memorial vegas biking

most people who went to vegas over the holiday weekend spent it drunk, in the casino or by the pool.

four of us spent it in a suite at the j.w. marriott and riding our mountain bikes for hours each day and subsisting off what we had in our packs. and ice water.

the worst part of the trip? i ran into and over a cactus, filling the front of my right shoe with spines and both my tires. i suffered from about 8 flats in two days due to just never ever being able to get all the cactus spines out. NO one else had any flats but me. i am now a pro at patching and changing tubes on my new bike.

the second worst part? it took 8 hours to get back to san diego from vegas due to all the holiday traffic. maybe we should have been on this bus.......???(seen in barstow, as you could guess)

the third worst thing? barstow. anything and everything having to do with barstow. from the aggressive bums, poor food choices, gas stations with no hot tamales and so on.

to end on a good note, the good things.
-riding a new place. vegas actually has some good riding. i would go back one more time to hit a few trails i missed. i want to do the cowboy trails area, specifically 'bone shaker' and blue diamond again. then i want to go to boulder city and ride the 'bootleg canyon' area.

-using a friends camera mount. we got some pretty fun video. well, everyone but me. i was the camera man. i am buying one of these mounts for myself!

-getting a discount at the hotel. we got a $600 a night room for $150 a night. ssswweeett!

-going to the atomic test site museum. neat, fun, interesting and i learned something. very much worth it and a hidden gem in the crap that is most of vegas.

-making new friends. you never know when you go on a road trip with new people to vegas what will happen. but it is cool to have new friends who share the same interests. maybe something like this.....(don't think about it too much)

random pics