Whats in a name?

I have quite a few rides under my belt since I last blogged. Of course once a week isn't enough but I try to ride as many different trails as possible. Amongst the collection of pictures is a trail with at least three names already and its a new trail! And then there is probably the least known trail in the whole cottonwood system(it sure looks it anyways).
The newest trail in the system is called Mikes Prostate(the builder I think), The waterfall trail, and Rusty bucket. Only in Las Vegas do we have so many names for the same trail. It seems all of our trails have multiple names. It makes it hard talking about a ride with another rider as you keep getting corrected on what they think is the right name.
Secondly, the Lizard Trail. As far as I know this is the only name for this trail and is part of the Bonnie and Clyde Trail system(or whats left of it). One of the cool things about this trail is the abandoned truck out in the middle of nowhere. That, and the brutal climb/hike a bike at the end of the trail.
Of course there is The Wash. Everyone knows the wash. Its not really a trail so much as the center for getting to all other trails. Its a great place to meet other riders or look around the valley while you determine what trails you want to piece together for the days epic loop. The last couple weeks its also been running with water, a promise of a soaker(a wet foot) as you ride through to get to your destination.
Time to post some pictures now as I plan my day and figure out how I am going to get out of the house and ride tonight.

A taste of spring

Great weather today. As I was riding along I could actually smell the change in the desert. If you have ridden in the desert for a few years than you know what Im talking about. Its hard to describe but its almost like the greenery emits a certain smell after multiple sunny days, getting ready for spring time temperatures.
At any rate, just riding in the sun, warmth on my back and face, is enough to get me stoked for the coming spring time months.
I had planned for getting about 20 miles in or so but my plans changed abruptly when I decided to ride Black Velvet this day. I have seen just about every critter and animal in the Blue Diamond trail network but today I came across an animal that I have never seen out here: Big Horn Sheep! A whole family of them big and small, horns and no horns. The first one ran/jumped away too fast for me to get a picture but then I noticed they were all over. Most had already headed back towards the foothills of the mountains but a few could seemingly care less if I was there or not. I was able to snap a few pics before they finally decided they had had enough of me and bolted over some big rocks, their hooves clacking on the stone as they jumped from one to the next.
The ride ceased to matter at that point. I was so in awe of these cool creatures that I dabbed my way through the rest of the technical features of the trail before heading back to the car.

Hurl!

Wednesday afternoon I set out to conquer the Hurl. Its been awhile since I climbed the Hurl. For those that are in pretty good shape it can be a cardio challenge the first half mile or so. Short steep ups that are loose and rocky followed by switchbacks...and the more loose rocky climbing.
I felt pretty good though the initial climb but soon realized that I was getting too hot and needed to shed a layer. The overheating seemed to have sapped my strength to a degree and I climbed on feeling lousy at one point and good the next.
Along the way I had plenty of opportunities to stop and take some pictures and goof around with camera settings. Usually you don't run into anyone on the Hurl and this day was no different. Too bad really, I would have liked a few shots of me riding along with the mountains in the distance. I did manage one timer shot but the effort it takes to set something up wasn't worth the time today.
This day my goal was to ride the Western Portal back west and scout out a possible connecting trail into the Driveway Trail way down below. There aren't a lot of options as the land quickly dumps back into the Cottonwood valley below and steeply in most spots. Finally I found the spot I was looking for and made a mental note for further exploration on another day.
After a short hike a bike back down to the valley floor it was time for some fast cruising thru the cottonwood trail network, seemingly much more easy after climbing the Hurl.
A beautiful few hours spent riding, exploring, soaking in the quiet calmness of the desert, looking forward to my next ride already.

Two weeks

Almost two weeks since I rode last. Two weeks doesn't seem like a long time unless you use to ride every other day like I did. I don't feel whole unless I get my weekly ride in and this past couple weeks has been worse than normal. One more day and I'll be back out in the desert, soaking it all in once again, restoring  my sanity for another week. This week: climbing the Hurl and exploring possible trail sites for bypassing a hike a bike section. I can hardly wait..

Keep it Single

Christmas has come and gone and now I have to concentrate on getting thru the next week or so. Six day work week, 12 hour days, when the heck am I suppose to ride??? I did manage to get a few pictures downloaded from my last ride showing some nice new trail on the South side of the Cottonwood trail system. I hope to ride this trail again in the coming weeks. Also, as if I didn't have enough gadgets to carry when I ride, my wife bought me a helmet/bike video camera to try out next time. Im not complaining, she really is the best!

Climbing

I parked at the new trail head today after deciding that climbing the Hurl would have to wait for another day. I just didn't think that I would have time to climb that bear today. Instead, I opted for exploring a trail that I had seen when climbing towards the Potosi mountain range.
Normally, you would climb almost directly west towards the mountains ending in a tough but short climb to the top of the trail. Instead this trail meanders in a more SW direction. I guess the climbing isnt quite as strenuous but my heart rate was still pounding in my ears a few times. A fairly new trail by the looks of things with ribbon still in a few places where the trail builder forgot to take down. Eventually, as I found out, I ended up connecting into the same trail at almost the same height as the original trail, I just had a bit more fun doing it.
As I stood at the end of the new trail debating what to do next I realized that the sun had dipped behind the range and it was getting pretty darn cold. What better way to end the ride this day then to ride the new trail back down, experiencing the trail in a new way and in a much shorter period of time.
I did stop to take a few pictures and a short video clip as I neared the end of this days ride. Here is the video clip. You can hear the cold wind blowing and see some snow up in the Potosi foothills.

Untitled from Shawn Young on Vimeo.

One more day...

...until I can go for another ride. The weather looks like it will be about 50 degrees which is fine by me as long as the wind has died down by the afternoon. Truth is, I only have one day to ride so it doesn't matter what the weather is like. Hail? Done it. Snow? Yep. Fifty mile an hour winds? Sad to say, yes.(Gooseberry no less) I'm already getting a little jittery for a ride, counting down the hours until I can start getting dressed. Just for a little stoke I decided to put together some of my favorite pictures into a slide show. I cant wait for tomorrow....are we there yet??