Several years ago I travelled to Las Vegas to work for an extended period, about 5 months as it turned out. I was hoping for some ride opportunities so I brought my Gunner Rockhound MTB and my SS Surly Cross Check. It was my intention to attempt a wide variety of ride opportunities, as I am not much of a gambler. I ended up doing quite a lot of bouldering at Red Rock Canyon as well.

On one of my MTB rides out of Blue Diamond I had stopped to look over my map and drink some aqua.Shortly after I stopped a rather pleasant looking woman came riding up on a horse. As we exchanged greetings her horse began sniffing my pockets. As a puzzled look came across my face, she said "do not give him any of the candy in your pockets, it will only encourage him." Weird. ....and yes, I did have candy in my pockets.

I found some info on a local Sunday morning group ride. They met up at a coffee house, I forget the name. I was in my early 40s at the time and it turned out to be mostly older folks. The ride leader was in his early 80s as I remember it. I didn't really have a road bike to speak of and the 42/18 gearing on the Surly turned out to be suitable for this ride. The group stayed loosely together, for the most part a no drop ride. So one by one these folks would drift over to me throughout the course of the ride and politely ask "So hey, what's with the single speed". To this day I don't really have a good answer for them. We ended up doing about 38 miles that morning. There was a sprint finish towards the end that left me with the latter part of the group. This was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable rides I've ever been on.

One morning I decided to take the Surly on Red Rocks scenic 11 mile loop. The first half of this ride is absolutely brutal on single speed. The second half is pure heaven.

One of my Red Rock hikes was to the top of Turtle Peak (I think). Theres an ammo box at the top with a log book. You can sign in and jot down a few notes about your hike and where your from. It's about 20 miles west of Vegas and on a clear day it provides a great view of the city. There were a few others at the top when I was there. We took pictures for each other, some small talk and hydrating. After making it back to the trail head a woman stopped me and asked if I would mind taking a few pictures of their group. A class reunion group of 30-40 people. I obliged and as I returned her camera, about 20 cameras where hung on my arms. I obliged once again and by the time we were finished they were taking pictures of me with the group.

I did another bouldering hike on Red Rock trail. It became one of my favorites and one morning I got out particularly early after a snowfall This particular trail takes you up into small waterfall in an enclosed area. I was the first one in that morning as evidenced by the lack of footprints in the snow. It is the most peaceful and quiet place I have ever experienced, with the closed in area and the snow muffling the sounds.

I believe my references to bouldering is actually considered rock scrambling, which by the way, makes me feel like I'm about 10 years old again.