Viva Bike Vegas!
 

Anyone ever do this ride ? Looked too interesting to pass up. Deal on Schwaggle got me 20% off. 120 miler rides through the strip to Hoover Dam. (Never been to the Hoover Dam) so this should be a nice way to check it out. Going to be hotter than a motha!!! 5 AM roll-out!

http://www.rtcsnv.com/vivabikevegas/

Make History & Bike The Bright Lights of the Las Vegas Strip & Across the Historic Hoover Dam in Viva Bike Vegas 2012 Pinarello Gran Fondo presented by Vector Media in Partnership with Interbike

Aw, what a pity - the long route goes RIGHT BY red rock and doesn't go in. I was just in vegas in March and did a little riding (through red rock and out by blue diamond)... speeding motorcycle missed me by about a half inch I think and if he wasn't going over 100, he wasn't trying hard enough. That was out on 159. Aside from that the shoulders were wide and the roads were smooth, at least outside the city.

Riding down the strip at any time of day or night would make me nervous though. Stick with a big group for that part. :)

They also just completed a new bridge at the Hoover Dam within the last two years... the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, and that thing is a nice piece of art. There's a sidewalk that goes the length of the bridge so you can walk out on it and enjoy the view and the 60 mile per hour breezes.

If while you're out there you decide you want to visit Hoover Dam (edit: not during the ride obviously), it would be well worth going to the website ahead of time and booking a tour. http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/

The more expensive tour sells out, so if you wait till you get there you'll be stuck (like I was) with the rather brief tour.

http://www.transportation1.org/bridg...-8-Photo-6.jpg

I'm riding. This will be my fourth year riding this event. It's done really well. The previous years - 2010 and 2011 route took us through the Red Rock loop with some great climbing and scenery. Last year the ride down the Strip was pretty cool at 5:30 in the morning. It was completely shut down on one side to allow everyone to ride through. The drunks and party goers were cheering us on as we sailed down the strip. What's cool is that it's a slight downhill from the start to the turn off. This year they extended the length to 75 and 120. Just last month they brought back the 102 miler - most likely because people may have been complaining the 120 route was too long and because they are starting in the heat of September. The past years have been in mid-October where the weather was really nice. That said, its pretty organized and the post ride party and lunch are pretty good (Outback steakhouse). Make sure you keep on the look out for the turn signs as well as on the street where they mark arrows in paint but its not really hard to get lost in Vegas! As a matter of perspective, the 2009 event had 300 riders. Last year it was over 1,000. This year, with the event on the tail-end of the 2012 Interbike Show - ???