Bear’s Best mountain biking in the summer; high 90’s at 9am. This was the wrong opportunity to squeeze in a ride before work at noon; it didn’t get cooler. In the Las Vegas summer sun, trails at Bear’s Best have a magical ability to blind the eyes. Trail undulations and features are indistinguishable from one to another. Sunglasses usually solve this problem. When you’re in a rush out the door, you forget to swap the interchangeable lenses from clear to dark. Such was the case this morning. Brutal. I couldn’t keep my eyes looking down the trail for more than few seconds without an extended length blink to hit the eyeball reset. You know, the one where you attempt to force your eyes to enjoy the blinding sun? 13 miles of this. There is more.

I recently purchased a new hydration pack and phone case with Go-Pro adapter to begin recording my rides. I couldn’t wait to get out and test it all.

Fail.

Between the Go-Pro chest mount, strange angle the phone connected to it, and a hydration hose that constantly popped off it’s dock because it didn’t play nice with the phone position, oh, and no eyes, I found myself riding with one hand most of the ride, veering into rocks and cactus. Ask me if it feels good when your cycling shoes are suddenly penetrated by cactus spines.

No.

Between long hours at work and the amount of time spent on the bike since here in Vegas, I need a break.