Day 49: Riding with Steph through Deadwood

TREV:
We woke up and took advantage of the continental breakfast before heading out on our first day of touring together. The riding pace is slower than I'm used to but I expected that since I've had over a month and a half of riding versus Steph's first day. The day was hot and dry as we made it into Deadwood and stopped at Shadé Winery's tasting room. We found out that the vines are tailored to survive the frigid winters and the result is typically very sweet wines. We tasted several and many would be great as desert wines but most were too sweet if you just want to sit down with a bottle or two. SD wineries also have a lot of fruit wines which were pretty good for their category.

We finally left the air conditioned room and rode into downtown Deadwood. The town is very much Old West but most were of the places are newly remodeled to look like old buildings, which gives the town a kind of Hollywood facade. We had a meal and whiskeys on the rocks at Old Saloon #10 and ended up getting suckered into taking an Old Time photo. We had it shipped back home instead of taking it with us but it was fun to dress up and the whole deal, I'll post the pic once Steph gets back.

We snacked, had an ice cream, and saw one of the cheesiest gunslinger shows ever where the street was blocked off, crowds assembled, and a couple actors with glorified cap guns yelled at each other and shot one another "dead".

We were over the crowds of tourists and souvenir shops so we cruised up to the Mickelson trailhead and began riding on one of the country's most famous bike trails. The trail isn't paved, but it is well maintained and hard packed so Steph's thin tires didn't have a problem. The scenery was gorgeous, full of creeks, forest, and after a bit, cool breezes as the sun dipped behind the Black Hills.

Eventually we had to figure out camp and settled on Hanna campground. To get there we left Mickelson and had to navigate a few small roads before beginning a descent much further than we had anticipated. Finally arriving at camp, we went about setting up, making dinner, and enjoying a roaring campfire. I love camping and it's even better when duties are shared, as well as comforts. Steph makes for a great camping partner and never shies away from helping so the next week and change will be a joy.

STEPH:
Not going to lie, when we first started out on the bikes Friday morning, I was feeling a little unsure - we were on a road with cars, hugging the narrow shoulder which had periodic sloping storm drains on our right and it was HOT. The uphill out of Sturgis was tough for me and every passing minute I was conscious of how much slower we were going compared to Trevor's usual pace. In hindsight, the sudden change in elevation probably had something to do with it (coming from sea level back home to 3400 ft in Sturgis and eventually we'd climb to 6300 ft) but in the moment I was just feeling lame! Trev, patient as ever, stuck with me at my pace throughout the day.

Deadwood seemed to spring up out of nowhere and as we entered town, I felt like we were entering the set for Back to the Future III. Not that it actually felt like we were in the old West, but literally at the Universal Studios set for the movie. Some of the old buildings were really impressive and the steep, forested hills surrounding town made for a beautiful backdrop, so it's a bit of a shame that it has become such a tourist trap. I mean, there were staged shooting re-enactments every hour or so and the Kevin Costner casino... now that just seemed random.

The Mickelson Trail at the edge of Deadwood was a breath of fresh air and I was so happy to be away from cars and finally riding through the forest. I was a little worried before the trip about how my tires would do on the trail since I had read that it's mostly crushed limestone gravel and the trail is supposedly a mountain biking destination. I have flat-resistant Armadillo brand tires, but they're narrow (700x25) and don't have a whole lot of tread so I was very happy to discover that they did just fine on the trail. Hopefully that holds true for the rest of the Mickelson!

After opting to cut the day a little shorter than we originally planned, we veered off the trail for Hanna campground. The last push brought us to 6300 ft and then we were treated to an exhilarating downhill to Hanna. It's going to be rough climbing back out of this valley in the morning to pick up the trail, but our serene campsite next to the creek and cooler temperature make it well worth it.