Vegas or Bust!

Here I am spending another Monday night catching up on a weekend worth of chores and homework. That seems to be a common occurence that last couple of months since I've been going on my "bike binge" weekend trips to St. George/Vegas. This weekend I was lucky enough to get three full days of riding and go with some of my favorite riding partners! We were like a bunch of high school kids again going to our weekend road trip! We decided to go cheap...stuff 5 people, 5 bikes, and all of our bags into the truck we borrowed from the Greenwoods' dad and drive to Vegas. Then we'd share one hotel room taking turns sleeping on the floor and packing our bikes in the corners of the room. You know for a group people with the average age of about 32 years, college degrees, working in respectable careers, making decent income...why is it we borrow our friends dad's truck and cram into one hotel to save a few bucks but we don't bat an eye at the thousands of dollors spent on our super light-weight, carbon everything, bikes? There is a serious problem here! Or at least some would say our priorities are a little skewed.
My favorite "gym teacher" friend Tricia had the horrible idea of leaving on Friday at 6 AM so we could get south early and ride. Doesn't she know that because of school I never get to sleep in past 7. Couldn't she give me ONE day? Truth is I was planning on going to an early morning workout at Bomber Athlete but was forced to miss it due to this departure time. Oh well, I was willing to make the sacrifice for some extra hours riding in sunny warm Hurricane weather on the JEM trail. Boy was I ever diasappointed...

Early Bird Tricia at the Silverton Hotel               

                                                    
You see, we Utahans like to pronouce things a little funny, like for example "we live by the Rocky moun-uns" instead of mountain. You know, like with a T. Anyway, the little town north of St. George--Hurricane? AKA Hurra-cun! Well we found out how it got its name...HurriCANE! Talk about Gayle force winds! Let me preface this story by saying my fellow riders are diehards! They pretty much have to brake a bone or a bike in order to cut a ride short. Well now they can add 30 MPH winds to the list. We happily rode the Gould's Rim trail which was mostly sheltered from the hurricane winds only to be hit by the strongest head wind EVER at the beginning of JEM. We suffered about 20 minutes of downhill pedaling before we cried uncle! We ventured back out to the road forming an aero roadie paceline, but the passing semi trucks and rumble strips in addition to the wind was too much. So Chad and Trevor used their internal GPS navigation and boldly lead us bushwacking through the sage brush and cacti in search of the Hurricane Rim trail which was the way back to the truck! We took the straightest line alright...cursing and complaining about the cold the entire way, until the boy scouting skills of Chad and Trevor actually worked and we ended up back at the truck. Definately the weirdest 2 hours I've ever had on a mountain bike!!

Bootleg Canyon--Day 2

Day two proved to be sunny and warm enough to erase the horrible PTSD we had suffered...Bootleg Canyon! We started the morning with 60 degree temps and finished near 70. Perfect January weather I'd say. Chasing the boys was a great test for my legs and mind! They are fast and incredibly skilled techincal riders. This proves to be a recipie for disaster if Chad is the leader. "This trail is a little techy" he says with a smirk. Translation: Chad will be riding all of it, Trevor and Eric will be riding most of it, and I will be dismounting and walking...a lot! Because I hate crashing on sharp rocks and I really hate crashing then falling off 100 ft cliffs! Those of you who know the Boy Scout trail will understand this! I was quite pleased with myself leaving Bootleg having ridden more techincal spots than normal and in one piece. After refueling at the usual spot in Boulder city, Capriotti's and Starbucks for sandwiches and coffee, we headed back to our redneck hotel...the Silverton, home of a huge Pro Bass Shop/Outdoor World.  Land of stuffed wildlife, camo everything, and giant aquariums with real live mermaids. R-E-D-N-E-C-K!

Second attempt at this rocky section after a tree aburptly haulted my first try!
Blue Diamond, NV

Day three we headed west to Blue Diamond for some Joshua tree, desert trail riding. Its quaint town with a church, a library, a bike shop, and lots of good riding! Oh, and a bunch of wild burros. Its so crazy to be riding along and see little donkeys on the side of the trail.

Friendly neighborhood burros

Black Velvet

Looking back at a ride to remember...making mental note for next time!

Who knew Vegas had such great trails? Our friend Chad has been riding bikes all over the US for a lot of years. He is a wealth of bike knowledge. But, the best file locked in his bike brain is the "Awesome Trails to Remember" file. I have never been let down by Chad when he is the tour guide. Late Night trail  and Black Velvet trail are on my list of all-time faves for sure! The trails are flowy with sections of rocky technical spots that keep you on your toes. You have to stop every so often and look around to truely appreciate the landscape. We were lucky to have awesome blue skys and warm weather both days in Vegas.

Eric, Tricia, me, and Chad on Late Night Trail. Thanks Trevor for taking the pic!

What a great weekend! Trips like that make me forget that I'm doing "Winter Training". Great friends, great trails, and warm sunshine! But now back to reality... Monday night back in cold, snowy Ogden. Already dreading the Tuesday morning 4:30 am alarm clock awaking me for a pre-hospital trainer ride. At least I'll have sweet dreams of Vegas trails!