2025 Black Hills Bounty (Day 0) - Gathering at Deerfield Lake

The Black Hills Bounty is an annual weeklong bikepacking trip in the Black Hills of South Dakota that I create for cycling buddy Paul Brasby of North Platte, Nebraska and a growing assortment of his friends from Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and Colorado. We started with a tour of the Central Black Hills (2021), then the Southern Black Hills (2022), then the Northern Black Hills and Bear Lodge Mountains (2023), and then the BackBone Grande route from the Nebraska border to Spearfish (2024).

Due to a burst of interest from Paul's widening circle of bikepacking friends from all over, I intentionally designed the 2025 Bounty to be scalable to a highly variable number of riders and built in three distinct stages:  a 3 day/2 night self-supported bikepacking ride, a 1 day unloaded, mostly paved Mt. Rushmore day ride, and a 2 day/1 night self-supported bikepacking ride. Importantly, each rider could choose to ride from any combination of the first, second, and third stages.

Over the course of the year, several riders expressed interest in riding this stage or that, depending on their ambition and availability. Some Black Hills locals even chimed in. All were welcomed.

2025 Bounty riders gather at White Tail Campground around a fire at sunset.
(image by Kevin Fox)

So, on a gorgeous Sunday evening in late September, nine enthusiastic bikepackers gathered at USFS White Tail Campground overlooking Deerfield Lake. Old and new friends sprinkled in, as we prepared bikes, packed gear, reviewed maps, ate dinner, and joyfully connected over a roaring campfire.

In the morning, we start the 3 day/2 night self-supported, self-navigated jaunt onto the ridges and into the canyons of the Western and SouthWestern Black Hills. It's a typical Bounty mix of Forest Service back roads, abandoned two-tracks, and some overgrown single track through memorable terrain to a unique dispersed campsite. For this group, the Bounty is a cherished adventure/vacation, with a nod toward vacation.

Our story of the 2025 Black Hills Bounty will be told primarily through images captured by our assembly of experienced endurance cyclists. Paul Brasby, Ben Cooper, and Jeff Caldwell of North Platte, NE. Jeff Bloom and Kevin Fox of Lincoln, NE. Mark Almer of Littleton, CO. Rob Foudray, Brit Flinchbaugh, Paulette Kirby, and me, all from the Black Hills area.

Here are a few images from USFS White Tail Campground as we gathered on the afternoon of Day 0.

USFS White Tail Campground overlooking Deerfield Lake.
(image by Kevin Fox)

Jeff Bloom removes the rear wheel of his Salsa CutThroat,
while White Tail Cycles owner Jeff Caldwell conducts an in-the-field tubeless conversion.

Jeff Caldwell's tubeless conversion clinic starts to draw a crowd.

Jeff Bloom's Salsa CutThroat, fresh off the mobile repair stand, ready to roll.
(image by Kevin Fox)

Mountain bikes loaded for bikepacking pushed the weight capacity of that Farmer-Fixit rack.
Mark Almer and Paul Brasby add to the mix and wonder if it will hold.

Jeff Caldwell hefts an old school bedroll that won't quite fit on his bike.
Not that he didn't try.
(image by Paul Brasby)

And so it begins.
(image by Paul Brasby)