Big Ol' RR: Las Vegas/ St. George, Part 1.

[Ladd Jasper]

Had a rare four day weekend a while back, and decided to put it to good use. The following report had too many pics. for a single post, so be sure to check out Part 2 if you enjoy this first bit.



Headed out Thurs. after work, destination Las Vegas. Idea was to put some miles behind me so the next morning’s push to St. George would not be so long, and would start with plenty of rest for all the riding to come. Had no ride planned for Thursday however, so I took my time getting to Vegas.

With no real agenda for the day, I hopped off the freeway in the middle of nowhere to search out an old underground mining camp I’d been shown way back when. Was actually surprised I found it again.









Really cool place, but a bit creepy when you’re alone. After about 20 minutes I started to get that “The Hills Have Eyes” feeling, and hightailed it out of there.

Headed straight to my hotel in Las Vegas, where nothing of note happened. At all.



Left at 4:15am Friday to make a 7:15am meet time in St. George (Mtn. time, lost an hour) for the morning ride. Met up with El Chingon, Crash The DOG, Slim Shady and D-Wang of Team Sanchez, The Squeaky Wheel out from CO, and Pinch, who came up from San Diego, and hit some local trails known as The Barrels. Fun stuff, with some mild tech. sections going both up and down. Good trails for acclimating to the local terrain. Did this for about 4 miles, then worked our way down to the “South Shore.”

This is the Team Sanchez playground, an area of rock formations with rolls and drops of from less than 1’ to more than you’d ever want to hit. The guys have been enhancing some of these with trannies and step-ups, and have linked several of them quite nicely. We stopped and sessioned the area for a good hour, and got a nice show of the local talent. Those boys have some serious skills. Unfortunately I didn’t take my camera that morning, but I did manage to grab a couple pics. from Squeak’s post on MTBR of our time at the play area.


The Squeaky Wheel:


Me (only action shot of the trip):


I impressed myself, if no one else, and hit four of the five stunts they’ve put together. Just couldn’t quite commit to the big step-up. Inspiration to return, I guess.

After the morning ride, Pinch, Squeak, and I decided to get in another one that afternoon, and had Slickrock Swamp recommended to us as a good destination. Met those two at 2:30pm and headed out for the 45 min. drive to the trailhead. None of us had been there before, and we had some issues with finding the actual trail. Took us another 45 minutes or so, but we finally stumbled onto the right track and got the ride under way. Scenery was beautiful, and the trail was in great shape.






Pretty mild riding to start, but then we came to a ravine which could be ridden down, but had to hike a bike out the other side. That proved to be the most difficult part of the entire trail for me, but only because my ride was about to end.

After the climb out of the ravine there was a slight descent leading to a flat section. Toward the bottom of that descent, maybe 30 yards after getting out of the ravine, I heard/felt a terrible CLANG come from the rear wheel, and then it promptly locked up--wasn’t going too fast, so no big deal. Got off the bike and saw my rear derailleur had come loose and gotten up into the rear spokes. Busted hanger I thought, though I’d felt no impact severe enough to do that. Could’ve been worse, at least I had a spare hanger. It was worse. Turns out I’d hit something hard enough to rip the entire derailleur off its mounting bolt, and actually tore the metal.



Oh, and managed to wrap the chain around the hub 1 ½ times as well. That wheel was worked. Managed to free the chain, but the derailleur was dead. Put the pieces in the Camelback, sent the guys on ahead to finish their ride, and coasted back to my truck. Too late to get to a bike shop, I got Crash on the phone to see if he could get me a line on a replacement derailleur. He delivered, big time. He just happened to receive a new derailleur that day, and was only too happy to get it to me. Said he’d bring it to Saturday’s ride at Gooseberry Mesa, and El C could install/ adjust it there. Right on. Problem solved, right? Well…


Crash couldn’t make Saturday’s ride, but he’d gotten the part to El C who showed up with it at the meeting place. Said he’d put it on at the TH, so we all headed out on the hour drive to Gooseberry Mesa. The group was quite a bit larger that day, 12 total if I remember correctly, and everyone was anxious to get the ride started. No problem, just needed to get the derailleur on and adjusted. 40 minutes later the job still wasn’t done. Seems the new X-9 design requires a bit more cable, and mine was coming up about an inch short—this after several trimmings of the housing. The day wasn’t getting any longer, and the natives were understandably restless.


Far end of route, Gooseberry Mesa:


Absolute tip of Gooseberry Mesa:


Only viable choice was to crank down the limiting screw and ride the thing as a single speed. I was dreading it pretty heavy at first, but it turned out to be not all that bad. The mesa really didn’t have a lot of elevation change, but of the inclines we encountered, most were preceded by an equal descent. That momentum really helped keep me going.


Utah 59 from atop Gooseberry:


Group at far end of route:


Sure, a few steep climbs knocked me off the bike, but they were the exception, and I was able to enjoy the ride thoroughly. Besides, there were drops and ledges galore, a play area around every other corner--and here I was, stuck in a perfect wheelie-drop gear. Again, could’ve been worse.






View from below, on shoulder of Utah 59. Point above front of truck is "far end of route" mentioned in a previous photo. Distances can be deceiving out there:




You're halfway there, folks. Part 2 to follow shortly...

[dstepper]

Nice...worth the wait...thanks.

Dean

[TURNERob]

Awesome ride report Dale!!! Guess you got "lucky" you weren't going any faster when your derailleur exploded eh! Looks like some good riding out there, gonna have to plan an STR road trip out there someday