# My Mt. Charleston ride



## Climbing_Clyde (Jun 16, 2007)

Hey kids; 

I just got back from Vegas last night, brought my bike out there with me with one goal in mind, to ride up and over Mt Charleston. I am proud to say I achieved that goal and loved every minute of it, it was quite literally the ride of my life, just an awesome place to ride. 

As advised on this board I spent 4 days getting acclimated to the weather. I rode out to Red Rock, and did the loop and rode back to his house on Thursday and Saturday. That was a 40 mile round trip with about a 2500ft elevation gain. It was a great wake up call for me, Red Rock's scenic loop is astounding and the climb to the summit nearly killed me the first day out, as a flatlander climbing at near 5000ft was something I was not used to. 

We did a recon mission on the mountain and one thing became perfectly clear, I needed a camelback because there is NOTHING on that mountain. We also decided he would drop me off and meet me a couple of hours into the ride, he was the sag wagon and that was a huge relief for me. 

Anyhow, I didn't break any records that day but I did ride every inch of that mountain, up Kyle Canyon, across Deer Creek and down Lee Canyon! 
I took it very slow in the beginning and my compact crank worked out great. 
:thumbsup: 

Anyhow, here is a brief pictorial. 


















































































If a fat guy from NJ can do it, anyone can!!


----------



## Tom2.0 (Jul 17, 2007)

Wow, congrats! That looked like a blast! How was the decent? 

Cool pics too!


----------



## kevhogaz (Jul 28, 2007)

Sweet ride, dude. I wish I had the time/resources to do stuff like that. congrats on making it over the top, I'll bet the trip down was a blast, huh?


----------



## Climbing_Clyde (Jun 16, 2007)

Thanks guys. 

Actually the trip down was nerve racking for two reasons, one was my being paranoid about how the bike would handle 35mph for that period of time, I was worried about the tires heating up and blowing. 

The other factor was the desert crosswinds, that made me slow down a bit cause it will move you off your line. I took a few breaks on the way down just to clear my head but yes, descending for 20-25 minutes is something I'll never forget. 

I immediately cracked open a small bottle of scotch at the bottom once I was in the van, it is a tradition a friend and I developed over the years and this day was certainly one to celebrate.


----------



## BRC (Sep 20, 2007)

I will be there nect Thursday and hope to rent a decent bike at the Red Rock Casino....!!
Great Pixs..thanks


----------



## Chain (Dec 28, 2006)

You know it's a long downhill when you get tired of being in a tuck, or flat out just have to sit up and stretch. The tires will be fine with extended +35mph on the downhills, it's the breaks that will heat things up. Just don't use them and you'll be fine.:thumbsup: 

For your next ride, come on out to Colorado and you can climb with some trees around. We have quite a few rides with downhills of 15-20 minutes that are really a blast. The climbs can last a couple hours, but that's where all the fun is earned.

Congrats on the ride!


----------



## Climbing_Clyde (Jun 16, 2007)

BRC said:


> I will be there nect Thursday and hope to rent a decent bike at the Red Rock Casino....!!
> Great Pixs..thanks



I was there twice, the buffet is amazing, it is a really nice casino and riding Red Rock is a must! Most bike shops rent bikes out there, nu-vision was right near my friends house, I didn't stop in but it looked nice. I know mcghies rents bikes. http://mcghiesbikes.com/page.cfm?pageID=57

Do the Charleston ride, or at least drive up there, it is awesome, my route is here...

http://www.toporoute.com/cgi-bin/getSavedRoute.cgi?routeKey=PHTBSSDGUBMMEXG

up kyle canyon, up and across deer creek and down lee canyon.


----------

