Vegas is the new St George

We fled the nasty air you could taste Thursday afternoon for sunny St George. Arrived late in the evening to balmy temps and high hopes that were quickly dashed when I woke in the morning to a pitter patter of rain on the roof. Weather.gov kept telling me 30% chance of scattered showers throughout the day so I settled myself in front of the TV and kept one eye on the window waiting for the rain to stop. Around 2pm it looked like it might be slowing down so I suited up for a ride around the neighborhood gravel roads. 15 mins into the ride the sky opened up. Since I don't have proper rain apparel I was quickly drenched and I bagged it.

Saturday the plan was for me to do the Camp Lynda ride and Rhonda was going to ride with the girls. It rained all night and didn't look great when we woke up. I scoured my brain for a solution for everything that is wrong with the world. A light turned on in my head. Vegas! I hopped on the internet, got directions to the Blue Diamond/Cottonwood trails and we headed out. We've never ridden there and didn't know what to expect but were pleasantly surprised. We did a big random loop of the area (appx 27 miles) and were told by some locals that there were around 150 miles of trails total. The trails were excellent. Everything we rode was narrow desert singletrack with a mix of buff cruisers and rocky technical. It was a lot like the Hurricane rim/GEM/Goulds loop which just happens to be one of my favorite rides ever. Loved the trails and we will be back.

On the way back to Rhonda's moms house we stopped at the worlds greatest grocery store and loaded our car to the roof with tasty organics and economical vino. Why in the name of all things holy will they not build a store in Salt Lake? I guess it's just another reason to hit Vegas.

Sunday the weather was much more cooperative. We drove out to Barrel Roll, did a lap of that and a lap of Black Brush. Rhonda drove back to her moms to pack up and I rode through the shooting gallery wash over to Green Valley for a lap of the race course. I wanted to take Bearclaw back to Rhonda's moms but knew it would be a muddy mess so my conscience got the best of me and I took pavement home.

Got in 6.5 hours of saddle time this weekend which was well short of my goal of 10 but it was much better than freezing in the smog for the weekend.