"Do you know what your doing?"/ Bootleg Canyon

No matter how you spin it, renting a bike is a drag. Don't shift right, brakes twitchy, thumb only sram shifting, and most of all- the fear of buying it.

So I walk in All Mountain Cycles, tweeking hard in need of a ride. Get to the counter after a room full of DHers move aside. "I'm hear to rent the 26 Stumpjumper FS", I say. "Ok dude, do you know what your doing out there?" says bike shop Guy. "I'm an extreme novice", I say. Guy looks at me "extreme what?' and laughs. ha

2.3" rental felt small

Day 1, classic Ricoh, go as far out into nowhere until the sun starts to come down... Made my way over to where Mother trail meet the new Ernies End. That Ernie trail was wicked/ death grip fun. Recently built, super tight along the ridge, full exposure to nothing but cliff and loose rock. Got sucked in, started seeing shadows of darkness and turned back for fear of being the next stupid statistic.

Day 2 theme, I got to get too the top and scare myself... West End trail to Caldera to gravel up too top. DHers hanging out waiting to start race. It was exactly as Jim had said, DHers everywhere, smirking at some dude in lacra riding around on a wimpy xc bike. The race was on Boy Scout, not Skyline (double black diamond. ha). Race official tells me the trail is off limits only way down is the double black diamond/ Skyline. Baggy Pants crowd heckles me to go down Skyline. Ok, game on baggy pants... Some baggy pant cuts me off, ok dood drop me... I get angered and chase, didn't catch, but didn't get dropped either. Still lost a couple points. If only my girls were there to hold my hand. Jack would have had the baggy pants wondering why they need all that gear.

Reaper trail was off limits as well. Biked up around it. Was impressive listening to all the DH bikes slamming the trail as they moved with the gravity. You could hear the suspension and brakes a half mile away...

Blah blah. Had just as much fun riding around in a flood plane gully away from all the people. No bike trail, just the ditch Jack told me to follow down to Hoover Dam. I didn't even come close to riding that far down. Hat off to JacMay for that feat. But I did leave some nice rental bike skid marks in the concrete culvert half pipe. ha

Ricoh type fun. See the skid marks?

Pat Tillman bridge/  Hoover Dam

I did drive down to see the new bridge (named after Pat Tillman), and drove by the Hoover sign that Jim wheelied past. Ha. I need my girls with me to pull off that Ricoh feat, especially on the day when you have to catch a plane home.

Oh, and got a pretty good farmer sunburn too boot. But didn't gamble a dime, Jack was disappointed.