Hidden in Plain Sight

The Black Hills DoubleBackBone is 640.6 miles. Adding additional miles may be a tough sell, but this is special. And it's right there alongside the route, hidden in plain sight.

The Northern Prairie Loop follows public roads crossing primarily private land. Although the gravel and dirt roads enter isolated, winding threads of trees and water when crossing an occasional draw, it's almost all wide open prairie. In the midst of this ocean of grass, just 14 miles from the start/finish at the North Dakota border, lies a little known treasure. The North Cave Hills Unit of Custer Gallatin National Forest is a collection of small hills that erupt from the surrounding prairie, creating an oasis of trees and rock. Once up and back into these hills, it looks and feels like you're in the middle of the Black Hills.

North Cave Hills Unit of the Custer Gallatin National Forest, en route to the Picnic Spring Campground.

Atop one of these forested plateaus lies Picnic Spring Campground, a primitive U.S. Forest Service camp ground. No reservations. No fees. No water. No services at all. Just a dirt road leading to eight secluded campsites each offering a picnic table, a fire grate and an outhouse down the way. It's one sweet spot to camp.

A great start to the Black Hills BackBone is to camp at Picnic Spring and then ride or shuttle the 14 miles of dirt and gravel roads to the start. On our 2017 Black Hills BackBone ride, we car camped at Picnic Spring for a memorable night beside the fire and under the stars, before shuttling to the North Dakota border early the next morning. If I ride the BackBone again, I'd love to do the same.

Chillin' at Picnic Spring Campground on the eve of our 2017 Black Hllls BackBone.
Dave Litzen, Craig Groseth, Rob Sorge & Shaun Arritola. (photo by Corinne Sorge).

Picnic Spring also would be a great place to start a DoubleBackBone, as long as one is committed to arranging the 3 hour shuttle back to Rapid City after the finish. A DoubleBackBone ride with less shuttle time starts in Spearfish with a clockwise loop through Camp Crook up to the North Dakota border, before returning to Spearfish. At almost 300 miles, this Northern Prairie loop could be ridden continuously or with stealth napping along the route. Alternatively, for a delightful evening in a forested oasis, one could invest in the short spur to this little known, little used camp ground. If I were to bike pack the DoubleBackBone solo or in a small group, I'm thinking that I'd start it that way, before heading south for that big Southern Loop.

No matter the journey, an evening at Picnic Spring is worth the trip.

No Dead Miles

I don't believe in "dead" miles. I feel alive on every mile I ride.

This time of year triggers an avalanche of quick fix training programs guaranteed IN JUST 10 DAYS! to GAIN SPEED!, LOSE WEIGHT! and SLAY DRAGONS! A prominent admonition this year seems to focus on the concept of avoiding "dead" miles, i.e., pedaling miles that are too easy for aerobic or strength training, but too hard for base building or recovery. In general, this concept advocates a high percentage of miles be very easy and a low percentage of miles be off-the-charts hard. Everything in between has no beneficial training effect and are "dead" miles to be avoided at all cost.

Maybe this resonates with those having the goal of optimizing every riding moment for optimal training effect. If your paycheck or your ego depends on your relative placing in races, then perhaps you should ride only boringly slow or lung-burstingly fast. If there's no margin for error, maybe every riding moment must contribute to a specific training benefit. I don't know. I'll leave that to the professionals.

Just riding along on some favorite M-Hill trails in the heart of Rapid City.
(photo by Chani Groseth, CapturedMomentsByChani.com)

I'm just not buying it for me. Not any more. Those in-between miles are fun. And more fun leads to more riding and better conditioning, even if it's not optimal. I don't care if I'm not as fast or as strong as I theoretically could be through optimal training. I ride a lot because I have a lot of fun riding. My weekends often are filled pedaling through remote country on those fun, in between miles. None feel "dead" to me.

I understand that a structured plan with high intensity workouts produces results. By following a variety of such plans over the years, I have experienced the speed and endurance gains from high intensity training. However, these days I choose not to rigorously structure my riding to specific training. I just ride.

That does not mean my week is without structure. For base building and recovery, I commute every day by bike, year around, which is about 25-30 minutes each way or almost 5 hours a week. That quietly adds up to about 2,500 miles a year. I don't feel compelled to add more base building/recovery rides during the limited ride times on nights and weekends.

For high intensity training, I now run. In late 2017, I started running again after a very long hiatus. For the past 68 weeks, I have run three times a week, with increasingly harder and longer efforts. By now, I'm at Tuesday early morning short intervals (4x3min, 3 miles total), Thursday early morning threshold (1x20min, 3 miles total) and Sunday morning trails (1 hour up and around M-Hill). The key for me is consistent effort over time. I am gradually getting lighter and faster, both running and riding, as a direct result of incorporating these short runs into my week. They also free up the rest of my nights and weekends to find someplace fun to ride.

So, I bike commute for base building/recovery, run for training and ride nights/weekends for fun.

No "dead" miles for me.

Sometimes, More is More

The Black Hills BackBone. Go big. Go remote. Go for it.

More? The Black Hills DoubleBackBone.

Really? An even longer route? What prompted that? The DoubleBackBone is simply the result of my way of problem solving. 

Spanning the height of the State of South Dakota on 310 miles of back country gravel and dirt roads, the Black Hills BackBone showcases the remote ruggedness of Western South Dakota. It also creates a host of challenges for the adventurous cyclist. One not to overlook is just getting to the start at NoWhere, North Dakota and from the finish at NothingThere, Nebraska. From Rapid City, it's a three hour drive one way to the start and two hours one way from the finish.

How to eliminate those long shuttle drives? Make the route into a loop and start where convenient.

Imagine, if you will, riding along the original Black Hills BackBone route to the stop sign finish at the Nebraska border. Celebrate the moment, but then head west onto Dakota Line Road to access the Wild, Wild Western reaches of the Black Hills. A serpentine network of barely used gravel and dirt roads wind generally north for a return up O'Neil Pass, before dropping onto the Northern Prairie to the North Dakota border.

Now, that's one big, bad ride. Over 640 miles, all told.

The Black Hills DoubleBackBone. Go bigger. Go more remote. Go for more.

Out there. Somewhere. On the Black Hills DoubleBackBone.

Sometimes, more is more. More rolling prairie patrolled by herds of cattle, buffalo, pronghorn and elk. More obscure canyons scoured by flash floods. More twisty ridge lines climbing to soaring views. More hills stuffed with pine and aspen. More dirt near-roads connecting with secondary Forest Service gravel. And even more remote than the easterly side of the loop, which is a bit hard to believe until you're out there. Get you some of that!

The Black Hills DoubleBackBone, like the original BackBone, is just a route that I think is fun and challenging, however one chooses to experience it. Solo or group. One continuous ride, a series of days or in sections over time. Self-supported, shuttled or fully supported. Maybe some combination or even all of the above.

For cue sheets for the entire Black Hills DoubleBackBone route, follow this link. DoubleBackBone Cue Sheets. For some ideas on how to approach the 640 mile route, go to this post. DoubleBackBone Daydreams. For pictures and other details along the route, go the posts in early 2018, including NothingThere, NE to Edgemont, Edgemont to Jewell Cave, Jewell Cave to O'Neil Pass, O'Neil Pass to Camp Crook Road (part 1), O'Neil Pass to Camp Crook Road (part 2), Camp Crook Road to NoWhere, ND.

The Black Hills DoubleBackBone. Go bigger. Go more remote. Go for more.

No. We'll Ride the C.O.G. 100.

To prepare for this scene in the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," Paul Newman reportedly tried to convince a friend to enter a single speed only gravel race in Iowa in March on an 111 mile course devised by the dastardly mind of Guitar Ted. Sometimes, you just have to go for it.

Here's to those who willingly jumped into the C.O.G. 100 Iowa Gravel Single Speed Championship!

See you in March!

Now 50 years old, the movie "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" is probably a bit obscure to many. Here's a link to this cliff jumping scene. Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid - Jump. This movie is worth watching just for the bicycle scene (yes, in a western!).

Here's also a link to my earlier post about the C.O.G. 100 Iowa Gravel Single Speed Championship. Keeping It Real - The C.O.G. 100.

Black Hills BackBone Overview & Links

The Black Hills BackBone emerged from a whimsical daydream into a 310 mile gravel and dirt road route spanning the height of the State of South Dakota along the spine of the Black Hills. From the Dakota Marker start at NoWhere, North Dakota to the Stop Sign finish at NothingThere, Nebraska, the Black Hills BackBone showcases the remote ruggedness of western South Dakota.

This route is out there. The first 220+ miles pass through but two towns, one of which offers little more than a bar/convenience store. There very well may be more miles without cell phone coverage than with. And in this back country, people are outnumbered by cows and probably by deer and elk, too.

Conceived as an unsupported, solo ride, the Black Hills BackBone readily lends itself to a multi-day bikepacking ride or even a multi-day supported tour. In 2017, a small group of friends rode the entire route over three days in the heat and winds of a Fourth of July weekend. For a six part report on that ride, go to these posts. An Idea Takes Shape; Gathering; Crossing the Northern Prairie; Up and Into the Black Hills; Focus on the Finish; A Weekend to Remember.

The tall, broad shoulders of Flag Mountain reveal the granite peaks of Mount Rushmore and Harney Peak.

To my knowledge, the entire Black Hills BackBone has not been ridden on a bicycle as a continuous, unsupported solo ride. That is not from lack of preparation or effort on my part. In my first attempt in 2015, I stumbled into ferocious prairie winds with horizontal rain that eventually spit me out in Spearfish 135 miles later, barely able to stand.  A Rancher's Kindness.  In my second attempt in 2016, I flew across the 135 miles of Northern Prairie in ideal conditions before plowing into a freak ice blizzard climbing O'Neil Pass, dropping me into a trail head outhouse shaking like a frozen leaf.  A Sudden Turn.  My third attempt remains undocumented, as I still cannot wrap my mind around that ride.

So, the first to complete an unsupported, continuous Black Hills BackBone will hold the course record. Whether anyone else gives it a go, or not, I'll be back out there again.

Lots of details and pictures of the Black Hills BackBone route are posted throughout this blog, if you're looking for a nice, long, remote ride. To save a trip through the blog archives, here are links to prior blog posts for the route. Introduction; Overview; Final Cut; New Cue Sheets & Tweaks; BackBone Photo Essay. 

The Mindset

Finish the hill.
Greg LeMond, American Cyclist

Like all but the very shortest of sporting events, an endurance bicycle race cannot be won at the start. There are too many variables, over too much time. As a race lengthens, the variables increase in number, complexity and unpredictability. Preparation and experience certainly help to successfully finish a long race, but the right mindset from the start is the most powerful tool in your kit.

On the other hand, the wrong mindset can lose an endurance bicycle race before the start. I know it, because I have done it. So, how to create, develop and maintain a successful mindset to finish? There is no single, right answer. You must get out there and learn how for yourself.

One thing is certain. No matter how prepared or experienced you are at the start, or how great you feel during the race, you will go through a rough patch. Something will go south. Emotional, intellectual, physical, mechanical, maybe more than one thing, maybe everything. It won't last forever. Find a way to stay positive and keep moving.



That mountain looks a long way away. Or, that's a lot of great country to ride through to get to that mountain. 

As I consider events for next year that may be a bit of a reach, I find inspiration in the thoughts of endurance cyclists who struggled through difficulties and broke through their perceived limitations. A common thread is positivity: focusing on the positive present, visualizing a positive future, or recalling the positive past. Remember the positive reasons for undertaking such experiences in the first place. Here is a short collection of thoughts from some folks who have the mindset to successfully finish.

"There is no room for negative thoughts. When Jay is on the bike, it's only positive thoughts. For Jay, it approaches a near-Zen mind state. He teaches that a negative thought must become so foreign it's as if you have an inability to even process it. Instead, focus on how you can succeed and be thankful for your ability to ride your bike."

Tom Puzak, GearJunkie contributing editor interviewing legendary cyclist Jay Petervary



"But gravel racing is not always about fitness and who is fastest. It's about decision making, mental toughness and being humble enough to let go of your expectations and embrace the struggle and adventure of the day. A day spent with like minded people who enjoy that kind of experience is a day well spent."

Sarah Cooper, endurance cyclist, Odin's Revenge Champion, Spotted Horse Ultra Race Director



Positive focus on what you can see.

"But, even as uncomfortable as it is, becoming better acquainted with myself is one of the reasons I seek out difficult cycling challenges. They afford me the opportunity to stress myself while working to stay positive, to stay patient, and to keep problem solving and moving forward."

Nick Legan, endurance cyclist, author of "Gravel Cycling"



"Adversity:  Your proving ground. There is no greater opportunity in life than to be presented an enormous obstacle and a chance to overcome it. Embrace adversity and find calm within the chaos to grow. Discomfort is common on the path and an indication you're headed in the right direction."

Todd Poquette, 906 Adventure Team, HAMR & Marji Gesick 100 Race Director

"Just because you feel bad now, does not mean you will feel bad later. A short stop to drink, eat and stretch can do wonders. On a hot day like this past Saturday, a long break to fully re-hydrate can renew the body and spirit, and can enable you to go on. The most enjoyable part of these long rides is the evening, as the temperature subsides and the winds calm. If you can get to the early evening, all will be good."

OldGravelGuy blog, 2013 Gravel Worlds

"He hath need of his wits who wanders wide."
Odin, somewhere out there at the 2016 Odin's Revenge.

"Try something crazy hard every once in a while, just to see where you stand. The Almanzo is the mirror that shows who you are, not who you tell people you are."

Paul Krumrich, endurance cyclist, GearJunkie contributing editor

"The demons live within us all and to willingly push ourselves into something that invites them to open doors most would keep locked forever is a peculiar thing. I've met my demons, I've embraced their company, and I've had them turn and exit through the door I unlocked. It's a good feeling to see them leave, but it's also a good feeling to understand what they've brought to the fold and what to do with it. It's during those confrontations that I've forgotten I was even on a bike despite the gravel rushing under my wheels. It is during these moments that we begin to truly understand who we are."

Tim Ek, long time sponsored endurance cyclist

"I need to get more fundamental than that. I need to realize that this thing -- that I have done obsessively for 44 of the 48 years I've been lucky enough to be above ground and breathing, this thing that has given me most of the most memorable moments in my life, that has taken me to most of my favorite places, desert and arctic, peak and valley, and brought me back home again -- is not a right, not a given, not to be taken for granted.

The simple act of experiencing the world from the saddle of a bike is, like the most important people in our lives, a privilege. It could, can, and might be taken away at a moment's notice. Happens to other people all the time. Could happen to me tomorrow. Maybe today. Time for me to flip the conundrum on its head and stop taking this thing for granted. Time to get inspired again."

Mike Curiak, endurance cycling pioneer

With no electronic communications out here, other voices may be heard.

"Cyclocross Magazine:  You mentioned 'growth of people.' What do you mean by that in terms of gravel riding?

Guitar Ted: I suppose it would make more sense to spell out what I mean. The thing here is that, in my opinion, our culture, our world as we have it now, is far too inundated with information, time-chewing, soulless relationships and vapid consumerism that when you extricate yourself from all of that and get away in the country, it can have the effect of making an imprint on your spirit and soul. You can experience a sort of growth from that or maybe you won't. I'll leave that up to the individual, but that's what I am talking about here."

Mark Stevenson, Trans Iowa Race Director, grandfather of today's gravel scene



"Sometimes, you find yourself in the middle of nowhere. And sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself."

Candy Hersch, my much older sister who always works in the last word, quoting a coffee house chalk board

Head for the Hills! It's the Mother Lode!

The Black Hills Mother Lode is a 210 mile gravel road race out of the college town of Spearfish, South Dakota. Organized by the folks behind the popular Dakota Five-O and 28-Below bicycle races, the Mother Lode is the big sister to the 110 mile Gold Rush and the 70 mile Gold Dust running the same day. Put the three together and it's a weekend gravel festival for everyone, featuring live music, a catered picnic at the finish line park, a high energy awards ceremony and tables filled with door prizes.

Over the years, I've ridden and enjoyed each distance. Chose one based on your conditioning and ambition and you're bound to have a good time. For 2019, I plan to return for another run at the Mother Lode.

Early miles at the 2015 Mother Lode, about to turn onto Sand Creek Road to enter the Black Hills.
Jason Thorman, Craig Groseth, Luke Meduna (photo by Randy Ericksen)

What to expect on the Mother Lode course? Gear up for long, steady climbs measured in miles. For the most part, the roads are hard packed, lightly graveled U.S. Forest Service "primary" roads with relatively long sight lines, low traffic and uncomplicated navigation. The country is rolling forested hills and meadows with little development of any kind, other than some logging operations and an occasional campground. After climbing the 70 miles up O'Neil Pass, the following 100 miles are particularly remote, with cell coverage sporadic at best. Carry everything you need between the four check points, including water, food, repair supplies and foul weather gear.

Of all the things to bring to the Mother Lode, pack a bottomless bottle of optimism and a flask of your best judgment. In the words of Odin's Revenge, "He hath need of his wits who wanders wide."

Boles Canyon Road not long after crossing O'Neil Pass at the 2015 Mother Lode.
(photo by Randy Ericksen)

For more event details, start at goldrushgravelgrinder.com for maps, gpx files and cue sheets of all three courses, as well as a photo gallery and other essential information. There's plenty to prepare you to get out there and have fun.

For my first account race reports and related observations of the Gold Rush Gravel Grinder races, go to the following posts on the Black Hills BackBone blog. Back in 2013, I managed to finish the inaugural Gold Rush on my single speed cyclocross bike with 32 mm knobbies, a couple of water bottles and a few gels. A Taste of Gravel. That was a rough introduction to gravel, but two years later I returned for the inaugural Mother Lode. 2015 Mother Lode. After riding the Mother Lode in 2016 (Cooked at the Mother Lode), the Gold Dust in 2017 (A Friendly Little Ride) and the Gold Rush in 2018 (A Single Speed Gold Rush), it seems right to return for another Mother Lode in 2019.

Heading for the Hills! For another Mother Lode!

Already cooking at 5:00 am in the 81 degree start of the 2016 Mother Lode.
(photo by Randy Ericksen)