Wednesday, October 8, 2025

More Anti-Bicycle Businesses Along Strip Area -- This Time It's Venetian Convention Center

 


The Venetian Convention Center, like most properties in the what they call the Strip entertainment corridors, don't like bikes.

There are no bike racks to be found outside the convention center off Sands, near Las Vegas Boulevard.

You might recall the douche bag jaclass security people at The Sphere venue broke my locks and confiscated my bicyicle in 2024 when I was there to cover an NHL Draft event.

The Venetian Convention Center is also anti-bicycle and don't tell you where you can lock your bike.

But they sure tell you where you can't.




I decided to simply roll my bicycle into the convention center and into the media center and leave it against a wall.


Pretty simple stuff. I checked this out with the American Gaming Assocciation, which puts on G2E, and they said it was a-ok.

As for the Venetian Convention Center, you're a loser.


Sunday, October 5, 2025

Rolling For 100 Miles On A Gorgeous October Sunday In Las Vegas

 



The weather was exquisite here in Las Vegas Sunday. It was 75-80 degrees under a cloudless sky with hardly any wind, so when Mother Nature pitches a weather gem like that it's Century Day.

I bicycled through Southern Highlands to St. Rose Parkway and headed over to the 215 and railroad trails to the River Mountains Loop Trail. Then it was back to the 215 trail west of Las Vegas to Summerlin with a pitstop at Las Vegas Cyclery before biking through Red Rock Canyon.



It was nice to see Calico Basin, the Spring Mountains Ranch State Park and Blue Diamond before I wrapped up the 100-miler.

Biking 100 miles takes mental discipline and belief in your biking stamina. It's also important to take breaks and drink water.

I like stopping to chat with people, too.

It added up to a wonderful century ride.

*

This bike ride was in the memory of my bicycle friend Harold Mitnick of Clearwater. Harold was a bicycle leader in Clearwater, Florida and my life was blessed to have met Harold and to have counted him as a friend.


Saturday, October 4, 2025

Matt Shares His Love For Bicycling Through Bike Share In Downtown Las Vegas

 



Matt Chavez is one of the good guys of Las Vegas.

He's a bicycle force in a city and county that have weak bicycle networks. The city of Las Vegas/Clark County rank rather low in bicycle routes/trails/safe roads connectivity.

But Matt has a can-do attitude about spreading the word of the RTC Bike Share, which has electric bikes available at stations all around downtown.

Actually, Matt does a lot more than talk.

He bikes the bike -- literally.

He worked with his RTC Bike Share crew to line up free bikes for interested folks who came to a bike event in downtown on Maryland Parkway and then led a "Glow Ride" through downtown Las Vegas.




It was a fun, joyful and beautiful vibe to the bike ride, which attracted about 30 bicyclists. Matt even connected a giant speaker that was cranking tunes as a trailer to his bike.

Metro Las Vegas has several bicycle groups in Summerlin and Henderson that mostly include road cyclists who use their bicycles for health, fitness, recreation and sport.

That's great, but the thing is Matt's use of the bicycle focuses on transportation and urban mobility.

There's a sense of fun mixed with the utilitarian use a bicycle can provide.

Tip of the helmet for Olivia at the All-In Clark County sustainability program and also the Trek store that joined RTC Ride Share this evening.






Friday, October 3, 2025

The Cycle Of Life In Action When I Ride This 1980s Raleigh Road Bicycle

 

This bicycle is amazing. 

And here's why.

It's a transportation tool of journalism for my work up and down the Strip.

Like tonight.

I used this 1980s Raleigh road bike to bike to Mandalay Bay to cover the Aces vs Mercury Game 1.

Then from that game I biked over to T-Mobile Arena to cover the VGK vs San Jose preseason game.

It was a joy to zip past all the cars stuck in traffic on Frank Sinatra Drive heading to the hockey arena.

This Raleigh is a bike I gave to my dad for his birthday nearly 40 years ago.

When I helped move my dad to an apartment in Hollywood, Fla., he no longer could safely ride this bicycle.

So, I thought the bicycle would live on as my commuter bike in the Strip corridor.

It's all human-powered. No electric/motor assistance.

Pure leg power.

And I can think about my dad every time I ride this bicycle.

The cycle of life.

 

Late Day Bicycle Rides Triggers Memories Of Biking After Summer Job Work

 

                                 


Bicycling late in the day when the sun is approaching the horizon and the shadows are extending in their daily march reminds me of my days when I worked long hours at the Liz Claiborne production plant in the swamps of New Jersey and I used to come home around 7 PM to ride my bike until sunset.

Those were the days when I worked summers to make money to pay for college at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY. 

Typically, I bike early in the mornings.

But yesterday, I biked the Red Rock Loop closer to 6 PM and those long shadows and cooler temps triggered memories of those late summer day bike rides in Rockland County after work.





This morning, it was back to hiking, a terrific 2-hour, 45-minute 10-miler in the Blue Diamond where I saw these critters.



Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Spectacular day on the Red Rock Loop Oct. 1

 


It's October 1 in Las Vegas -- the anniversary of the vicious Oct. 1, 2017 mass shooting on the Strip that killed 58 people attending a country music festival. The killer was Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old man. Sadly, the pain of so many innocent people killed did nothing to reduce mass killings in this country of laws and regulations.

On this day of remembrance and of my mother's birthday (Harriet would have been 83), bicycling is my activity of choice and Red Rock National Conservation Area is my sanctuary. Biking will always be my psychological safe haven, even if people who drive cars threaten the physical safety of bicyclists.


It's also the first day that people who want to drive their cars on the Red Rock Scenic Drive must make reservations. And that cut down a lot on the vehicular traffic on the 12.5-mile loop.

It was a spectacular weather day. Cool, slight breeze and crystal clear with an unblemished blue sky. Take a look. It's so beautiful.

The Red Rock Loop requires a fee, so there are three toll booths at the start off of State Route 159, about 20 miles west of the Strip.

I meet all types of people here. And they're locals and visitors, including many from the eastern U.S. and abroad.

Anyone on the Loop enjoyed an amazing day.




Saturday, September 27, 2025

Biking The Surly Pugsley Monster For 53-Mile Bike Tour From Red Rock To Strip/Downtown And Back To The Vegas Hinterlands

 



I took my 53-mile "Big Rectangle" bike ride to a new level by pedaling that two-wheel Surly Pugsley monster.

Man, that bike is a steal-framed, single-speed beast.

But if you hve spent time on a bicycle, you know that bicycling is emotional and mental as much as it is physical.

And last night I biked the Pugsley on pavement and had the bike juices flowing to take that Pugsley out for a bike route I normally take with my road bike.

Las Vegas is a bread-and-circus burg with a one-trick pony economy. The entertainment/tourism marriage rules every public policy decision, which is why there's few iconic public attractions because  county commissioners and other elected officials are subservient to the corporate hotel companies, not the locals.   



The Strip is a Hollyood facade, buffered by parallel roads slicing through poor shopping centers and suitcase city apartment complexes. Most of Las Vegas is a sprawl of suburban subdivisions with khaki-colored houses shoehorned into small lots. 

Downtown Las Vegas was slowing improving thanks to Tony Hsieh's generosity, but now downtown's focus has switched from Fremont Street to the Arts District.

I speak from observation thanks to my eyewitness views from the seat of a bicycle.

It's 17 miles from my little tiny home out in the Red Rock hinterlands to the Raiders NFL stadium across the interstate from Mandalay Bay. Here's a video of my bike ride at the stadium, which hosts the Raiders-Bears game Sunday afternoon. The Southern Nevada public is paying more than $1.3 billion in debt over 30 years for the $750 million it contributed to help the Raiders build their domed stadium. That stadium construction budget was $1.4 billion, the major part of the overall $2 billion project, which included other expenses like land purchases, professional costs and equipment gear.


At 8 AM, the soushi chefs and cooking staffs were strolling into the Raiders stadium to do their culinary magic for tomorrow's 60,000 fans at the Raiders-Bears game.

Then it was off to the A's stadium construction site on the Strip at the old Tropicana hotel-casino site. Southern Nevada is contributing $380 million to that A's stadium construction budget, though the A's say they will use only $350 millon of the $380 million.

I had a good laugh when the security person said no photos. Well, if I'm on a public sidewalk I will be taking photos.


Over the exit, a couple of fellas were chatting.


Here are some other views from a nearby hotel parking garage:


The bike tour then went to Koval Lane and the F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix building, which is the start and nerve center for the big road race event Nov. 20-22.

Across the street from the fancy F1 pit building is a dirt walking area, which leads one to ask, "Why is there no sidewalk on one of the busier roads in the Strip area?" Well, that's Clark County government, which has the "Anthing Goes" approach to planning.


Click here for a video of bicycling on the dirt along Koval Lane. I don't understand how Clark County commissioners and staff allow unpaved areas for tourists and walkers to use along Koval. And where there is a sidewalk, you have to navigate through the F1 light mounts that have already been installed.


I bicycled over to the Strip where Flamingo Road hits Las Vegas Boulevard. It's about 9 AM and things are quiet.


Eventually, I bicycled past the Palazzo and Wynn and made it over to Industrial Road for a jaunt in downtown Las Vegas.

The city of Las Vegas allows this sidewalk infrastructure -- a utility pole installed in the middle of the sidewalk, blocking anyone in a wheelchair.


That's how the city of Las Vegas rolls. Not exactly the quaint garden village.

The Strip is at about 2,050 feet elevation, so it's more than 1,100 feet of climbing to get back home. Unfortunately, I got a nasty flat thanks to a goliath two-inch-long thorn. So, I made a pit stop at the REI at Alta Drive and Rampart/Fort Apache.

And then it was more climbing to Charleston Blvd/State Route 159 and Red Rock Canyon, where one day ( we hope) Las Vegas Paving will count its millions of dollars it's receiving to build a paved trail along SR 159 for bicyclists, runners and walkers to use to reach the Red Rock scenic drive entrance.

Pedaling this Pugsley monster is one helluva workout. See you at the Aviators game tonight.

Buy this book about my lifetime of bicycle adventures.