there's trails in them hills

 The Blackhills of SD that is..........or at least that's what i've heard. So this weekend i'm fortunate to find out for myself as i head on over to Spearfish SD with the family for the 10th Annual Dakota Five-O endurance race and ride. I'm super excited to ride new terrain and honestly the only goal is to have fun, ride my bike fast, finish, and hopefully see a few lincolnite buddies as well. So wish me luck that i finish and that i don't take any wrong turns. Ha !

Long live the eight inch wide trail to paradise

 Monture Creek area near the Bob Marshall Wilderness, encroaching upon and looking into it. Riding bicycles on trails that sees very little usage, even a lesser amount of user conflict. Yet despite this there is still the potential of these trails going away soon under Senator John Testors new Forest Jobs and Recreation Act which could possibly take away some of the most amazing back country trails that mountain bikers have historically enjoyed. This bill will roughly be turning  700,000 acres into new Wilderness throughout Western Montana, and unfortunately bicycles are not legally allowed in Wilderness. While i do have an appreciation for wild places and Wilderness land designations i also think turning such lands into these designations should be brought about with thoughtful considerations from the public that actually uses them, and the folks that live there. Mountain Biking is a popular form of recreation and the voices from this user group should be heard, taken into consideration and rules made, slight boundaries adjusted so that mountain bikers of future generations will still have public lands to explore. 

  A weekend was spent in this one area with good friends, we absorbed new amazing landscapes, swam in crystal clear lakes, listened and watched a pair of Loons, refueled on wild berries, and most importantly as tax paying Americans we enjoyed these public lands without detriment to the forest or the critters that live there.  

 

timmy swallowed up on McCabe trail

shrekie