First Group Gravel Ride in Custer

 Today I met up with friends I originally met in Belgium four years ago, Mike and Kelly Prendergast. When they heard I was in South Dakota they invited me to join them and their friends in Custer to ride gravel roads for the next few days. I jumped at the opportunity. Wow, imagine the idea of riding with people again. Sure riding with Caroline was awesome and I would not trade that for anything but it has been so long since I’ve been able to have a conversation with multiple people on a bike ride, my favorite. 

I met them at their campsite just on the outside of town, eight of them in total. Please don’t ask me everyone’s name, I am not that good. Hopefully in the next few days I will be able to put names to faces. We headed back into town on the Mickelson Trail right past my campsite French Creek Camping. After about a mile we were on our first gravel road and we didn’t see pavement for the rest of the 55 miles. Not to say we didn’t see cars. At 8am, when we left must have been the backroads rush hour. Cars, ATV’s and Buggies tearing down the road to town I could only imagine to work or to drop kids off at school, if that still happens during this crazy year.

To start the ride I did my normal of riding back and forth between riders having small conversation to get to know everyone and to feel out how the group is going to break up. We stayed together for the most part during the first third of the day. Stopping and waiting for everyone at each turn or the top of big climbs. After a few miles it was clear how the groups were going to separate. 

I started at the back and made my way to the front on a couple of the climbs and of course on the descent I naturally go to the front. I just don’t use my brakes much. So about a third of the way the group broke in half. And at around halfway it was just Chris and I. We kind of rolled away on one of the bigger climbs and kept on going over the top and before we knew it we were out of sight. We continued up and down the rollers keeping a good tempo just talking. We have the van life thing in common so the conversation rolled just like we were. 

We stopped to get a few pictures of Crazy Horse Memorial and to grab a bite to eat. We were there for quite a while and just before we were about to go again I saw a small group of riders coming in the distance. Of course we waited so we could all ride back together. 

The last part of the ride was back down the Mickelson Trail. It is incredibly beautiful, an old rail bed converted into a bike path. I believe it is over a hundred miles long. Incredible views. 

I can’t wait for tomorrow’s ride.