[RC] endurance rides on rails to trails - Kerry Greear
Are there endurance rides currently or in the past on trails that were railbeds? Such as the John Wayne
Trail in Washington State? My reason for asking is that I would like to approach (again) our GF&P Department
about having a 100miler on the Mickelson Trail in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The trail is awesome, crushed
granite and fine gravel with numerous bridges and tunnels. It spans the northern and southern Black Hills of South
Dakota and is open to hiking, biking and horses. Currently there are running and biking marathons held on the trail,
but officials are concerned a horse event may "hurt" the trail. I have been with fairly large groups on the trail and
have never seen any damage when the trail is dry. We avoid it when we have had rain (not only to protect the trail
but because the bridges are slick when wet). The trail is 114 miles in length.
