Trails in the desert SW are so much better than pavement. Pavement retains the heat in the summer and just gets hotter. Vegas is different than SOCAL, but one summer day I was skinny tire biking and had a tire separate from the heat. I have been road riding a lot lately so I can do some charity rides with friends. It has so fun parts to it. But it gets so humdrum (IMO) and tedious. The trails and scenery in SOCAL have so much diversity. You have desert, jungle, vineyards, power line roads, Big Bear is a Mecca, WOW, what a place. Get as good a big as you can and introduce yourself to a couple clubs.