rides around phx, vegas?
 

i'll find myself in phoenix for about a week starting about a week from now. post-race, i'll have 4 or so days where i can just do some riding.

i'm a guy who is basically stuck indoors from november through april -- if i want to get in quality riding where i live, so this is a chance to race and then maybe do some of my workouts outdoors.

can anyone recommend some good places to ride? post-race, i'll be in scottsdale. i won't be taking all day to ride as i'll be with my family, but i'm thinking 1-2h monday to thursday. apparently i'll be near eldorado park.

on friday i'm heading up to vegas and may hit up a stage race saturday/sunday on the way back home. is there a good place to shake the legs out on friday afternoon (again, 1-2h)? time will be a bit limited that day, so proximity to the downtown area is preferred.

i'm very used to rural roads and don't expect that in those areas. pinning on a number will be my first outdoor ride of the year. i both love and hate that, but it happens every year.

thanks for any recommendations. perhaps i'll soon have something to contribute to the 2013 race report thread.

Vegas - head out to Red Rock. I think I went out on Alta Drive, parallel to Charleston/159. Then I did that big loop 159/160 to Blue Diamond. That loop has wide shoulders, good pavement, not too hard, etc. Skip Red Rock itself. Usually the wind flows down from Red Rock so a headwind going towards Red Rock then super fast to Blue Diamond, crosswind on 160 to the Strip. Left onto the strip road. It gets narrow by the airport I think but you can get to where you need to go.

I rode down the Strip but have read that you're not supposed to do that. There's no real good way to go parallel that I found.

Don't go southeast on 582. That is a lightstop road and the lights aren't coordinated. Terrible.

If you have a car it opens things up. Will you have one?

I hear the Bicycle Haus team does a midweek hammer fest.

Huh, I was going to suggest the Red Rock loop, for the scenery and climbing alone!

I think Faster does too. There's a ride every day out here. Then there's the 'Underground Crit' every Tuesday evening, year round. It's race season out here, so there are races every weekend too.

I didn't see the 1-2 hours thing before. I'd do the reverse of what I listed - head down the Strip, take a right on 160. It'll be a bit tight until you get to 160 then it gets pretty wide - the shoulder at one point is something like 15 feet wide going that direction. Or something like that. Once you start heading out 160 it's pretty mild. Turn around and come back or head north and head in from the west side of the strip. Use satellite views to make sure the road has a shoulder. There is some map out there that has recommended bike routes, not sure who did it (was it a Google map feature maybe?).

Depends on where you stay on the strip. If you're staying closer to the north (i.e. downtown) then it's not bad heading out 582 (Fremont) a bit. It's only as you get closer to Boulder City that there are a lot of lights. For a leg loosening ride it's not bad.

thanks for the vegas comments. we'll be staying near, but not on, the strip when in vegas. it's just a short stop on the way home. i'll be driving.

will roll in mid-day friday and roll out on sunday. if i do the 2nd stage race, that is sat/sun, so options to ride are limited. if i don't do it, i have a bit more time and more options for general riding.

red rock loop is a good idea.

also, thanks for the phoenix comment. i'll look into the timing of those group rides. if i'm racing that 2nd weekend, i may or may not want to do a hard ride.

If you're driving then Red Rock would be good. It's much better to drive out of the developed area and then ride. Not sure where you'd park. Red Rock Casino? Bike shop? There's a university at the base of the quiet part of the road or some huge campus with flags all over the place.

Red Rock proper is an experience but I wouldn't go back into the park again unless I had some compelling reason. You have to pay now to ride your bike in, it's narrow (about 1-2 lanes but one way), no marked shoulders, there are a lot of sight-seeing traffic, a few parking areas where you have to be careful, and the road is such that it's not really a talking kind of road. Yes there are a few turns, there's at least one switch back I remember, and there's a short steep hill that you can either struggle up in a low gear or pop over in the 53x12.

The roads leading to/from RR are nice. Wide shoulders, very little traffic, only a few intersections or parking lots between RR and Blue Diamond, favorable wind heading away from RR. No real corners so that's the only disadvantage. I could ride lost in thought, could stop any time to check my bike (I did a few times in the few times I rode the loop, with and without RR included), I could really zone out. The road back from Blue Diamond to the Strip is also pretty wide in most spots (narrow at first), shoulder, and usually a crosswind. I remember turning over a 53x11-12 most of the way the last time I did the loop and wondering if it was me or the wind. (Hint: it wasn't me). I think I broke 50 mph on one of the flat sections of road leading away from RR - it was a solid wind that day.

The other place is Boulder City. There's a road going to Lake whatever Mead. It's part of the Tour of Lake Mead at Interbike. But it's much further than RR so that'd be a second choice.

At places to do 15-20 min steady intervals, preferably in the Scottsdale area? I appreciate any suggestions. Trying to fit in a few workouts and I see some good bike lanes but I would love to not have a route with neumerous stop lights.

thanks!

There's a bike shop on Charleston on the way to Red Rock. Actually, there's a few of them.

Either way, you should be able to have fun on the Red Rock loop. 13~ miles, climbing, etc. Take a camera ;) (If you haven't already been.)

Oh, also, this: http://www.rivermountainstrail.com/ If you prefer the lake to Red Rock.

thanks? any rides around scottsdale? i know there are riders from phoenix on here.

heading out tomorrow for some long FTP intervals and hope i can do them with minimal interruption.

Since you are in the southern part of Scottsdale, head up the Beeline Highway (87). It's a rural highway used for many routes, almost zero stops, and if you want a longer ride, you can loop around down Bush Hwy, past Saguaro Lake, and then over Usery pass. That loop is a big part of Tour de Mesa.

I don't do weekday group rides, but there are several. I'll see if I can find a list.

awesome...THANK YOU!

don't worry too much about the group rides. i'm out in a couple days and mostly train on my own program, though i admit a group ride in a new town would be very cool.

you'll find me on 87 in a bit. :)

thanks for the tip AZTR. made it out to 87 for some intervals, and you were right about the uninterrupted road.

northbound was great; lots more glass in the southbound direction (north of mcdowell at least).

turned onto a side road and was chased by a few dogs, then *surrounded* by 6-7 dogs. i rolled slowly and gently talked to them for about 2 minutes before they let me go. the rottweiler did make me a bit nervous, but it all worked out well.

might skip that part of the route tomorrow. :)

vegas:

mt charleston is incredible. goes from red rock southwestern desert to alpine forest in like 17 miles
red rock is my favorite loop and definitely worth paying imo
round mountain loop is an old HWY that they converted into an MUP. its incredible.
the road from lake mead out to valley of fire (northshore road http://goo.gl/maps/HCs3I) is absolutely pristine, beautiful pavement and you can easily go an hour without seeing a car or a living human being, and valley of fire itself is pretty stunning and great terrain.

for a great challenging out and back, part at the technical school on charleston right at the edge of town, head out to red rocks, do the loop, keep going south on blue diamond then head up mount potosi, once youre over the summit you can keep going and reclimb the back side if you want to.

http://goo.gl/maps/FJ7Ie

wanted to thank everyone again for the help.

cdr: your suggestion to bike out to red rocks was great. i actually went out there and did the loop on my TT bike.

badhat: great tips. unfortunately i was already done with my trip by the time you posted, but i'll file them away for the future.