Safe ride routes in the Reno area.
 

My wife and I occasionally take our motorhome to Reno and stay at the GSR RV park. I'm thinking of bringing my bike over from now on and would like to know of any safe bike routes to ride from the RV park. I am mostly interested in 10 to 20 miles routes.
Thanks for your help.

You want safe routes to ride from the GSR RV park, 10-20 miles? Go either direction on the Tahoe-Pyramid Bikeway. West to Verdi, or east to Sparks. Go as far as you want and turn around. From the river near the GSR RV park, it is dedicated path all the way to the end of the trail in Sparks. Heading west to Verdi, from the river near GSR RV park, it is decidated path for maybe 2 1/2 miles, then mostly road shoulders, my best recollection is usually bike lanes, but pretty darned safe and not a lot of traffic. The only place that is steep at all is on a dedicated path close to Verdi.

I don't know how bad it is to get a block and a half east to the path from the RV park, but I assume it isn't bad, and it is only about a block and a half. I'm sure you can ask at the RV path the safest way to get to the bikeway.

You can go to www.tpbikeway.org for more info, but if you're looking for safe 10-20 mile routes near that RV park, I don't know where you'd start besides that bikeway. I stayed at the Silver Legacy 3 1/2 years ago, rented a bike, took an afternoon ride to Verdi and back, and a morning ride to Sparks and back. It was good stuff, the least safe part was riding between the Silver Legacy and the bikeway, but it was tolerable, and the RV park is much closer to the bikeway, like I say, about a block and a half.

Thanks so much for the reply and info. I will look up the bikeway link.

I hate the new Google Maps, so bear with me...

2nd St. near Walmart isn't the most bike-friendly area, but once you get away from there things get better.

Here's a route that heads south that's almost all bike lane: https://goo.gl/maps/d9uRq

Mill St. is pretty quiet between the airport and McCarran (https://goo.gl/maps/zC8gk). McCarran has bike lanes, but it's not my favorite place to ride.

Mill St. is busier near 395, but there is a bike lane and once you get away from there you can get to some great riding on California/Mayberry: https://goo.gl/maps/1NDzE

You can head south using a similar route (https://goo.gl/maps/vPhy8). Lakeside is great and there are lots of options to extend that ride if you feel like going longer.

You could also ride to TMCC if you're looking for the closest hill: https://goo.gl/maps/ux53r

We finally made a weekend trip to Reno in our motorhome. I brought my older Trek along because I don't mind hanging it on a bike rack that hangs from the roof ladder. I rode the first two days on the mup along the river both ways. The third day I took a more direct route to Mayberry. While waiting for a signal light to turn green I met up with a group ride of a Reno bicycle club headed to Verdi. I joined in at the rear, being careful not to be rude and barge in. At the first break stop I was asked to join in and so I did. I continued to hang out at the back, at times wishing to move up, but being careful not to intrude. It was my first time riding with a group and I wanted to mingle in with a little faster pace, but this would be good for now.
The town of Reno has done a great job of providing bicycle lanes, giving riders many choices of routes to ride. I look forward to going back and looking for more ride routes and to ride with the Reno Bicycle Club.