Trail Work for the Black Hills Back 40

After more than a few miles of gravel and dirt roads recently, I'm returning to single track for some shorter, zippier rides.  Today, Shaun Arritola and I loaded up the mountain bikes for a spin around Storm Mountain, a local favorite just into the Black Hills outside the ghost town of Rockerville.

But first, we hiked about 5 miles to help prepare the Storm Mountain trails for the Black Hills Back 40, a forty mile mountain bike race put on by local legends Nancy and Phil Busching.  Shaun operated the nuclear powered weed wacker to great effect, while I delicately trimmed and pruned by hand.

Shaun handled the power tools, while I put the power into the tools.

We finished my assigned section of the race course, but the project took longer than expected and took more out of me than expected.  So, we'll return next week for a longer ride.  In the meantime, I'll call this cross-training for the Black Hills BackBone.

Shaun's custom crafted toy hauler can handle most any adventure.