vegas baby

my bike scoping out the desert

approaching red rock canyons (im on support this day)

first big climbing day - no one gave us polka dot jerseys

calico - ghost town near barstow. my attempt at being artistic

and im back. not just back, but back 100 dollars less than what i started with. sorry dad, had to play a little in vegas. ill explain a little more later on. to answer your questions, yes i wash my spandex, ive done a few loads already and am actually doing one now, we shower most days but when camping may not have showers. nadia, i spoke to you today, but my knee is holding up and hopefully will continue to do so, but seeing you and chopra in cbus would be fun if you are able to do it (may 17-19th). and i hope we don't have to bike through gary or toledo (no offense micheal jackson and bhyia, respectively).

thursday we did our first real century and finished with about 110 miles total as we rode through the desert and mountains which seems to be a re-occurring theme. had about 15 miles of rough terrain on route 66 but made our way out of it eventually to finish with a nice long ride. thursday, however was the first day that i started to feel the pain of riding on a small saddle for 5+ hrs. i kinda wished i let my family fatten me up a little as a few extra pounds on my bottom would certainly be nice. overall a great day that finished with a great evening as we pulled into "hole in the wall" campgrounds for a nice pasta dinner around a camp fire. on the trip with some real mountain men (dave, winterbottom, nate) who inspired me to sleep outside without a tent. i cannot explain to you how beautiful and clear the sky is in the middle of nowhere california and how pleasant it is to wake up to seeing it in the middle of the night. no shower this day but did change clothes and reapply the assos cream (ahh the cooling sensation).

friday did 94 miles again, through some desert and some mountains and finished in a place called tocopa springs that had natural hotsprings. again had a nice campfire and some dinner then caught a shower before dipping into the springs. so this deserves a little explaining, rules at these springs are 1) shower before entering 2) no swimming trunks and 3) boys and girls separate. so a little odd to be sitting in a pool-like area with a bunch of naked dudes, but the water felt amazing after a long day of riding. again sleeping outside with the stars (wish i could do this more often).

next day was on support as we cruised into vegas. riders did an amazing job throughout the day as they climbed for a big part of it then cruised into red rock canyons near vegas which like much of the scenery we see, was absolutely stunning. found a nice reggae station on the radio so was jammin' in the jump car showing off my tan lines for the day shuttling water and powerbar stuff to the riders. again felt bummed that i was on support, but my legs desperately needed the rest.

arrived into vegas where ashley's mom and stepfather hooked us up with a bunch of condo/time share rooms that are fully furnished with kitchen and laundry (sweet). took a group trip to aladdin's casino that had this giant sushi buffet and pitchers of kirin (sweet). did a little craps at the bellagio and eventually made it back to southpoint casino right next to our place. went in with chris and bobby starting first with some craps (i was on fire for like 8 rolls straight) then eventually lost fire, interest and money at that table. moved to roulette with bobby and ended up staying there until about 5am as my stated losings set in. didn't really mind losing because the drinks kept coming the whole night. oh and got to sleep in a bed when i got back for a couple hrs.

now we are enjoying our day off. spent some time at the pool, took a trip to restock on some needed things (powerbars are gross, gotta stick with my clif and kashi bars). ashley's mom is cooking us dinner tonight so very excited about that. may throw a few dice with nate dogg, we will have to see. anyway, probably gone for another few days as we have much more desert to bike through. lotta climbing on the horizon. peace.