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Christian B., Ed, Jocelyn, Carlos, Kenny, Randall,?,?, David, Dorian, Chere, Bruce Blais, Mark McCann, Ron R., Jeff, Jimmy, Rich N |
I got a surprise call from Ron in Vegas one afternoon in September. He was calling to invite me to ride with the Las Vegas Mountain Bike group at Brian Head. I had missed their annual trek to Brian Head in July do to the fact I was headed to Georgia for a work conference. I had pretty disappointed. I rode with these guys last August up at Brian Head and had a ball! Ron had received a call from Bob the owner and operator of the Brian Head shuttle service to let him know he was retiring. Ron talked Bob into one last hurrah and it was going to be October 1st. They planned on driving up early morning hitting Bunker Creek followed by Blowhard and head back home. I didn’t hesitate! Both rides were new to me and I had heard Blowhard was a mountain biking MUST. We made arrangements for them to pick me up at Starbucks on Red Cliffs Drive at 8AM.
It had been a bit stormy and cold the few days before our ride and I was concerned we may not get to ride. On Saturday morning you could see a few clouds sitting over the mountains so I packed layers with my bike gear and headed out on my bike to Starbucks for a cup of coffee before they picked me up. About 8:10 I sent a text to determine their ETA. Hmmmm, mental note to self: When arranging schedules with people in Las Vegas make sure you are both using the same time zone. They were still on schedule to pick me up at 8:00 AM Vegas time which is 9:00AM St. George time. I just sipped my coffee slower and enjoyed the morning on Starbuck’s patio.
In all there were 17 riders. We met Bob in Cedar Canyon at the exit to Blowhard. We loaded all the bikes onto two trailers and headed off to the start of Bunker Creek. I have only ridden with these guys once before and obviously they felt I could handle riding with them or they wouldn’t have invited me, but not knowing them I get really nervous riding, don’t ask me why some crazy anxiety issue I have that I wish I could overcome. The anxiety comes from being new at this only 4 years riding now, I know from last year there are several in this group that are amazing riders the last thing I want to do is hold the group up. It has also been awhile since I had even been on my bike. Work has been insanely crazy and I have been logging 60+ hours each week. No time for play so I was feeling rusty.
We unloaded up at the top of Brian Head and started off for Bunker Creek. Before we even made it to the trail head I crashed twice. Good lord! Seriously this was ridiculous. The first fall came as we were dropping down a hill, David was right behind me and I took a wrong line on a double track road ending up in a deep overgrown tire rut. I was doing ok but knew David was passing so I couldn’t come back up onto the main trail until he was out of my way. As soon as he passed I made my move and instead of making it back up on the trail I tumbled across the ground. Everyone blamed it on David. Hahaha really not his fault but I guess he has a history of taking out riders as he passes them. Second time was as I rounded a corner right next to the edge of a steep drop off. I was riding to fast on a loose dirt and gravelly rock corner as I made the turn my back tire slid right out from under me. I was shaking like a scared kitten. A little frustrated from falling twice in quick succession I took a time out. Not a bad place to stop and pull yourself together. I took a few pictures of the gorgeous view and had a mental talk with myself about the need to stay in control, slow down and ride at my speed not their speed.
Bunker Creek
We made it to the trail head and off we went! The colors in the trees were amazing, such vibrant gold colors against the blue sky. I was in heaven.
We took the left fork which means you go right at the fork (go figure). The trail was rough in spots with short steep declines.
As I came around the corner on one steep decline I saw a rider down and in obvious pain. It was Jeff my driver. He had come around the corner his back tire slipped, he put his foot down as he fell making his ankle roll under the weight of him and the bike. This happened not even a mile from the trail head. Bunker Creek is a 12 mile downhill ride. We did have a doc on the ride with us and between him and Jeff they braced his ankle the best they could with what was on hand. Funny thing is everyone had recently removed their first aid kits; they ended up wrapping it with a tube and duct tape. Jeff is one hell of a trooper he rode best he could downhill and slowly walked the uphill sections. This makes me cringe now because after he had it x-rayed we learned he had broken his tibia and fibula.
As I came around the corner on one steep decline I saw a rider down and in obvious pain. It was Jeff my driver. He had come around the corner his back tire slipped, he put his foot down as he fell making his ankle roll under the weight of him and the bike. This happened not even a mile from the trail head. Bunker Creek is a 12 mile downhill ride. We did have a doc on the ride with us and between him and Jeff they braced his ankle the best they could with what was on hand. Funny thing is everyone had recently removed their first aid kits; they ended up wrapping it with a tube and duct tape. Jeff is one hell of a trooper he rode best he could downhill and slowly walked the uphill sections. This makes me cringe now because after he had it x-rayed we learned he had broken his tibia and fibula.
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The trail smoothed back out again when the right and left fork met up. The rest of the ride was uneventful from this point it was pretty fast flowy downhill.
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Blowhard
I let Jeff know if he wanted to head home I understood. There were three of us that road with him in his truck. He was really cool about it and said it could wait and told us to enjoy our ride. Bob dropped us off at the top at the top of Blowhard Mountain. I am stealing the description of this trail from Utahmountainbiking.com
“Blowhard Mountain is an advanced-technical downhill trail, usually ridden one-way with a shuttle vehicle. The trail drops 3300 vertical feet over 7 miles, for an almost 12% rate of average slope. One section near the top is particularly steep, averaging 22% slope over a mile. This is a challenging and tricky trail, delivering some great views and real bragging rights.
Brochures from shops and resorts at Brian Head may give you the impression that intermediate riders can do this trail. Well, maybe. But I wouldn't recommend Blowhard for the casual rider. This trail has a steep mile -- not "fly down the trail, take some air" steep, but "hang your butt behind the seat, work the brakes carefully, skid the tires through loose rocks while bouncing over roots and rock outcrops in constant terror" steep.”
Oh my hell! I am ever grateful for personal protection and a firm believer in helmets. Before this ride I bought a new pair of elbow pads and after this ride I think my next purchase will be a full face helmet. The description is not lying when it says hang your butt behind the seat in constant terror! This is by far the most technical trail I have ever ridden. Yes, I rode it! There were several sections at the top that I rode and when finished turned around to see others behind me walking their bikes or passed guys already walking and I RODE it!!! Slow and steady with my ass end hanging over the back tire, it was that steep. I loved it!!!
Terrifying as it was the thrill of knowing once you start a deep decent like that you can’t stop or it will hurt is as good as any drug out there. I rode the majority of that trail with a few drops that I didn’t feel comfortable doing or tight switch backs that included large rock obstacles. I fell only one time again the back tire slipped out from under me and down I went. My only complaint about Blowhard is it was not long enough!
