I pulled into the hotel parking lot to find fellow Sioux Falls dude, Gary. Once checked in, we made haste for M-Hill. For those not in the know, M Hill, aka Cowboy Hill, aka Hanson Larson Memorial park is roughly twenty (20) miles of some pretty sweet singletrack within two (2) blocks of downtown Rapid City.
We rode some trails before getting a call from, and then joined up by, Ross. Ross showed us the new IMBA rocky trail and some machine built cross-country trails. We made our way back to the top and took a harder trail down. Riding makes a dude hungry so we were off to Sanford’s for food and, of course, beer.
Friday we were up early. Gary and I made our way to Storm Mountain to ride the loop there. It was as good as I remember it, plus, they added more jumps, berm corners, and length to the half-pipe section at the end. After we’d completed a lap, we headed back to town for food.
Next up, Buzzard’s Roost. There are approximately ten (10) miles of trails at the Buzzard’s Roost area. Just before we started we received a call from Ross indicating he’d join us. We rode some solo and then met up with Ross.
Ross steered us to the extreme (red) trail. He said, “It isn’t that bad.” It wasn’t. It was actually quite fun. We rode that trail to its end, rode back up another, and did the two (2) mile decent trail back to the cars. A good day’s riding in.
Saturday we opted to try a group ride. We made our way to Founder’s Park and signed up for the Pactola Centennial out and back ride. Funny thing, Ross was the ride leader. Gary and I were the only ones to sign up. Introductions were short and we were off to ride.
The Centennial started off with a respectable climb on double track. From there we were on single track and many ups and downs in the woods. We hit the highway turn-around spot and headed back. At the top and at the spot where singletrack becomes double track we knew it was all downhill. Into the big rings and flying down the hill we went. I managed to take the lead for a while up until a hard corner had me over-shooting and finding myself off the trail and up a hill.
Post ride we ambled off to the Sugar Shack for some huge grease burgers, fries, and beverages. The lunch of champions. After a brief rest we were off in search of Victoria Lake.
Victoria Lake area has a few trails. The ones I know of are the ten (10) mile lollipop type trail and the longer fifteen (15) mile loop trail. We opted for the longer loop trail.
About two (2) minutes in we had our first (1st) of about ten (10) creek crossings. The Victoria Lake loop has a good mix of rocks, climbs, ripper down hills, and great scenery. Three (3) hours after we started we were done and heading back to town for food and beer and to attend the film festival.
The film festival was great. However, many hours of riding make for tired rollers. Off in search of our hotel rooms.
Sunday was the rainout day. There was not much to do but visit a bookstore, a bike shop, and an indoor go-cart place. Monday was the trip home.
A great time was had even though Sunday proved uneventful. If you haven’t been to the Black Hills to mountain bike, you’re missing it. If you think all there is around Rapid City is M Hill, you’re sadly mistaken.
Ride On.
0 comments:
Post a Comment