dakota Office of Tourism. I enjoyed reading your comments! Glad you had a good time in the Black Hills – come back soon!