|
Bruce
& Betsy Blais |
|
Mountain Biking - Special Trails - Bootleg Bruce was in Vegas on business in March of 2007, and took that opportunity to ride Bootleg Canyon in Boulder City. This was his first out-of-state ride and his first IMBA EPIC trail ride. It was the hardest ride he had done to that point in his cycling career and he looks forward to doing it again sometime. He rented a Specialized full suspension from All Mountain Cyclery who also gave him advice on which trails to ride. He rode three of the trails: Girl Scout, Caldera and West Loop. If you are headed that way, check out the canyon and the great folks at All Mountain Cyclery. In 2010 and 2011, he ended up working on an engineering project in Nevada and had numerous opportunities to ride Bootleg. This time he had his own bike, a TREK Superfly 100 Elite full suspension. In addition to riding the Girl Scout, Caldera and West Leg loops, he also had the opportunity to ride Ernie's Epic. Girl Scout Loop - Beginner Level The entrance to Girl Scout loop. It's all up hill from here. My best guess is 400' net climbing in 1.5 mi. Much more if you figure the ups and downs.
A local rider at the end of the climb on Girl Scout.
Girl Scout was definitely a climb with a few twists and turns, not to mention rocky areas like the one below.
Caldera Loop - Intermediate Level Below is the entrance to Caldera. Yes there is a trail there. It turns right to enter the rocky area and then turns left to go up and over the top.
The second rocky climb on Caldera. The photo below really doesn't show the height and steepness.
The third climb on Caldera. All three climbs are in the first half mile.
Once you get to the top, you are rewarded with a nice down-hill. That's Vegas in the distance.
One of several dry wash crossings on Caldera.
One of the rock gardens on Caldera.
Nice drop and turn near the end of Caldera. To keep things in perspective, the rock in the center is 8 to 10 feet high.
West Loop - Intermediate Level Looking back on one of the drops and climbs near the beginning of West Loop.
Rock crossing with a bit of a drop-off on West Loop.
More climbing on West Loop.
Bootleg equivalent of "no-brakes" below, but with a higher penalty for failure.
Looking back on another wash crossing on West Loop.
Getting around the rock outcropping below is important. Otherwise you can count on some rocks "breaking" your fall.
Ernie's Epic - Advanced Intermediate to Expert During 2011, Bruce had an opportunity to ride Ernie's Epic on two occasions: once in May and once in November. Ernie's is a 15 mile loop that takes about 3 1/2 hours to complete. Below is a shot of Bruce fresh, set and ready to go. This trail starts at the circle parking lot and comes back around to Caldera and West Leg. It takes the average rider about 3 1/2 hours to complete.
Much of the trail is bench-cut into the side of the mountains as can be seen below. You have to stay on your toes because the penalty for failure is fairly steep.
Below is a shot of Debbie taking a break. The trail goes between Debbie and the rock face. This section of trail demands careful attention to your line and gearing.
At the top of the first ridge, you get an impression of what this trail is all about. This is the first of three ridged to cross. The second can be seen in the background. If you look carefully, you can see the trail in the hills just to the right of the handle bars. There is one more beyond that one.
Below is a shot of Debbie climbing a switch-back near the end of Ernie's part of the ride.
This is a rock wall near the end of Ernie's. The photo doesn't do it justice. It is nearly 5' high with a climbing angle of over 45 degrees.
|
|
Version 0.2, November 26, 2011 |
