Well, I was away on business and it seemed like a great opportunity to see a different side of Sin City. Luckily there were a number of cycle tours on offer so Søren (our OTH occasional guest from Denmark) surfed the net and came up with a 4 hour guided ride through Cotton Valley.
We were picked up at the hotel by the two guides and met the third member of our team Rodney who worked for the US Embassy in the Congo. After a quick stop at the bike shop to pick up the bikes and take on water we were soon in the remote wilderness of the Nevada Desert. The two guides then proceeded to set up the Specialized Stunt Jumpers and ensure we had the correct pressure in the suspension. Just a we were about to set out on the trails one of the guides said to me “your from the UK right, well just remember that your rear brake is on the right” at this point I called for a time out and quickly swapped the levers over as I did not want to go straight over the bars the first time the brakes were applied.
After a quick safety briefing on snakes, scorpions and spiders, we were ready to roll and started off with a slow uphill climb. We soon lost Rodney and the rear guide, after a five minute wait they were still nowhere to be seen. We quickly decided that we should head back and find our other two riders. As we cleared the ridge we found the two trying to repair the rear hanger which had been totally ripped clean off the tour guides bike. It was quickly decided that the rear mech could not be repaired so the cable was cut and the chain was shortened to turn his bike into a single speed (well he could do with a challenge).
The journey continued with some really cool descents through some fantastic landscapes – glad I swapped the brakes as there was a need to quickly drop some speed on a downhill section and I automatically went for the left lever which would have meant a but full of cactus spines.
It soon was clear that there were two riding levels in the group with Rodney and our Single speed friend following up the rear. With this divide in place our guide decided to turn up the pace and give us a lesson in desert riding. Søren did well and stuck on the guides rear wheel for the entire run. I was doing well until I took a corner to wide and ended up taking a short cut through some cactus which hurt like hell and cost me a good couple of minutes.
The trails were clearly marked and ride-able without a guide, but I would say the benefit of having someone that knows the trails is you keep up the speed and are guaranteed to lose a few pounds in sweat. In all the ride was fun and made a nice change from the soggy bogs that we are enduring in the UK. I can’t wait for the UK summer, it won’t quite be the Nevada Desert but it will be dry – I HOPE.
The trails were clearly marked and ride-able without a guide, but I would say the benefit of having someone that knows the trails is you keep up the speed and are guaranteed to lose a few pounds in sweat. In all the ride was fun and made a nice change from the soggy bogs that we are enduring in the UK. I can’t wait for the UK summer, it won’t quite be the Nevada Desert but it will be dry – I HOPE.
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