Bicycle Is Beautiful

For massive traffic scenes like the crush of cars around the Life Is Beautiful footprint in downtown Las Vegas today and this weekend, the bicycle is beautiful.

LIB staged a bicycle parking area on Carson just a block or two from the festival gates.

Life Is Beautiful is a super-buffet of diverse acts ranging from Kanye West to Lionel Richie to Pussy Riot offering a discussion to chefs to Oscar Goodman and artists to Ferris wheels and murals, with lots of food and beer and booze all around.

It was a young crowd. with lots of guys with beards and tattoos and gals with multi-color hair, sundresses and Converse sneakers.

Life Is Beautiful -- the art, music, culinary and food festival -- has Tony Hsieh's fingerprints on it everywhere. In fact, I met Tony's San Francisco entrepreneur pal Raj Kapoor who has launched a fitness business and had one of his employees playing guitar. Below, Tony is chatting at a session where he talked about his entrepreneurship ways.

Bike Commute And Your Day Automatically Becomes A Winner

Tonight I bicycled home and it's amazing how the day shifts on its axis by simply pedaling a bicycle home from work instead of driving a car.

From Blinking Man to Pedaling Yentas

Less than seven hours after wrapping up the Blinking Man ride, it was to do some road cycling with the Pedaling Yentas this morning.

 At the Red Rock Scenic Loop overlook, it was selfie time.

Blinking Man Bike Ride Lights Up Downtown -- Again

Blinking man in October is like Halloween on wheels with a strong dash of Burning Man thrown in.

About 250 bicyclists wearing rainbow-themed wear and with bicycles lit up like rolling flashing Christmas trees roamed downtown Las Vegas, dropping by bars like the Bunkhouse and the Bier Garden at the Plaza hotel.

Everyone was dressed for the occasion.

Even Kevin Cannon popped in to soak up the fun.

Everyone wore their finery for the event.

Downtown Summerlin Lacks Downtown Bicycle Parking

It was about 9:30 a.m. today and Paul the friendly staffer at the Trader Joe's customer service counter said I was the third person this morning who inquired about why there were no bicycle racks in front of the upscale grocery.

The fact there was no bicycle parking countered the store's very marketing and interior mural, which showed a Summerlin Red Rock bicycle scene and actual bicycles.

In fact, as I bicycled around Downtown Summerlin I found hardly any bicycle parking.

Most of the Downtown Summerlin event guys in yellow shirts didn't even know where the bicycle parking was located.

Finally, I found it. This massive suburban $450 million shopping center dubbed "Downtown Summerlin" had about a dozen brown metal sticks coming out of the ground to lock up bicycles next to a parking garage.

It's located on the far side of the parking garage, with hardly any pedestrian traffic, so bike thieves with tools can do quick work and steal the bikes with no sets of eyes near the spot.

With hardly anyone knowing about the bike racks, the bicyclists visiting the shopping center locked their bikes where they could find space.

What's a shame about Downtown Summerlin not being bicycle friendly is that across the 215 highway is a regional bike trail used by hundreds of bicyclists every day. And I saw people biking around the shopping center like these folks.

The reason some people snicker at the "Downtown Summerlin" moniker is that the shopping center lacks authentic downtown features, such as bicycle racks scattered around the businesses and storefronts like most real downtowns. Even downtown Las Vegas has bike racks.

Check out this cool Huntridge bike rack -- why can't "Downtown Summerlin" have similar bike racks scattered throughout its shopping area?

What's sad is that Howard Hughes markets Summerlin as a bicycle town and uses bicycle images to sell homes  yet its signature shopping area with "Downtown" in its title doesn't have a clue how practical bicycles can be to get people to the stores.

Even one store at the shopping center named Clarks uses the imagery of bicycling to show how hip the place is.

The funny thing is that as I was biking around this morning I met a guy named Larry who said he was with Howard Hughes. I believe his name was Lawrence S. Witko, Howard Hughes West Coast director of leasing. He was hanging with another Howard Hughes exec and I told them the shopping area would benefit from more bicycle racks.

They seemed amenable to the idea, and I hope the Howard Hughes folks installs bicycle racks scattered around the place. It's good business and would show that bicycling is more than just a recreational pursuit in Summerlin -- it's also practical transportation.


  

Escape Adventures Let's Bicyclists Escape Aria

Escape Adventures had  a big assignment -- lead a bike tour for more than 50 bicyclists visiting Vegas for a conference and enjoying an afternoon at the Red Rock Scenic Loop some 20 miles west of the Strip.

First, the bikes are set up.

Then, let's ride up those first five miles.

And celebrate reaching the top at the Loop overlook.

How To Pedal The Strip

When bicycling the Strip, always take the lane, stack up behind traffic and don't bike to the right of the cars unless you want to absorb a right hook.

Anthony here shows how it's done.

80-year-old Bicyclist Pedaling Red Rock Canyon Every Day

It's a daily ritual for John, an 80-year-old retired truck driver from Detroit who pedals a super-heavy Schwinn Ranger mountain bike.

He starts at his home near Sahara and Town Center and he pedals all the way up Charleston Blvd/State Road 159 to near the Red Rock Visitors Center.

He bikes seven miles all up hill, gaining in elevation from about 2,900 feet to 3,500 feet. Then it's a ride back to his home.

Check out his homemade bike gloves -- he cut off the finger ends from a pair of cheap garden gloves.

  
He pedals about 5 mph, but it doesn't matter how fast you go because he gets where he needs to go just like everyone else cycling their road bicycles while wearing snazzy kits.

Datura Watching the Bicyclists

On Nevada State Road 159 outside Las Vegas near Blue Diamond.

Pedaling Yentas Return For A Sunday Engagement

The pedaling yentas were back on the Red Rock Scenic loop this morning, minus one of our stalwart regulars -- Scott, who would be part of this trek.

Anthony of Broadway Pizzeria and a new entry -- Dr. Ben via Fort Lauderdale -- took on the scenic loop's steep inclines.

And look who we met at the scenic overlook near Mile 5. Why, it's Dr. Scott, who was on his motorized BMW two-wheeler and hanging with his friend Bob.

Exquisite weather in the 70s made for a great ride.