The night was tres cold. Enough to keep us in bed a bit after sunrise. Warmed up quickly and, after a cold shower from the solar shower which has the worst cap ever, we headed to Cottonwood Valley for some riding.

We both rode a loop from the Late Night Trailhead and then headed to the small town of Blue Diamond. As close as we are to LV, people left car windows open and fancy bikes unlocked. Mme. Awesome did some work and I rode the Blue Diamond Loop.

It started out with a bang and then was a while of pedaling and then ended fun. And there was real, certified red dirt. The smooth and tacky was a great contrast to the loose and rocky on the “other” parts of the trail. Lots of chunky garden style rocks.

I took 2 water bottles; the one in my pack was plain water and the one on my bike had some nuclear green energy drink which made that one nearly undrinkable. I’ve got to fill that camelback thing!

The town is so small that it was easy to find each other. Like the trailhead from the morning, there are a million mountain bikers. We had lunch, savored the shade, filled up our water containers and headed out to find a place for the remainder of the day.

Not before shedding a huge and difficult to part with item: we gave our propane tank away to a seriously curmudgeonly guy. Other than accepting it, the only other thing he said was how he doesn’t like tourists. Doh!

We need the room and weight savings. Since we left, managing all the things has been difficult and unpleasant. Like all the pleasant sayings suggest, less can be more.

Here is Mme. Awesome far out in the Badwater area of Death Valley performing pagamento.