Ben’s May 2024 Adventures

I thought I would share another one of my long-distance cycling adventures from back in May. I have finally found the time and motivation to go through most of my pictures, and there are some I'm really happy with!

The trip began with a plane flight from Albany to Rapid City, South Dakota. It was my first plane flight with a bike with S&S couplers, which allow the frame to be broken into two pieces, and the whole thing to be fit in a relatively compact bag, rather than a bike box. The first adventure was putting my bike back together once I landed, which I think I did a pretty good job of. It certainly stayed together for the next 1200 miles or so. My experience at the Bikeatoga workshop helped a lot with this!

Next, I needed to mail my collapsible bike box home (the most expensive piece of the puzzle!), load up on groceries, and get up and into the mountains. The worn gravel of the Mickelson Trail follows an old rail line for about 100 miles through the Black Hills. I got on it near an old gold mine, now serving as an underground laboratory, shielded from cosmic rays. There was plenty of up and down, but at relatively gentle grades, so initially, I barely noticed my elevation. 

I met my dad to do some hiking in Custer State Park, Wind Cave National Park, and the surrounding area. If you want to see bison, you will see more, get closer, and deal with less traffic to get to them in the Dakotas. We survived a surprise snowstorm (apparently not that much of a surprise to locals in early May), and enjoyed 4 days of hiking, before I continued on my journey south. 

Towards the Nebraska border, the Mickelson trail ended, and I rode on some pavement again. To approach Toadstool Geologic Park in Nebraska, I needed to ride on some more unpaved roads. This time, they were mostly mud, affectionately referred to as 'Nebraska Cement' by locals. The park was amazing, and I would have spent longer there, if I had brought more water. There was some moving water nearby, but it was horrendously silty, to the point that I decided to protect my filter from it. I had seen how it stuck to my tires, after all. 

I refilled on food in Crawford, and began the eastbound leg of my journey. This quickly led to close proximity to Nebraska National Forest, which straddles a bit of a vertical discontinuity, with the northwestern side around 500 feet lower than the southeastern side, and a lovely network of gravel roads winding through the forests between them. 

Prior to the journey, I had read a bit about the Nebraska Sand Dunes. I sort of expected them to be, well, just sand. It turns out they are currently mostly covered in grasses, and even a few shrubs and small trees here and there, so it can take a moment to recognize that you are surrounded by sand dunes. You might see a lake with no visible input or output, or a cow or domestic buffalo rolling in some sand. This part of Nebraska is primarily cattle country, transitioning to produce like corn further south. 

Eventually, I met up with the Cowboy Trail in Valentine, Nebraska, which allowed me a flat and safe route east another 200 miles across the state. This far east, the topography that made South Dakota and Northwestern Nebraska so appealing was long since gone. The big sources of excitement were which way the wind would blow that day, or the occasional deep river valley. 

Not long after leaving Norfolk, I crossed the border to Iowa, my 50th state (45 by bike, so far). The Missouri river was impressive, and the wind was too. My small taste of Iowa was not enough to convince me to sign up for the annual ride across the state like some other Bikeatoga volunteers have, but maybe the day will come. I followed the Missouri river south to Omaha, where I was very impressed by a lovely new outdoor pedestrian strip, a Lewis & Clark museum, and bike trails which took me almost all the way to Lincoln. From there, I stayed on bike trails well into Kansas, at which point I was quite ready for the final half day's ride into Manhattan Kansas, where I met some friends for Memorial Day weekend.

Skipping over a few non-bike related details, my trip home, as most train trips do, took me through Chicago. From there, I rode along the shore of Lake Michigan and eventually to South Bend, Indiana, by way of Indiana Dunes National/State Park. I was distraught when a raccoon stole my raisins on that final night, but otherwise, emerged from the trip unharmed, and thinking about what adventures next year might bring.

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If such a ride sounds exciting, but maybe a bit out of reach for you, fear not! Bikeatoga will be hosting our second annual overnight trip to the Waterford Tugboat Roundup. We plan to meet in Congress Park in Saratoga at 2 PM on Saturday, September 7, ride a leisurely 25 miles to Waterford, spend the night camping at Lock 2, and ride back on Sunday morning, expecting to return to Saratoga by around noon. 

This is a great way to dip your toes into bicycle travel and meet some new friends while doing so. We will plan to buy supper and breakfast in restaurants, so you will only need to bring clothing and sleeping equipment and food and water for the journey. Feel free to stop by the workshop or reach out if you have any questions. 

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Benjamin Norford

Bikeatoga President