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The Maah Daah Hey Trail is a very long mountain biking trail in the badlands North Dakota. It's an amazing trail that's not too tough, and much of it is treeless and passes through grassy meadows.
We tried to spend a week crossing the length of the trail in May 2023, but were hit by a series of violent thunderstorms on the very first day, which ruined our bikes and soaked the trail for the next few days. As the soil here cannot be ridden at all when wet, the adventure was over.
We knew the storms were forecast, but thought we could outrun them, and we underestimated the difficulty of riding in the mud. We set out intentionally to go stormchasing, watching the storms build and grow, with plans to get to shelter in time.
What actually happened was: the entire trail became underwater, and the mandatory creek crossings, normally ankle-deep, were suddenly mandatory swims in a strong and dangerous current. We were the only ones out there, and had to wait for the storms to pass and the water levels to drop in order to get back to our vehicle. Turns out storm chasing on mountain bikes is not a great idea.
Such is adventure.
The crazy weather led to tornado watches nearby, although we didn't see any. Lightning strikes were numerous, so we stayed low for much of the time. Shelter and protection from the elements are not really common in the badlands of the Dakotas, and a lightning strike, arguably the biggest danger, could be fatal.
It didn't help that our two bikes were cheapies from Walmart. We don't go mountain biking often, and can't justify buying or renting the highly expensive bikes in so many other videos. Nevertheless, cheap bikes or not, we got the adventure we were looking for.
For more info: www.lukaseddy.com/north-dakota
Gear used:
DJI Mini 3 drone
GoPro Hero 11
Filmed in May 2023 near the Bennet Trailhead
#mountainbike #mtb #northdakota #adventure
17 дек 2023
