12/10 - Blue Diamond, NV

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Blue Diamond Day

Well, that was satisfying.

First ride in Vegas receives two thumbs up.

Today as planned, I rode a nice long desert singletrack "fest" that would please most any rider.

Okay, well, techincal trail features were few and far between, but that's what Bootleg Canyon is for so no worries. To say that the Q is overkill for this trail is the understatement of the year (maybe, I haven't been following politics lately).

I could maybe have had *almost* as much fun on my doublespeeder (being that it's like 10-15 pounds lighter than the Q), but it doesn't fit as well, nor would I have rolled a lot of the downhill as quickly (!) nor climbed as much of the uphill (maybe).

There exist some nice steep sections to go up (particularly in Badger Pass and later on Deadhorse Loop).

Also, much of the downhill is actually pretty moderate in slope such that it is easy to control speed (if that is desired) or pedal to cruise faster.

Of course, things probably change a bit when you do it the "right" direction, apparently I was doing Deadhorse Loop backwards. Oh well, I didn't get the memo so phhbbbt!

For those Trail Builders in the audience, I have to say that these trails Do Not Suck, technically, from the construction and maintenance point of view. There were very few "badisms" in the trails that I observed, so kudo's to the builders here.

This trail network is fairly extensive, and the map is accurate enough, and since it is easy to keep bearings against Hwy 160 most of the time as a first-timer in the area without a native guide and I was still successful in good mileage and terrain coverage.

I did miss some trail, being somewhat time limited in daylight hours with Things To Do after the ride before the sun went away. Dang these short days. If I decide I need another short ride in this area I'll go up there and grab some more. The price of admission (climbing moderate stuff with intermmitent steep "punctuation") is well rewarded with nice rolling downhill action.

This would so be a great group ride area.

This would so suck in the warm months. There is even less shade on this network than on Porcupine Rim over in You Know Where.

The network is completely within the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area - get the map at one of the bike shops, I got mine at McGhie's Bike and Board when I got into town ($8.99 plus tax).

Ride summary: ~25 miles, ~2500 ft of climbing, ride start around 9am, finished about 2:30pm, ish.

I may have been able to turn it a lot FASTER but I was just motoring along AND I kept checking the map at various trail connections to verify I was on the desired track AND I'm on vacation so back off!

:D

I am gratified to say that my land navigation skills while not regularly worked still in fact do function. As the sign at McGhie's Outpost says, the trails are NOT WELL MARKED. That and there appears to be a significant presence of trails that are not on the map.

Big surprise.

Ride Details

The sequence of trails that I rode (at least partially) looks something like this, starting from the McGhie's Outpost parking lot and cruising through town to the Landmine Loop trailhead ...

to Old Spanish Trail to Late Night Beginner (near Hwy 160) to Under the tunnel at Cottonwood parking to Badger Pass Loop to Deadhorse Loop (east side) to Water Tank (overlook point, viewing Las Vegas) to Deadhorse Loop (west side) to Under the Other tunnel (higher on Hwy 160 from Cottonwood) to Late Night Beginner (staying close to 160) to Back the Inner Loop (some really fun wash-following-twisting sequences, and a nice rock move - easy but nice) to Landmine Loop back

Silly Notes

o It was colder up on the hill than in town. Between the wind and the extra altitude, it sure did *not* feel like 50-anything temperature wise. Still, with only two layers (inner wicking and wind-proof fest - thanks for the latter DirtFace), arm/leg warmers, long-finger gloves, I was comfortable enough.

o Old Spanish Trail was done on the high side a bit up on the hill, not down low by the road.

o I was visited by a Spirit Guide at the Water Tank, a crow came and hung around right after I shoed up and left when I left.

o I met a British couple at the Cottonwood parking lot that were heading out, older couple, rented bikes, I hope they had a good day out.

o I met a couple of Eric's on the trail (really, two guys named Eric), they pointed out that I was riding counter to "normal" flow. Apparently most people like to take the shorter climbs up, and the longer downhill runs out. I dunno, seems like a wash to me.

o I saw another couple looking like they were race training, just burning around. They also had a foreign-English accent. Could be Brits, Kiwis, or Aussie's, I can't tell.

o On Late Night Beginner, just a but uphill from the Cottonwoodl parking lot, is a really fun jump made from a rock. There's a good line around it (the main line), but if you nail the launch (it's *almost* bike length) you can get some good hang time - I think I got like 8-10 feet of lateral air).

o The final descent off Deadhorse Loopo back towards Hwy 160 just *rips* - fairly steep, you can go pretty much as fast as you have the testosterone (or equivalent) to do. There is only one turn you don't want to miss that is easy to blow-by. If you look deep into my tracklog you'll find every point where I realized I blew by a turn and back-tracked - I have not editied to save my feelings.

o The downhill from Cottonwood parking to the Inner Loop was officially Stupid Fun, ending with a quick creek crossing and nice up-n-over rock move about 3' tall (stupid easy roller though).

The ride tracklog may be downloaded as either a generic GPS Exchange (GPX) file or a Google Earth (KML) file

GPS Profile of the ride

Google Earth overview

And the gratuitous pixels ... more than one msg this time ... just can't hold back to only ten images this way round...

The view of camp, this morning. Weather looking good for a change.

And to the north-west, some cool terrain.

Upon entering the township of Blue Diamond, this greets you.

Where to park? Easy...

Serious advice for riders, not that I saw this until I got BACK from my ride...

The trailhead in town, looks kind-of like this...

Here's to being happy that this is as close as we got.

If you could only see through my eyes...

Heading on and up Deadhorse Loop (backwards?)

Badger Pass looks nice.

The view from the spot named Water Tank

I'm not clear on why it's named that, there's no water, and no tank, of any kind.

Zooming in, so you can pick out the background detail a bit better.

Gratuitous Quasi pixels I know, I just like the shot, so there.

Heading up into Cottonwood Pass on the upper side of Deadhorse Loop

Getting ready to head down out of Humbolt Tiobe National Forest

Just where, precisely, are the trees, anyway?

Bird Spring Range, it's on the easter side of Badger Pass.

You can't really see the hills between the camera and the Range but they are there.

Another silly moment, 1/2 way down back to Blue Diamond I encountered this kind-of cool rock formation and had to put SOMETHING in front of it for scale.

Maybe tomorrow I'll remember to pack my mini tripod for these moments.

Tomorrow? Good question.

Bootleg Canyon is on the rolls.

Heading down for a day of some XC-ism and some lightweight DH-isms.

The real $0.25 is whether or not I relocate down to a campground on the shores of Lake Mead. It's kind-of tempting, would put me like five miles from Boulder City, which could be convenient.

I guess we'll see how I feel about it in the morning. Hooking up the trailer and rolling out just may warm me up though.

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