The start of the trail is about a mile from the parking area (Town Center just past Flamingo). Once you get there you have a choice, left or right. We decided to take a right and that section of the trail was fantastic. It started with a difficult climb but quickly gave us exactly what we were looking for, a sweet downhill section! That was until the dreaded flat tire. We went a little fast and didn't have quite enough pressure in the tires and my front tire wasn't able to weather the storm. With a loud burst of air, the tire was completely flat within only a couple seconds. After the walk of shame back to the truck, which was about 3 miles, we headed out to get it fixed and planned our next trip to slay this beast, and slay we did!
Our second trip consisted of a bit more preparation and a whole lot more riding. We made sure we had the gear we needed and the correct tire pressure. This time of year in Vegas, and on tires with tubes, we rode with 40psi and it was great. We took the same loop to start and I braced myself for the rock of doom that I knew was coming but this time the bike rolled right over it and life was good. We continued the great singletrack section and eventually came to the end of it near a flood wash. After only about 4 miles, there was no way we were going to stop so we went back to the trail head and took the other path this time which lead us into some trouble.
When you reach the trail head, if you decide to go left, be careful that you stick to the bike path and don't accidentally get yourself onto the 4x4 trail. The trail isn't marked at all and there are forks all over the place so make sure you scan ahead and try to pick the best route. We ended up on the 4x4 trail and man was it nasty. The path was covered in large rocks and lots of sand. I was getting bounced around so hard that I could barely keep my feet on the pedals while doing a simple level terrain ride. The path was built for trucks so it was a lot of climbing with larger rocks and enough sand to make a beach. The plus side to putting yourself through the rigorous climbs is that you end up with a great view of the city. However, if you stick to the bike trail, you can still get the great views so I suggest you stick to the single track and don't be lured away by the wide trail.
After finally finding our way back to the proper bike trail, we rode some more and found ourselves at a great downhill section filled with lots of small rock drops and tight turns. The problem was that after being on the wrong trail, we were now heading the wrong way and didn't even realize it. Rather than going downhill for this great section, we found ourselves climbing again! We pushed ourselves up the hill and over what would have been the rock drops before finally reaching the top.
Our reward was a good one. We ended up right back on the first loop we took with nothing but familiar downhill in front of us.
We rode that section as hard as we could and loved every second of it. After several miles of grueling climbs, we were finally done and enjoying the best part of the ride again. When we made it to the wash again and the trail ended, we felt like we had just won a huge victory. The ride was done, we were both exhausted but we made it and we felt awesome.
We ran into other riders on the trail who were great. What I love about this sport more than anything is the kind nature of the people who do it. People you don't even know who have gone through the same thing you just did giving you words of encouragement and pats on the back. Kind people and the beauty of this great desert trail are what made this a ride to remember. We'll be back out there soon to once again ride on the back of the dragon we slayed today. Hopefully next time, we can remember our way around!
No comments:
Post a Comment