I'd Rather Be Cycling: Day 52: 7/11/19: Hill City to Edgemont, SD

Today I started with a stop in Custer after riding about 12 miles. I stopped at Mac's for breakfast, and guess what I had (pic below).

Mac, the owner and cook, came out of the kitchen and talked to the 5 patrons in the restaurant. He said that after his lease is up next year he is calling it quits and moving down south close to the Gulf of Mexico so he can fish. He said it is costing him money to continue running his restaurant, and he is tired of dipping into his savings to pay bills. That will be bad for the town of Custer because the food was really good.

Some pics around Custer. Whereas Blacksburg VA has painted turkeys around their town, in Custer it is painted buffaloes.

Then I went through the town of Pringle, population 110. According to it's sign, it is the Elk Capital of South Dakota. Below are pics of the old Pringle School bell and a 40 gallon soda and acid fire extinguisher that was purchased in 1936 for $75.

Pringle's Main Street.

According to a December 1901 Burlington Route Time Table posted in Pringle, the Number 44 train ran from Deadwood to Edgemont daily. It left Deadwood at 7:45 a.m., and arrived in Edgemont at 12:35 p.m. It took almost 5 hours to cover that 109 mile trek. That's still quicker than I have been able to cover that same route. Of course in today's world, that's traveling at a snail's pace.

In Pringle, a fellow pulled up to the shelter where I was resting, and we started talking. His name is David and he and a friend, Ron, have been riding the Mickelson Trail the last couple of days from Deadwood to Edgemont. When I asked David where he is from, he said Chattanooga. Small world. He lives in Signal Mountain and Ron is from St Louis. (Pic below - David is on the left)

Also a family of 6 rode up to the shelter while we were there. They are the Desposato family from near San Diego, CA. They have been riding the Mickelson Trail together from Deadwood to Edgemont for a few days. The youngest child is 4 years old, and she rides the stoker position on a tandem captained by the dad, Scott. Scott had to modify the tandem's stoker crank so her feet would reach the pedals. (Pics below)

Below are pics of Sheep Canyon near Edgemont on the trail. There was a tall, long wooden trestle built across the canyon, but it became rickety over the years. It was later replaced with an earthen trestle. Legend has it that it became so rickety that the engineer would get out of the train on one side and walk across the trestle. Another train employee would then start the train going and jump off the train. When the train crossed the trestle, the engineer would jump back on and stop it until the other worker walked across the trestle and got on the train. All I wonder is, what about the passengers?

Below is a pic of where the trail runs next to a bluff.

I'm glad I was not around when the rock pictured below broke loose from the bluff and rolled across the trail. The fence did not fair too well. I'm not sure how much protection my bicycle helmet would have provided.

I made it to Edgemont just in time for the train pictured below to pull across the road and stop completely. Since I needed to use the restroom, I took about a 2 mile detour to go over bridge to get to a restroom.

Below are some pics around Edgemont.

I made it to Edgemont fairly early, but I decided to stop there for the night because they have a campground and laundromat. I took the opportunity to wash my clothes as I was on my last set of cycling clothes. Also, it was about mid-90s when I got there.

For supper, I had a big plate of spaghetti to try to carb up for tomorrow.

Regarding laundry, I put $1.75 in the dryer, but at the end of the cycle, the clothes were as wet as when I put them in there. I wasn't about to waste another $1.75, so I stuffed the clothes in my bag and went to an abandoned tennis court beside the campground and resorted to drying them old school (pic below). It worked.

As I was hanging out my clothes, Sarah and Bruno (pic below) pulled up on their bicycles. They are camping near me tonight. She is from Quebec City and he is from Switzerland. They are riding from Mexico City to Montreal.

I learned tonight that the campground office and showers are in the same building as the theater. Tonight, teenagers were performing a play at the theater. Root Beer floats were made by the concessions folks, and I bought one for my dessert. It was awkward taking a shower and shaving in the campground restroom while folks from the audience were coming in to use the restroom, but I did it. There was a shower curtain that somewhat divided me from the folks coming in to the restroom. All part of the adventure.

Some more scenery pics from my ride today.