High risk, high reward. 10 hours of driving to a trail that turns into wet cement when it rains…
It rained.
The Mandan Indian translation for Maah Daah Hey is “Grandfather” or “an area that will be around for a long time.” The race offers distances of 13, 25, 50, 75, and 100 miles, all point to point, ending in Medora, ND, Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I had previously completed the MDH25 in 2017 and the the MDH50 in 2021. This year I was returning with teammate Andy Lageson for the MDH75 with Nikki running our support.
Roosevelt Inn, Watford City, ND
The Maah Daah Hey trail is not your typical single track mountain bike trail. It runs 144 miles from the CCC Campground near Watford City, ND to Burning Coal Vein Campground, south of Medora, through the North Dakota Badlands. With terrain varying from prairie grass to clay and everything in between, rains can result in a pooling of water that quickly dry out with some wind and/or sun, or it can turn into concrete once it grabs your bike. The trail is shared by hikers, bison, and wild horses, among many others, whether it’s raining, snowing, or 120 degrees.
The Maah Daah Hey Trail. From The New York Times
The X-factor is the weather. It can be 120° with no place to hide, making water a critical variable. Or it can rain… Due to this year’s rain the race ended up moving to Plan B which meant that it would start and end at the CCC Campground, an out-and-back of 38 miles for the MDH75. As the rain continued on Friday the race went to Plan C, which was Plan B but postponed until Sunday.
Because of the delay (and the threat of even more rain that could further delay the race), the logistics meant that I would not be able to compete in this year’s race. My support was forced to head back home and the thought of riding an out-and-back with 2-way race traffic on potentially clay cement trails was less than appealing. So I cut my losses, packed up the van, and checked out of the hotel in Watford City.
On my way out of town I swung into CCC Campground where I found several other racers, some camping, some curious about the trail conditions and I decided to try my luck on an 11-mile loop that starts and ends at the trailhead. Making it approximately 1.4 miles before my wheels stopped spinning from clay build-up, I turned around and found a loop back to the van where I attempted and failed to clean my bike and cleats with a paint stir stick, chatting with some folks who were curious about the trail conditions. A few other riders came back from the trail with bikes in a condition similar to mine, thankfully none of us with any serious damage.
High risk, high reward. Life is an adventure. Roll with it.
I will be back. It might be in the form of a bikepacking trip or it might be to compete in the MDH100… But I will be back.
ND Badlands