Bootleg Canyon

If you’ve been reading all of the content we’ve been posting, then you may have already come across Pete’s article about our dirt demo experience on day 2. If you haven’t already read it, then you won’t know about the difficulty we had in obtaining bikes we wanted to test ride. We only managed to get two rides in today; two rides on some trails that are becoming very familiar, and thus very fun. I’m certainly not complaining – I’m more than aware of how fortunate I am that I can attend the show every year and test ride a lot of really expensive bikes. One of the best parts of the experience is getting to know the trails and developing some favourite lines.

^{The top of the Bootleg Canyon trails share a common line to start on. Notice in this photo a good example of why it’s easy to pinch flat. Photo: Cam McRae}

Most of the downhill trails are covered in fine dust on top of very hard packed soil – the type of soil you would dread having to try to dig up with a shovel. The trails are easy to spot because they aren’t completely covered in various sizes of sharp grey shale like the rest of Bootleg Canyon is, although a lot of that shale finds its way onto the trails. If you’re not riding on dirt, then you’re on the faces of huge exposed chunks of rock, or you’re riding on rectangular pieces of shale never any bigger than 4 or 5 inches across.

^{Hoots railing a corner on some shale that would have washed me out.}

My favourite parts of the trails are the rocky out-croppings scattered throughout the area. Every one of them is different, posing many unique challenging lines. Luckily the dust from the trails doesn’t stick to these chunks of rock which have really great grip. Sometimes the out-croppings are full of sharp extrusions that you try to weave around for fear of pinch-flats, and sometimes they take on a smoother demeanor. In the second case, the trail builders have done a great job of incorporating such rock faces in off-camber descents or tight downhill corners. I love this stuff.

^{Ed dialing in some grippy off camber rock.}

^{Pete dealing with some thick shale.}

There’s not a lot of vertical from top to bottom. I imagine someone who really knows the trails well could rip down to the bottom in just a few minutes. However, we always manage to stretch the riding experience out, usually because we stop to take photos (or fix flat tires). At the bottom of the downhill trails is a well developed and maintained skills park with some dirt jumps, shore structures, a few drops, and some bbq’s for those who bring their own meat. It’s also a point where some of the downhill trails converge with the start of some of the cross-country loops. You’ll get a nice mix of riders and bikes sessioning some of the stunts offered in the park.

^{These trails are fun. Cam loves them!}

Today I was able to test ride the 2010 Ellsworth Moment on the increasingly familiar terrain described above. This brings to mind another great thing about testing in Bootleg Canyon: the only variable that changes when testing the bike is the bike itself. It’s nice to be able to test so many bikes back-to-back on equal ground. The Ellsworth was a solid ride, once again allowing me to concentrate on the trails rather than spending too much time worrying about the bike. There aren’t many changes this year aside from some weight savings in the frame (100-200 grams) and some in-house tooling changes that result in a stiffer frame.

^{2010 Ellsworth Moment, with those awesome green Twenty6 pedals that have been showing up all over the place at the dirt demo.}

^{Photos never do justice to the terrain. Here’s Pete negotiating another off-camber descent.}

If you get the chance, definitely check out Bootleg Canyon in Boulder City. The drive from Vegas, including getting off of the strip and onto the highway, is about 35-40 minutes. Once you’re in Boulder City, look to your left from the highway and you’ll spot a giant white “BC” made out of rocks in the middle of the rocky hills. Trails spill down on either side of that giant rocky sign.

Hopefully next year we’ll have better luck in getting to more of the bikes you want us to check out (and we’ll get some more laps in!). Tomorrow we’re on the show floor in the Sands convention centre. Comments?

Fergs