From last night:

Found spot W of town on West River Road by a corral but right along side railroad track. Nice spot but trains passed with too much noise. Fixed dinner. Internet speed was way slower than town. Needed to research MN, IA, MI, & IL rides and needed speed. Drove back into Medora, found quiet parking lot but right beside track again. I told myself that it is just a noisy train and because the van shook just meant that I had to dig deeper into my slumber. Didn’t wake up for any trains.

I did wake up to loud whooshing sounds. Looked outside and saw about 8 hot air balloons burning their propane heaters to get airborne.

Fixed Bfast. Walked into town (3 blocks away) to public restrooms, no growler hole dug in asphalt this AM.

Off back W on I-94 to Belfield to go N to Little Missouri Nat Grassland for a section of the MDH Trail at Magpie Camp. About 10 miles of good gravel road driving back among oil wells.

Before I left 2 bike groups visited but they were going S and I am going N.

Take off riding cow pathes and slopping thru cow pies or picking lines around them. MDH trail is just organized cow trail riding. The better riding was yesterday on the Buffalo Gap trail which is a bypass trail aroung teddy’s NP where bikes aren’t allowed.

Rode 9 miles N & turned around after a little more than an hour of riding. No point continuing. After the first several miles the trail idea is the same and the cow shit cumulative. Round trip 18.9 miles with 1800′ vert climbing.

Geology is this was an inland shallow sea that drained away. Strata after strata in soft rock:

Spot & trail marker and horizon: both keep on going.

Trail cuts in & out of small drainages. Soil is really unstable & heavy rains created new lines. To the FS credit the trails appear stable.

Cows. Tom, you want an opinion: America eats too much beef, it will kill people and ultimately destroy our environment from stealing water from the downstream ecosystems, destroying riparian areas, compacting the soil contributing to erosion, and taking the land out of crop growth. Too many business people producing more beef and hay than the market will support so subsidies are spent to keep them in business producing more surplus.

Drove back road E towards Bismark, my resupply point for today. Back roads are less populated and slower but lack towns & grocery stores. Couldn’t find a shower after my ride.

In shopping district of Bismark. Need to find a quieter place for sleep.

Cougs got creamed by Cal.

Tomorrow is Minnesota. Getting harder to find rides along my proposed route.

Finish from yesterday:

Drove North from Sturgis looking for public land to dirtbag on. Miles and miles of range land & no shielded spot. Finally I entered a small piece of Nat Forest land. Drove back an slight road & parked right on it. Cloudy at first but @ pee break it was clear and really black. I was miles from any source of light.

Getting colder, no frost yet.

Slept in w/ same intrepidation of poking my nose out of the covers. Used doubled over down blanket. Concern as it gets colder until I get out of it if the blanket will keep me warm w/o heater on.

More miles of desolate road, range land, cows & hay. Lot of unsold hay round bales. Couple of jogs and into ND. At Belfield on I-94 I bought diesel @ $4.09, borrowed a phone book & found bike shop Dakota Cyclery  Mountain Bike Adventures, & called them. Got Jennifer on the horn & learned that she had a shuttle leaving shortly and I bit. Got into downtown Medora, an entry for Theodore Roosevelt Nat Park. She was running John out for a guided trip and I could buy a shuttle ride.

Off West bound on I-94 to Buffalo Gap XG TH. I rode with them for the entire ride. Buffalo Gap is part of the MDH as it skirts the NP. Trail is non technical swooping among cow pies. A bit of rain and slightly chilly. Actually rode with other people, not JRA.

Oh, at the TH was a double CXT outhouse.

Rode thru some prarie and then into the Badlands:

Then the trail:

FS has installed a new kind of gate:

Then into the Badlands:

But then these really are badlands:

Trail section:

Hit campground right out of town for $3.00 shower and laundry.

Decide to stay here another day and ride some more of the MDH Trail further North.

Off for now,

Cool morning.

Started heater & fixed Bfast. Waited till the sun warmed temps a bit & washed the bike w/ cold h2o, just to get the mud off & clean the drive train.

The Tinton Trail sure was fun, perhaps a harbinger of the midwest with the tread & type of trail.

Drove back to Rushmore Mountain Sports in Spearfish to talk to Jesse before I choose next ride. I am interested in the Centennial Trail as IMBA pasted all kinds of glory about the section in the trees. I wanted to see a showcase trail design.

Christy, Perry Jewitt’s wife, gave me local beta. Good ride.

Drove to TH which is x I-90 from Vet Cemetary & on Ft Meade property. At TH only tent camping.

Trail went underneath I-90 thru a culvert:

The trail was a good design but I have been on others I thought slightly better. I noticed that there was very little outsloping to sluff off the h2o.

It undulated thru P-Pine:

Fall colors are starting to show:

This trail had poison ivy like the North Fork of the Umpqua had poison oak. So far no reaction.

Had lunch @ TH. Cleaned hydration bladder w/ denture tabs to kill anything living in bladder as I never empty it and dry it out. Not city h2o.

Drove to XG & bought shower for $3.00, the price hostles charge as the woman didn’t know what to charge.

Drove to Sturgis, parked outside motorcycle museum creating this. Maybe I’ll find the Harley plant as I leave town.

Next stop is North Dakota for Maah Daah Hey trail part, then a long drive X the state for Minnesota.

Gotta go. Badlands of the Dakotas.