RASDAK Ride Across South Dakota

Hugh Glass was here, the subject of the movie The Revenant, and soon RASDak will be, too. In early June, Ride Across South Dakota will venture into the territory where the famed figure was mauled by a bear, left for dead with a broken leg and crawled 200 miles for help after emerging from a coma.

The fourth annual cross-state bicycle tour begins Saturday, June 4 at Fort Sisseton and will end on Saturday, June 11 at Buffalo, in northwestern South Dakota. As the story goes, Glass and his party were attacked by a bear near Lemmon, now home to the Hugh Glass Rendezvous in late August. As homage to the local legend and, more so, the tenacity to face the persistent South Dakota wind, RASDak has adopted the theme “Grit and Bear It” for the 2016 ride.

This year’s route is as far north as the route can go and still be in South Dakota. The ride starts June 4 in Fort Sisseton, loops east through Sisseton and west to Britton, Eureka, Mobridge, McLaughlin, Lemmon, then spending the final days in Buffalo with an optional ride to the Montana border.

Registration is limited and opens on January 1 through RASDak.com. Single day options are available. Registered riders receive luggage, on-route support and camping accommodations. Regular food and rest stops are provided along the way, usually by local groups as fundraisers. A full route map and FAQs are on the ride’s website.