Ride Report STR/PATH Bootleg Weekend extravaganza

Day 1 - much fun was had by all! 1 casualty, Evil Chocula took a header over the bars and had to go to the ER for stiches in his upper liip.

Update: in addition Man quan blah's new 575 took a beating and ended the day with a blown shock and a fork that won't adjust. And Willie took a tumble at the top of Snakeback and cut her hand. We thought for sure that Lukewiens was gonna mess up those pretty legs of his but he managed to get 1 scrape ,d shed ony 1 miniscule drop of blood (photo will be posted later).

 

oh snap! that's 2 riders down now!

 

11-05-2007, 05:16 PM #110 (permalink) Evil Chocula
Chronic Noble Shuttler



Joined: Jul 2007
From: Downtown San Diego
Thanks earned: 639



Quote:
Originally Posted by lukewiens
right on w/ the map. i am going to print a few as well before we leave.

i do think, however, the highlight will be those two diamonds on the xc side....skyline and powerpole. i can't wait.

Helllll yeah!! I'm pumped some good people are riding the XC trails, I was worried I'd be the only one (since SDYeti just went to the darkside). Print me up one those maps!!

Brews in the parking lot! I think they have BBQs there, maybe we can hit up the supermarket and grab some burgers on Saturday.

>>> BTW, are any of the "XC" guys going full face? I can't decide if its overkill or not.

---------------------------------------------------
:-k Heal up quick Brandon. We don't want to send you back to Boston lookin' like you got a beat down :lol:

Oh yeah. Remember, chicks dig scars.

 

Glad it was only stiches...those rocks look unforgiving.
:steppie:

 

Yeah, but those stitches still won't stop all the smack-talk coming out of that cat.:lol:

Seriously, heal up B. You still coming out for Tues. nite LPQ?

 

Remember--what happens in Vegas goes immediately onto STR!!

 

Boy, Nancy. That was quick.

If you're going to put up a RR though, I think pic's are in order. (who am I to talk? I didn't take a single pic this weekend)

Thanks for putting this weekend together. I had a blast.

C

 

Bad @ss!

Killer weekend....many pics to come. Put my bike and body through the ringer this weekend, well worth it!!

Covered every square inch of the XC trails out there and had a blast. Great challenges and great people. What an awesome trip!!

Maybe next time you guys will have my converted to a full DH rig.....I can't wait for Bootleg 2.

:bang::clap::bang::clap:

 

Day 2

Day 2 has come and gone. A little more carnage today but no trips to the ER. Sdyeti took a side trip off the edge, Allison picked up some new bruises and Mechmann managed to make it to the last run before he gave his ribs another beatdown.

Sorry for the lack of photos, we are all waiting for Winston and Allison to post theirs!

All in all it was a Grand Extravaganza. We had about 25 STR peeps on Saturday and 15 on Sunday. Many newbies and both XC and DH junkies. I think everyone will be pining for the next trip. When shall we go again?????
We are available since we are NOT training for the VQ!!!

 

Paging Allison and Winston, paging Allison and Winston, Post dem Photos! We're living vicariously through your eyes.

 

I had a pretty good time this weekend, despite being terrified and nervous for about 70% of the day Saturday. I wish there was a shuttle that could drop me off about half way up from where we started, because the first half was mostly walking (and crying) for me. But after the girls took me on Girl Scout I felt a little better and wished I had started on that trail from the beginning. All in all, I’m glad I went and at least I know now what I need to work on!

Oh yeah-- my hand looks pretty gross, but I’m sure it will heal just fine. I have a nasty bruise on my leg just below my hip, a few other scrapes on my thigh, and pretty sore all around. But I’m happy my face and my grill are still in tact and I didn’t need any trips to UC like Brendon (hope you’re feeling better man, that looked WICKED painful!)

And happy (late) birthday to Allison!

 

The moment you've been waiting for!!

Justin and I were up and at 'em at 3:45 or so, packed up the truck and shortly thereafter Danny and Jeff showed up. We were on the road by around 4:15.

Sunrise:



Shortcut to Boulder City





Arrival





Jason, Willie, and Jeff are ready to go



Getting ready to load up



Contrast - me, all suited up, full upper body pads, full face helmet on the DH bike vs. Luke, all in lycra, XC bike



Heading up to the top





Steph and her new rig





Staging at the very top of the trails









Me coming down Snakeback



Others coming down



The riders snaking their way down the trail



cont.

 

cont.

Some off camber rocks on Snakeback







Lee



Dan



Danny



Jeff



Nancy's amazing lunch spread



Hitting the table tops









Justin



Jeff





Me



Reaper





Justin on the bmx track



I think a local out there



The 4 amigos, enjoying some 11th and one Smoked Porter



Drunken, sandal-wearing, helmetless rock challenge in the dark





Luke won some Addidas goggles (the first part of his DH get-up)



cont.

 

Well the trip started off when I arrived at Jason and Willie's house and we proceeded to take off. It was kinda sad because Willie and I fell asleep and poor Jason had to drive. I woke myself up with my snoring and poor Jason tried to keep awake.

All I know this was my first time on some trails besides So-cal trails and boy was I worried when we got off the shuttle and proceeded to walk about 1/4 mile up this hill and I just followed the pack and all I know I was the only XC bike up their with 5 inch travel :?: . I realized that I just needed to take my time going down, I felt like such a newb...wait I am a newb!!!!

My second, third, fourth, and fifth run I went down Skyline, Boyscout, and Girlscout. These rides were more of the Stumpys liking. Going down Skyline was still kinda crazy for me because when you first start on the trail you are going along the side of the mountain and the side is a nice little fall and your left side has a big piece of rock sticking out so took a bit of menuvering around.

I was with Evil Chocula (Brendan) when he took his tumbler. At the start of the ride it was the all Boston ride and Brendan was ahead of me on his new Chumba ripping it up on Boy Scout. Then the first crash happened I stoped and Brendan said he was ok so we just proceed to take off. Then the last crash happened and Brendan crashed and ended falling off the side of the hill. I stoped and ask Brendan are you OK and he asked me if he was bleeding and looks at me and I was like Holy S*&t I am not going to lie to you but you F'ed your lip pretty bad. We got kinda lucky the shuttle truck was coming back so Brendan hoped a ride back on the shuttle truck and I brought back Brendan's bike back.

Well I wanted to ride on Sunday but after Jason, Willie and I woke up in the hotel room we were beat and I think Willie wasn't feeling it the next day because her tail bone was hurting. So we left on Sunday morning.

I want to Thank Willie and Jason for letting me cruise up with them. I want to thank Roger and Nancy for use of the platform pedals. Those pedals saved my arse a couple times otherwise I would be in the same situation as Evil Chocula. Thanks Jeff for that great beer...wow 10% achohol!

I will return again to explore new and different trails. Lotsa fun!!!

 

Cont.

STR takes over the bar of the local Mexican joint













Sign on the wall



Sunday morning outside the hotel



Look closely, there are two flats in the photo (on Snakeback)



Justin and Jeff, on Jeff and Justin's bikes



I forget what trail this was... G-string?









Lee



Justin



Justin



Jeff



Nancy



Me



Sunset, near the Vegas airport



Awesome trip. Nancy - thanks for scheduling this and making us go! We both had a blast, and are very sore and tired today

Danny and Jeff - was great carpooling with you guys. You're both welcome any time!

Willie - So sorry for having you ride that section. If it makes you feel any better, I have a big bruise in the same spot from an endo

Steph - hope your neck is feeling okay. Dan - hope your shocks get fixed soon

Brendan - dude, sorry we still didn't get a chance to meet. We came over to see if you were aight and you had already gone to the ER, and by the time we got back from our last shuttle you had packed up camp. Hope you're doing okay!

Craig - good to ride with you again, had a blast drinking beers in the lot yesterday.

Lee - you suck cause you keep pushing me jk, bud. Good riding with you again. I hope some day to have skilz anywhere near yours!

Can't wait til next time!

 

Yet another awesome RR.

So what is the final injury list/tally for the group?

 

Brendan got stitches in his upper lip, Willie cut her hand, bruised her knee, Justin hurt his ribs and leg, Steph air-dabbed and has a sore neck, I have a nice bruise on my leg (plastic chest protector saved me from what could've been a bad injury), Luke cut his knee... I think everyone else did okay, right?

 

I can't beleive I didn't bring my full face. Anyways, near the end of "West Leg", I knew the restrooms were right around the corner, so I sat back, let my gaurd down and kind of zoned out. Then I clipped my handbar on a rock, next thing I know I'm going off the trail, down the cliff face first. I felt a peice of my face come off, as I got up I caught a handful of blood in hands. Looked at "Fired Your Momma" and asked him if it was bad, he immmediatly said "Yeah, its bad!" so I ditched the bike and jumped in the shuttle truck as it was coming down the mountain.

Dan did some first aid for me and told me it didn't look that bad so I woudn't freak out (thanks dude!). At the ER, the Doc said I should have a plastic surgeon put it together, but it could take up to 8 hours to see one, and he thought he could do it, so I went with it. He ended up doing a great job lining my lip up correctly(I think). I got 3 internal stiches to hold the muscle together, and 7 on the outside.

Also, I have an exact out line of sunglasses around my right eye; had I not been wearing them, I might have lost my eye. They took a really hard impact and didn't even crack. Smith Optics get 5 star rating.

So, I may need plastic surgery, won't know for sure till it heals. Definetly a wake up call for me, although the damage is mostly cosmetic, it was a f@cking scary exeperience, and I need to tone down my riding.

 

Since you are alive and well, this post is NOTHING without photos!

:lol:

 

Awesome ride report, as usual, FANTASTIC pics! Thanks so much for posting. That BMX track looked like fun! Actually all of it looked fun...