| Name: | Eldorado Canyon and beyond | 
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| Description: | On Saturday before the SEG 2008 conference, I drove to the Las Vegas area to get a weekend of warm weather riding, which is always a treat in November. I picked a little used highway about 15 miles south of Boulder City that goes to a small old mining town of Nelson and then drops down Eldorado Canyon to the Colorado river, or, better to say, Lake Mojave. The actual ride went according to the plan, I found a neat campspot about 2 miles up the highway on a spot off the road that was nice and flat and tucked away from the highway. Then I took off for the ride, it was fairly warm, low 70s, so, short sleeve shirt was a good outfit. There was about 1000 ft climb to a pass towards Nelson and then 2500 ft descent to the lake. Then I retraced my steps, climbing those 2500 ft, stopping on the way at an old mine site that's kept looking old and trying to attract some tourists. In Nelson, I went off the highway and climbed up on a dirt road west over a different pass in Eldorado mountains. This dirt road, as all the other ones, was not very good, a lot of loose gravel that made riding difficult. The worst was the descent down along the powerlines towards Hwy 93 that followed, I got a good share of rattling. Then followed about 10 miles on Hwy 93, which was not too bad despite the road being busy, because it has a good wide shoulder. So, truck zooming by at 70 mph were not too bad and offered some extra draft. Then I just rode the 2 miles up the road to the camp, right in time to wash off and set up a tent before the sun went down. Overall a good ride on not too busy or safe roads except for the dirt road sections, which I would skip next time. | |
| URL: | TopoFusion Home Page | |
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| Total Distance: | 48.59 miles (78.20 km) |
| Total Trip Time: | 5:49:13 (4:00:03 moving time) |
| Total Climbing: | 5414 feet (1650 m) |
| Total Descending: | 5429 feet (1655 m) |
| Average Speed: | 12.15 mph (19.55 kph) |
