Yes, BA and Iberia have non-stop flights between SAN (San Diego) and London (LHR).

I would fly into San Diego if possible and plan a ride from around that area. The weather is much better than places north. Too rainy, cold, and wet in Seattle and Portland. If San Diego is a no go than LA might be the next best choice. Just look for an area outside of the city.

I can easily get a flight to San Diego, direct from the UK (same as San Fran).
If the riding around there is good, and I can rent a bike I will look into that for sure. If it's dry, I don't mind the cold. 10c/50F is okay - so long as it's dry.

I would much prefer to hire a bike given it would only be a day, maybe 1.5 days tops. Not worth the effort in taking a bike for such little cycling if bike hire is an option. However, if I had my bike and I just went straight to LV (as suggested), I could go a pedal in the mornings before work and at least get some exercise in and then it would be worth having the bike with me. I already have access to the bike box, and the extra bag needed would be covered by the cost of the flight I expense.
I have just looked at Zion National Park - that looks amazing. I've never driven outside of UK, hence my trepidation with hiring a car.

Do you downhill snow ski? If so, perhaps do something you can't do at home. South Lake Tahoe has the Heavenly ski area that is quite nice, among the best in the USA. I would not go if zero ski experience, it would be a waste to just run the beginner bunny hills. But if you ski, rent equipment at the hill and have a grand day. Not cheap per day for lift ticket and gear rental, but an especially good time. On top of the mountain will have a bit of altitude acclimation, but not bad if you are in shape from biking. I think the closest major airport is Reno NV. Driving from San Francisco or Sacramento CA is longer, and you'd need to make sure they put tire chains in the trunk in case you need them, going over the mountain pass to South Lake Tahoe.

I don't ski. I used to snowboard, but I have not been on a board in over 10 years. I wouldn't get the enjoyment from a day on the slopes as I would on a bike. I would be on my backside far too much, and spend the following days with a serious case of the DOMS from having not used the required muscles in so long. But thanks for the shout.

I'd suggest planning an extra day in case of rain; even LA and San Diego get an occasional day-long rain, and traffic is a mess then, and ... do you really want to sit in a hotel room for a day watching it rain?

I'd forget anything in the north, if you want to fly straight in. If you can allow 2-3 hours for a connecting flight, places like Tucson or Albuquerque become possibilities. Direct flights (without looking anything up): Atlanta or Charlotte? Chance of cold, snow or rain, are too high. Miami, Dallas? Fair to middling weather chance and road cycling. San Francisco? Nice cycling in the area, fair chance of good cycling weather. Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix? Pretty good chance weather-wise, good cycling available, especially with a rental car drive.

I'd suggest double-checking winter hours for rental bikes. A lot of places are closed on Sunday, presumably when you'd want to drop the bike off and head to Vegas. You'd have to work out a way to get the rental bike back to the shop ahead of time.

Thanks. That makes sense.

I now have a lot more to go on than what I had previously. I have been to L.A. once for work, Santa Monica specifically, and that was my first thought. Go to LAX and find somewhere nearby. I didn't really consider LV because it's a dessert, so what is there to see? But I can see from some of the places driving distance away, that it might be worth going there then getting a car.
Similarly, I know nothing about San Francisco other than it has a big bridge. Looking on Komoot, there appears to be some highly ranked rides all starting from close to city centre. And then San Diego has been mentioned, again, I know nothing about this place with the exception of what I have seen in Anchorman. A quick look on Komoot and I can see some rides close by which are akin to what I was expecting from going to LA area.

Based on everything I have read so far, it would be:
San Francisco/San Diego - Rent a bike in the city and cycle out from there
Las Vegas - take my own bike and hire a car to get somewhere good, then also do a few midweek cycles round the local area purely for time in the saddle

I cannot see me changing flight in the US as I have to change in the UK anyway (I live next to a provincial airport as it is), unless I see a direct flight to the US appear (currently I can only get to Orlando or Toronto direct and its costly). There may be an option I could fly to Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia or Washington D.C. direct, and then change internally to somewhere provincial. However, I want to keep the travel to a minimum. I would want to spend 3 to 4 hours in an airport and/or the same again in a hire car (unless there is something truly special).

great album and dash cam video including Zion Canyon -

Southern Utah - Zion ( Zion Canyon )

Northeastern Arizona along Colorado river

Eastern Sierra (California)

Skid Row in Los Angeles

( can skip forward to the 5:00 mark - from there incredible views )





.

Just had a look at some of this on Street View - looks amazing. Mount Tam to Mill Valley is what I imagine. Round the bends surrounded by trees.

and close to the giant redwoods (Muir Woods Park)

Driving outside LV is easy, different side of the road is all. It’s not a hugely populated area so traffic is not heavy. If Zion doesn’t have snow, cycling there is worth it, better then taking the bus. Theres some great hiking there as well,

Got a bit of thinking to do, but thinking it will either be San Fran or Vegas. Once I know what the dates are and how it looks, I will revert back her for assistance with routes, if that's okay? I've mapped a couple out, but given I don't know the roads, I don't want to end up on a freeway with loads of trucks, or down a path that bears live on...

For the limited time you have, I still think Vegas is your best option. The weather out here should be quite pleasant during the day. We only get about 2 weeks worth of rain all year so odds for good weather are in your favor.

“Go get lost anywhere in the USA” Road Tripping

having ridden most of the possible areas mentioned, seems like your time here in the us would be better served just flying into las vegas early (with your own bike or renting), renting a car, and hitting zion national park (about two hours away-one way-by car). the less airport time, the better. zion canyon itself is roughly a 15-mile/24-km, flattish ride from the
main/southern entrance and a must-do. the tourist/hiker shuttles go slowly and won’t pass you unless you pull over and put a foot down.
current entrance fee for an automobile is $35 (good for 7 consecutive days) or if you find a parking spot a mile or two outside the park, cycling in is $20. having cycled zion canyon multiple times, my only regret is that it isn’t closer to me.
https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit//basicinfo.htm

another alternative for early weekend arrival to las vegas would be to hit death valley national park instead or in addition to zion np. dvnp is roughly the same driving distance away as zion np with some of the most wide-open spaces you’ll ever see in your life. there is also more roadie cycling in dvnp as well. the ride from furnace creek to badwater and back is roughly 35-miles/56-kms. adjacent artist drive is a helluva ascent and descent.
https://www.nps.gov/deva/index.htm


during the week, you could hit the red rock loop, lake mead shoreline and valley of fire state park (or do this last one on the way back from zion np…doing all the paved parts in valley of fire state park would take you 2-3 hrs).

https://www.blm.gov/programs/nationa...ed-rock-canyon

https://www.nps.gov/lake/index.htm

https://parks.nv.gov/parks/valley-of-fire


not to denigrate any of the other areas mentioned but the las vegas area along with the weekend side trip(s) to zion and/or death valley add to the excellent riding while maximizing the riding time.
hope this helps. happy riding and travels!

Zion, the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon are all close together 3-4 hours by car from Vegas and are spectacular. Likely snow on the ground that time of year.

If you decide to stay in the Vegas area, look into Mt. Charleston. https://www.strava.com/routes/2173056

I think there are a couple of us in this thread that actually live in or very close to Vegas. I'm only about an hour away and drive in almost every weekend. Happy to help with some planning if the OP would like.

I live in Washington state, N of Seattle. Rides in the San Juan Islands or Highway 20 over the North Cascades are great in the Summer and Autumn. But not in January. The weather here is not extreme for the latitude. But it is very unpredictable. The mountains have snow and the lowlands have rain in the winter. Think Scotland in January. Go to San Francisco.

That is where I am flying from, and it's not really the ideal place to go cycling outside if truth be told. Will head further south.

For route planning, Strava's heat maps are a good way to see what are the most popular routes in a given area and aside from commuter routes it's usually because they are the most scenic or bike friendly.

In addition to Strava's heat maps, the same feature is available on ridewithgps.com.

ridewithgps.com also has many curated routes that you search for, or you can create a route yourself.