urbanknight

The wife is meeting some girl friends in Vegas for a weekend and invited me to accompany her on the drive, but then do my own thing while she's have the gals' weekend. I'm wondering if there are any decent casual group rides, or if there are some good solo routes you recommend, with good placed to park for them. Red Rock looks nice. Based on what little time I've spent on the strip, I assume it's best to drive somewhere less busy for the start than to try and ride through that gauntlet? I don't even have to stay on the strip if there's a place that's more conducive to riding right from the lodging.

And I know, free to do whatever in Vegas and what I want is to ride my bike. I'm a party animal, what can I say?

diphthong

red rock canyon is closest to the strip and roughly an 18 mile loop. if memory serves, it was a $10 entrance fee (totally worth it). first six miles are consistently uphill, last 12 mostly downhill or flattish. it's a one way road and a total blast.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6068999790

this is roughly a 45 min drive north of the strip but definitely worth it as well. so scenic and plenty of ups and downs.

https://www.strava.com/activities/6067967031

obvs, this time of year, a sunrise start is key as both rides would find you finishing before 9am. both rides worth dragging yourself outta bed at 4am or so. if you're craving long, hard climbs, you can hit kyle canyon rd or lee canyon rd up to the mount charleston area just nw of dtown las vegas. would do both of the previously mentioned rides first tho.

VegasTriker

The Las Vegas Valley Bicycle Club has regular group rides. Check out their website https://www.lasvegasbikeclub.org/. There was a lot of damage recently with 8+ inches of rain so both of the roads into Mt. Charleston are closed to non-residents (except for those who actually live up there) for the foreseeable future. I don't see anything that would indicate the road in Red Rock is closed as well. Blue Diamond Road that leads to a cutoff for Red Rock was not as badly affected. Red Rock is a tough ride and I have only done it once in many years living here. It is 26 miles long with about 2,000 feet change in elevation. Once you start it you can not turn around. If you had a annual pass for federal sites, there is no charge to use the road.
There are over 250 miles of bike trails in the valley. Trek has this list https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/greatrides/lasvegas/ and the Regional Transportation Authority has a website showing all 250 miles https://www.rtcsnv.com/ways-to-travel/cycling/. I personally would not ride Las Vegas Boulevard in the resort corridor. I occasionally ride it to the south where the traffic density is much lower. You can head east or west from the strip to find lots of marked bike paths.
It is really hot right now (107 at 4:30 pm) so check the National Weather Service site for Las Vegas before you come. It has a 10 day prediction. It should get far more reasonable soon or at least I hope so!

urbanknight

Thanks! Looks like Red Rock will indeed be a priority then. This will be in November, so probably more moderate weather for a mid morning start..

Thanks! I do have an annual National Parks pass, but a $10 "donation" won't hurt if I forget to bring it along either. The club's website says it's suspended, but I did find their MeetUp calendar. If I stay on the strip, I'll probably drive to where ever I ride and hope to find parking.

VegasTriker

There is a new requirement to enter the park between October 1 and May 31. The park has become so overcrowded that you are now required to make advance reservations and it is on a timed entry basis. So, during the popular months when it is no so hot, you need to make reservations for the time you want to go there. It doesn't specify that cyclists are exempt. Reservations are available 30 days in advance and some more open a couple days in advance Here is the information https://www.recreation.gov/timed-ent...77?tab=booking This time of year it is open from 8am to 5pm. Be sure to bring water as I don't remember being able to get any along the route.

We had another round of thunderstorms Friday and Saturday. I think I heard they had closed the campgrounds at Red Rock and told campers to get out to safer ground. There was about an inch of rain where I live in the valley so there must have been more at higher elevations. It's better here than at the Burning Man Festival in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada. It's like Woodstock version 2.0 with mud everywhere. They closed the entrance so festival goers can't get in or out plus there is a shortage of food and water. Water does not percolate readily into desert soil so they may be stuck there for a while.

The regional flood control district has rain gauges at Red Rock. The total for Friday and Saturday was 2.6 inches. Some locations in the valley had nearly the yearly total (around 4") in 24 hours. You would not want to be caught riding under these conditions.

urbanknight

Thanks for the heads up! I'll be sure to make a reservation.

diphthong

for my last ride at red rock canyon loop. took nevada hwy 159 from dtown las vegas west towards the loop. hung a right on w. calico basin rd.
there was a decently-sized, hard dirt turnout on the right just after turning onto w. calico basin rd. parked there for free and rode approx 1.25-1.5 miles
(if memory serves) to the rrc loop. seem to remember the shoulder on both sides of the road being decently wide with rumble strips as well.
hitting it in november would be ideal. would have done 2-3 repeats on the loop had there been more time that last visit but hadda be back for "activities" with the so.
enjoy! did it during the week and maybe 25 cars passed me within the canyon monument (mostly on that longish, uphill first third) but imagine weekends could get a little busy there.
those first few miles of climbing are somewhat of a drag but hang on and go at your pace because the last 2/3 are so worth it. once you hit the top, you're carving turns at a decent clip
and the scenery really kicks in. like pulling over/slowing down all too often to take pics scenery.