Clear skies greeted my eyes. My ears picked up the sounds of strong winds. All per forecast.

Bfast and clean up, everything in its place I headed to Duluth. Since my previous visit there new trail work has occurred with purpose of linking the 3 city trails. I was hoping to ride the Traverse. MTBProject showed me the trail system and a trailhead. Google provided my w/ explicit directions to it. Turns out I rode from here during that visit. Area is known as the Piedmont and is the most tech of the 3 trails that will be linked. Again the joy of following a gps track. I had something to follow. Locals might have different spins on what to ride I relied on what someone else had ridden. New construction of machine bladed bermed tread. I rode it attempting to get into the berms. I sought out the old trails that were like mostly just ridden in over time. ROOTS are the norm. And wet sort of slippery dirt and the rocks have green growth for added slipperiness. Good short playful ride. The Northern Traverse has not been completed. These trails are on a high hillside above Lake Superior. Noticeable white caps caused by high winds.

I found a snap nearby for a shower. Next stop Cable, WI and Rivers Eatery, home of Mic and Beth. I really enjoy all about Cable and have looked forward to returning. Very windy drive while exposed to the open water. The land is not quite tabletop flat but there isn’t “much” relief. Fall is changing leaf colors. No Ponderosa Pine. Birch.My route used back country roads. Close to Cable a white car followed me for a great distance, not tailgating but not passing me. Finally the car passed. The guy;s left hand was raised outside the window, a digit was extended, I couldn’t tell which. He continued ahead of me. At the next intersection he turned on his left turn signal then got out of his car and walked to me. WTF? Was the digit the middle finger and he is going to make it right, No, Steve stopped to tell me that he really digs what I am doing. He asked where I will stay. I said the woods. He said he just closed on a house and it’s right outside Cable. He would lead me there and let me decide. Amazing. And the place is off the main road, is in the country, is level, and has an outhouse that’s in a shop building. We continued chatting. He builds small houses. I told him I was heading to the Eatery. He told me Emily who is the wife of Scott who does landscaping works at the eatery. I made the Eatery. What a wonderful warm welcome I received and gave to Mic and Beth. I like this place and what they have created.I said Hi to Emily. I sat at the bar and engaged people on each side of me. Chris is a local just packed up 1,000 pounds of winter squash that has to home to go to. He was an XC ski racer. He left, I turned to my left and talked w/ Bill who is up for riding. He left and a Salsa guy grabbed me. I finally bid adieu at 9:15. Place was very crowded but cleared out by 9. People are doing something in the morning and go home to prepare.

I learned that emails were being rejected on my end. I learned from a blocked sender that the error message was mailbox was too full. Yeah, lots of stuff that should have been thrown out long ago.

I called Hesitation Point bike shop just outside Brown County, IN trails about my dropper post being sent to them. I got Gonzo. Cool. He said the Race Face had called about an hour before as he said he would do. I’ll be there tbd.

Tomorrow I’m going to ride the Rock Creek IMBA epic and research other rides. I want to ride what Shrimper built 2 years ago. This is another place that is hard to leave from.

 

The color red in the dirt is to come from iron which rusts to form rust red. Sedona has it. So does Cayuna Lakes in Crosby, MN. Here the red stays on longer and seems to impregnate the tires.

Two big driving days brought me to Crosby and Cayuna Lakes trail system, an IMBA Silver ride center. I drove all day from Badlands to the SE corner on Minnesota. I enjoyed mostly a tail wind. Whatever wind, the Sprinter moves around requiring diligence to stay in my lane.Sometimes crabbing the steering wheel to go sideways into the wind. I kept at it till just after sundown putting up fort he night at Camden SP. Down by the river and a busy railroad track.I saw 88 degrees on the van dash. Warm night.

I called a Discount Tire store in Mankato, MN to buy  a pair of new tires and make an appointment for mounting. The earliest appointment was 11:15. I hoped for earlier which would have allowed ride time for their local trails. Back on the road early. I arrived at 10:30, no time for a ride. Tires installed I drove down to Nicollet bike shop for trail info. I used MTBProject to find these local trails. I saw much standing water in ditches and flat spots in crop fields. Lots of rain had fallen as was the case for the local trails. No go, bike stayed on the rack. I visited with Justin, the owner. We are members of the same family. We have ridden some of the same trails. He knows Cable, WI where i will soon be. His wife has won the Chemegon(sp?).

Back on the road driving with a side wind I made it to Crosby just before dark. Sundown is just after 7 and now getting earlier. I deciphered their map to find Portsmouth XG where I have stayed by. $15 and legal. Cold drizzly night. A small group of campers were nearby. I stayed inside snug as a bug. Weather forecast for today called for clearing in the afternoon. During the night I heard rain falling off the tree leaves above me. Rain. By daybreak nothing fell from the sky, the sun was still covered up. A guy pedaled up to me after my bfast. It was John from Bend, we rode Dread and Terror together this summer. he is with the others as they are all family and heading to a family gathering further north. I was excited to tell him about Victoria ride but he told me he had ridden it on his way. Cool connecting w/ buds from elsewhere and had ridden the same trails. They packed up and left.

I drove back to Crosby to do my weekly wash. To me funny in that I recall laundromats I have used as a connection to a place. I had not used this one. Next wash might be Cable, WI where I remember the laundromat.

I dallied waiting on what the weather was going to do. The clouds were lifting then separated to reveal blue sky. I saw a male rider in bike clothes sporting some mud on his legs that looked more like brown water marks. He said trails were good. I asked at the shop about trail conditions and what i might do to them. He said they were all open except for Sidewinder that is closed for trail work. Good. Again figuring out the map to match what wasn’t signed on the ground. I found the big developed TH. I installed the phone carrier on my handlebar and accessed MTBProject for Leslie’s grand tour. The trails are plentiful and for the most part are well signed. The gps route solved figuring out on my own what to ride. The trails are on reclaimed open pit mines for said iron ore. The pits have filled with water sprinkled among the natural lakes. The tread is rock: firm and no mud, just a few small puddles which is where the runny red splatters come from.

Fall happening:

I came upon this hobbling user who would not yield to the faster rider

IT was not able to put weight on its left front foot. It would not leave the trail until it came to an intersection.

I rode a bunch of the miles. The day was getting shorter.

The trails were mostly built by a mini ex back in 2011 I believe. Amazing regrowth on the back slopes

The trails are almost formulary with the grade dips and turns. They ride well when wet. Almost all are one direction which is good as it eliminating head ons.

I put on a fender under the fork arch before the ride, I should have had it on when I rode the  cow manure trails. I do have red watery dried mud on the bike.

There is a shower at this XG. I checked it out: rust red from the water. No thanks. I poached a shower at the in town XG. Camping fee is $25 right on a lake.

I’m back at the same spot as last night. Tomorrow I will drive to Duluth and ride some of their trails.

I have been out of USFS and BLM land so there is no open range cattle grazing. Crop fields are now the resource extracted. Still lots of hay fields here the round large bales are the derigor.

Race Face sent my replacement dropped post to Duluth, GA and not MN as instructed. I called the receiving shop to learn that they are Georgia. I called the guy back and reported the error. I left a message. No answer. I called back the next day and left a message. No response. I called yesterday and left another message: no response. I called each of the Duluth stores and explained what will be happening to them. Race Face called today while I was riding. I called him back later. He will make arrangements to send the post to Hesitation Point bike shop right outside Brown County park. Shop is co owned by Gonzo whom I knew from Sedona. So Phil, put to rest concern you have of me not visiting.

I don’t care what the people think, I’m not drunk, I’m just drinking.

 

Tonight I am camped in a crowded XG in Badlands NP in South Dakota. Back into 80 degree days and elevation of 2467′. Strong internet signal in the park.

Again catching up.

On the 14th rain fell on Bozeman again making another rest day as my back is still unhappy. I slept on the street.

On Thurs I did my wash for the 3rd week at the same laundromat. Then I headed east to Billings, MT. I googled bike shops and picked Spoke Shop in Billings to learn local info. Very giving guy told me about the Back 9 and camping at Acton rec area. I asked about a fav brew pub to learn Uberbeer downtown. I walked in, saw an empty seat at the bar. Next to it sat a man who was wearing clipless shoes. I called him a cowboy because I could tell by his shoes. He called me cowboy because of my dress. He is from near Akron, OH which lead to talking about Ohio and Mohican. I invited him to join me on the Back 9 the next day. We made a rendezvous. I headed out of town to the Acton rec area. I chose this spot because it is BLM land and legal camping. Turned into a 9 mile each way gravel road drive. I arrived at dark. I leveled my van and went to bed.

Friday I got under way in time to arrive at rendezvous spot in plenty of time which I used to get my bike ready. Never heard from the guy. Stiffed. I studied the GPS route in MTBProject. I pedaled away. A guy caught up w/ me. We visited. Local and gave info. Singletrack nomad.com, makes documentary films. Ride out was easy as it was on the flat above the cliffy technical return route. Seems Billings has this cliff face running above town. I strayed from the gps route.

Lots of chunk stuff I walked. Someday I will stay at a feature I walked to work out a riding solution. Someday. Ride went 13.56 miles climbing 1316′. Challenging ride.

I drove back into town to an Anytime right in downtown. Shower cleaned. I headed east out of town. I stopped at Ashland, MT at a FS station seeking a map of camping spots. An FS person exited the closed station. I listened to her recommendations. I found an empty spot at Red Shale XG, free, but no water of garbage service. She said that about a third of their forest burnt.

Sat after bfast and clean up I drove on into Spearfish. I stopped at a bike shop. They sell Trek electric assist bikes. I listened to an employee telling a customer about the bike. He said they were not considered motorized because they lack a throttle. I spoke up saying that yes, they do have a throttle which is your legs: as you pedal the bike motor turns on. I might have pissed him off. Selling a bike that can’t be ridden on heart propelled trails.

I headed out to Tinton road to pick up a piece of the locally famous Dakota 5 0. I remembered riding here back my first year. I parked at a small parking lot just off the busy road being dusted by every rig that went by, seems the faster the vehicle the more dust. My plan was to ride up the trail which parallels the road but quite removed then get over to Dakota Ridge to enjoy a new piece of hand built trail. The first time I rode this I was on my TNT 5 Spot w/ stock Fox fork and shock that had just been tunes by PUSH. I rememeber climbing up and over a root on the trail and the shock allowed squish. This bike is so much better. The trail has been reworked to get it out of the creek bottom with added bridges where required. Big climb. I arrived at Big Hill TH then droipped down a gulch to pick up the start of the ridge trail. Challenging ridge line trail.

Lots of relief. This is in the Black Hills Forest.

16.17 miles climbing 2402. I walked a few pieces as they were too long steep. Nasty razor back ridge riding. Back at the TH I spent the night.

Sunday AM. Amazing self loading logging trucks were hauling. I drove up the road to Big Hill TH for my start. Plan today is to ride a good chunk of the southern end of the Dakota. I put my smart phone on my handlebar so I could follow MTBProject GPS track. Needed the track for route finding. Having the route visible on the bar solved navigation. No ridge riding, just single track winding up and down and around. Mixed in were gravel roads open or closed.

My energy was being depleted. I rode a piece of trail that cut a corner off the race course. I needed the less miles but didn’t enjoy the newly constructed mini ex constructed trail that solved sustainability issues. Not finished. To me you don’t block off an existing trail before the new one is completed. Lots of cows and manure on the trail. I bailed on an open FS road and rode back to the TH. I was beat. 22.51 miles climbing 2959′, topped out at 6,000′. Another riding improvement is to take breaks and eat. I tend to not do either and I run out of steam.

I drove into town and took a shower at the rec center. Next up was  a beer at the only brewery.

I left after a mexican dinner heading past Deadwood, SD. Big tourist town, famous for a gold mine(?). I found Roubaix XG a ways down the road.  A short rain squall fell during the night , forecast called for only dry days and nights.

Today I drove to the start of Victoria Lake ride, still int he Black Hills near Rapid City. I found the trail in MTBP. Another GPS route following. Again, cows and manure. Mixed in was thinned out forest.

15.73 miles climbing 2224′. Fun trail. I am riding more aggressively trusting my bike. Lots of sharp rocks. I’m now running 19 psi in the rear and 18 on the front. Softer ride and no damage. Fun riding. Enjoyable in that it is all about pedaling, none of that 2hrs of climbing a resource extraction road for a short downhill. Not here.  Another worth riding again trail.

I found an Anytime in Rapid City for a shower and nearby grocery store. I headed east on rt 44 to Badlands NP for the night. Packed XG. no trees. 83 degree day.

So, tomorrow I drive the rest of South Dakota into Minnesota.

I am working my flat pedals much better. I am placing my foot with the pedal axle under the arch of my foot which changes the pedal stroke making it so much more powerful than clipless pedals. I am learning where friend Steve’s power comes from.

Thanks all for the birthday wishes. Swammi, I just started another batch of probiotics. Abe, I’ll find a table that I can sit on to follow your advice.

Bed time.