Cycle Touring in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Summer 2016

During late summer of 2016, Peter and I did a road trip to Rapid City, South Dakota to participate in a one week fully supported bike tour with 60 riders organized by the Adventure Cycling Association (ACA), in the Black Hills just west of the city. We were part of a subgroup of ten riders from California. Departing from home, our round trip odyssey took us through nine states: California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon. In total, during nearly three weeks of travel, we drove just over 4,000 miles and rode our bicycles 262 miles with over 16,000 feet of elevation gain. We visited; by vehicle, bike, and foot; the Great Basin NP, Arches NP, Montrose, Rocky Mountains NP, Deadwood, Wind Cave NP, Custer State Park, Crazy Horse Memorial, Mt. Rushmore NM, Badlands NP, Spearfish Canyon, Devils Tower NM, Little Bighorn Battlefield NM, the Beartooth Basin, Yellowstone NP, Bozeman, Missoula, Flathead Lake, and Steen Mountains of southeast Oregon. My thanks to the hospitality of Kurt and Cheri in Montrose, and Bill and Kathy at Flathead Lake for our much needed rest days. The ACA team lead by Kelley did an OUTSTANDING job running the bike tour and Ann's cooking was beyond my expectations. I highly recommend supported bike tours operated by ACA. Below are few pictures and here's a link to all the pictures on Google Photos including our road trip.