Training Smiles in The Books

44 training rides, 1,354.75 miles, 100:28:23 h:m:s of saddle time, and 70,022 ft of climbing since returning from Butte, Montana after a dismal summer of riding. And, I have completed the first week of 2012 riding 183.70 miles, with 13:41:22 h:m:s across the top tube, and doing 8,229 feet of climbing.

The message- Hey, old guy you can still DO IT! Now, stay on that bike and kick bottom bracket.

Photos and videos from the past week.

One of many wild burro encounters this week.

The BLM just posted new signs this week about the raise in fine for feeding the wild horses and burros from $25 to $500 because it was causing the animals to spend too much time on or near the highway through Red Rock Canyon resulting in a higher fatality rate among the herd. Folks are just plain ignorant about the danger they place this animals in. I've seen the results of where two have been killed in the last month.

This is the view from my jeep trail run in the Blue Diamond Hills.
That's the skyline of the Las Vegas Strip in the background.

I was attempting to follow a jeep road that parallels a natural gas pipeline south to NV 160. As the crow flies it's about 9 miles to Cottonwood Canyon on this route. Taking a paved road results in a 21 mile trek around Blue Diamond Hills rather than taking this route through them.

I didn't get a chance to complete the route because of some unsavory types target shooting with some pretty BFGs at anything that moved in the area. In order to get back to where I had started I would have had to pass within 40-50 yards of them on the trail. I didn't want to be the next target, since I was wearing a bright yellow jersey, so I left the trail to eliminate any line-of-sight possibles and bushwacked the backside of the ridge for about a mile until I was well out of range. Then, I rejoined the trail and rode out of the area. All the while, hearing the reverberating echoes of those BFGs.

Gotta say the route was extremely rocky, with loose sand and many steep 15 to 27 % grades according to the GPS onboard. The Stumpy 29er was up to the task, even if I wasn't and decided to hike-a-bike to avoid becoming a lawn dart on the steep, loose descents.

Started climbing the Oak Creek grade and noticed the shadow cast by the sun at my back. Liked the effect so I pulled out the iPhone and shot this video as I was about to crest the climb. Had to shift one handed which was tricky in the gusty winds. Climbed the 3.5% grade at 14 mph and jumped up to 21 mph just as I shut off the phone as I crested the grade. About 15 minutes later the winds kicked up with the cold front that was predicted to hit the valley today. Had to fight a 25 to 35 mph left crosswind for about 5 miles before I turned south and had a tailwind home bound. Now that was a rush traveling the last 4.5 miles home at over 30 mph.