Was out in Las Vegas this last weekend. Wanted to get a little riding in so I conned a few of the folks I was with into doing a tour of Bootleg Canyon with me. This the same trail system they use for the Interbike dirt demo last year.

The tour was through a shop right by the trail system, All Mountain Cyclery. I just brought my bike cloths, pedals, shoes and Garmin in my carry on bag. They picked us up from our hotel on the strip and provided everything else. We had a great experience, highly recommended outfit.

Happened to be there during Brent Thomson memorial festive/race. Normally I guess they wouldn't have run a tour with a race going on, but I registered before that came about. Very accommodating considering how much was going on.

More info on Brent Thomson:
http://www.mtbtrailreview.com/blog/bran ... ical-fund/
http://www.mtbtrailreview.com/blog/bran ... omson-rip/

Topo & GPS track of our ride:



Rode out from the shop. Stopped my gps before riding back though since we hung out at the festival for a bit.



In relation to Vegas.



Speed & HR. Ended up being more of an interval training ride for me. The guide and I would hammer for a bit, get to an intersection and then wait for my people to catch up. Worked out pretty well.

GPS: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/2565538

We rode the XC trails out there. Very fast and great flow with lots of awesome technical stuff tossed in.



Squishy bike with gears and little wheels. Fun change of pace.



Our guide.









Whoops!



Me apparently taking a nap before dropping in on fast section. You can barely see Vegas in the background.



Group shot.

Some people racing:











Here is a video of someone running one of the DH runs:
http://vholdr.com/video/cameron-mccaul- ... leg-canyon

Anyway. All Mountain Cyclery. Highly recommended if you find yourself out in Vegas. Great equipment and service. Our guide, name was Knight Ide, was awesome. It was fun to be out with a good rider that knew all the trails.

Awesome! Makes me want to go back. Great report. Did you check out any of the small caves?

Man that looks awesome...

Was there an option to shuttle to the top and ride the xc trails? Would this be a place to go and be enjoyable for my fitness level (way different than yours)? Do you need a guide and how much extra for a guide?

If I get out to Vegas on a business trip I might have to plan some extra time to try this.

Nice! Couldn't have picked a better weekend for a quick desert escape.

I can't speak for bootleg, but there is a nice XC trail system called blue diamond/red rock canyon just outside of town on the other side. There is an old Norba race loop that is ~15 miles, but you can get more if you like. I've ridden there twice without a guide... maybe a missed turn or two but we managed to figure it out easily enough.

Don't know about shuttling. I'd liken the fitness requirement to Raccoon Mountain. In fact, the trails reminded me a lot of Raccoon. Except with a little more technical, a little faster and out in the desert. With sharp lava rocks all over the place.

Don't need a guide but it was a lot of fun. It's a fairly complicated network of trails and it was cool to have someone that knew how best to string them together. Also, IMO, it was super cheap:
http://www.allmountaincyclery.com/tours ... vegas.html




I know it! The weather was fantastic. 70F is perfect for riding out there.

You won't catch me out there in the middle of the summer though.

Man....I love that place! It's got everything ....to me it's kinda feels like I'm riding on the moon. Seeing your trip really makes me want to go back in the fall.... glad you had a good time.

Dude, those rocks hurt !

Great shots J...that trail is on my list of must do's for sure!

Good stuff, Jason. Thanks!

That looks great, just not sure how I would like the wide open trail riding. I like the cozy feel of the woods. Guess I have to try it before I know for sure.

A Canadian co-worker went a couple years ago when we went out there for an Autodesk Conference. He said it was fun but kind of pricy, not sure if he used the same vendor or not but he did get picked up from his hotel. At the time I couldn't justify the extra expense of staying an extra day on my dime for a couple hour ride.

First time I've ever really ridden out in the open like that. Only thing I really noticed about it was that it was easier to tell where you where in the trail system by looking at landmarks.

One thing that was really different was the trail consistency and how it behaved when you corned, climbed, etc. Totally different then anything else I've ridden.

As for cost, it was totally worth it to me. Traveling and riding different places is something I absolutely love. Though, the only other place I've recently ridden outside the south east is Surveyor’s Ridge in Oregon. When I grow up, I wanna be like Raja & ChocolateGirl and ride lots of exotic locations!

Can I come? I know all the exotic and fun places.

Even though you taunted us with your pics all during our rainy wkd, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Getting me all excited about riding out West! Thanks for the report!

hey, that's sarah!