On the Mickelson Trail Day #2

Short day and pretty simple, if for no other reason than because it was short and over half of it was down hill.

We started our day at the Calamity Jane Coffee Shop. I ordered a mocha and I would put any of our second day trainees mocha next to this one. So many things wrong, including the moment the barista leaned her phone against the coffee pot and slyly watching something that made her smile and made me want to fire her. The mocha was barely acceptable to qualify for a speciality drink. Maybe she was just having a bad, or maybe not.

The sun was out this morning and air was a bit cool at 54 degrees. It didn’t take us long to get our blood pumping. The first 7 miles were a slow and steady uphill climb. Even though it was wearing, for the most part it becomes a head game where you have to keep convincing your legs to keep peddling. Even so, it wasn’t a hard 7 mile climb. Near the top we stopped to get a drink and we met Virginia who was waiting for her husband Tom. They were doing some bike shuffling as they were riding the trail. She definitely wanted to talk. As we were about ready to leave she leaned in closer and lowered her voice as if she didn’t wanted anyone to hear, but there weren’t other people around. She said “my husband is (at this point she indicated that he was pretty wide), and I just want him to get some exercise”. We encouraged he to keep him active and left shortly after.

Several miles later he crested and began a downhill portion and with just a few exceptions it was all downhill from there. What a relief and what fun. :) We had maybe ridden downhill for several miles when we saw a woman on a bridge. We stopped and chatted. She asked how far to the top. When we said it was another several miles she deflated and said “another two miles?” We understood her anguish. She had another twenty miles to go but after the two miles uphill she would be good to go. She would have several uphill climbing but most would be downhill.

We arrived in Hill City around noon and found a place to grab a bite to eat, booked a place for the night and are currently lounging in the lobby waiting for the room to be prepared.

Tomorrow will be the big one; 25 miles uphill and 20 miles down.Read more