Oct. 8

Yesterday we went to Badlands National Park so no biking. The national parks are no fun! Kidding. but they don't allow mountain biking. Some people think we tear up trails and are disruptive, but they build roads and viewpoints for the cars, and what's more disruptive than that? okay, rant over. It was windy and cold so we didn't even hike yesterday (of course, that didn't stop me from biking today).

Today we biked and hiked on an island in the middle of the Missouri river in Pierre, SD. It was fun! Here's the map. It's LaFramboise Island.

Here I go. It's cold and windy so I have two layers on the legs and 5 layers on top!

The ride was easy, mostly flat, with few rocks on the trail, and only occasional roots. The secondary trails, which I rode as much as possible, were narrow and winding so it was still very fun even if it was easy. They've done a great job clearing out all these trails. Most of the ride was protected from the wind, in the woods and then in the prairie on the other side of the island from the wind.

The trails go by the river,

through the woods,

onto the prairie,

I like the different prairie grasses:

back into the woods:

I came back via the river, into a strong headwind. Across the way is Fort Pierre.

What a lovely place. And what a great way to see the country!