Pugsley Visits Downtown Las Vegas Arts District Saturday

 

The Pugsley is often photographed in the wilds of Red Rock.

But on Saturday, the Surly single-speed beast roamed downtown Las Vegas' popular arts district.

Another joyful day for the Surly Pugsley.

 

Pugsley Rolling At Sunset

 

The Pugsley beast was back at it at sunet.

I was also picking up garbage in the State Route 159 and 160 area out by Red Rock.

Two Teens Who Drove Stolen Car Into Retired Police Chief, Killing Him In North Las Vegas Area Get Life In Prison

 

One of the most gruesome road bicyclist killings came in the north Las Vegas area where two teens stole a car and steered it right into a retired police chief who was riding a bicycle.

The two teenagers smashed their car into this man on purpose and thought it was their idea of fun.

These two evil ghouls won't be on the streets anymore.

They received life in prison.

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I use my Surly Pugsley fat-tire, single-speed beast for many purposes, including picking up garbage in the beautiful Red Rock National Conservation Area.

I use an Aeroe bikepack rack to carry the beer cans and debris, like this Monda night.

Bicycling On Closed Road In Death Valley National Park: 'Heaven'

 

I bicycled on a national park road without a car in sight.

It was Death Valley National Park.

It was Badwater Road beyond the Badwater Basin and parking lot, 17 miles from Furnace Creek. The gate was down to stop motorized vehicles on Badwater Road at the famed Badwater tourist attraction.

But bicyclists and hikers were perfectly free to use the road, which had some stone, dirt and rick debris but easily passable on a bike.

I told my close friend about the road closed to cars but open to bicyclists and he had one word in response: "Heaven."

That's a great word to describe the bicycle experience of biking on this spectacular road that was below sea while also offering views of mountains topped with snow.

Death Valley is my most underrated national park.

It's remote in the sense there's no nearby interstate.

So no big crowds that you see at Zion in Utah or Grand Canyon in Arizona.

People hear, "Death Valley," and they think the land is barren and brutish.

For me, I love the colors of the raw landscape and the mountain ranges that bookend the valley.

Even though "valley" is in the name of the national park, the landscape is actually quite rugged. There are four main ways to enter the valley. I drive from the Pahrump side, which means descending more than 3,000 feet to the Furnace Creek tourist area.

The Inn at Death Valley is a spectacular lodging experience, with a nearby motel and attached units offering more modest and very decent accommodations.

The recent rains helped form mini-lakes in the valley, too, near Badwater.

How Great Was It To Bike With My Tampa Bike Pal Ellen!

 

It was surreal and quite a treat to be bicycling with my old Tampa bike buddy, the one-of-a-kind Ellen Pierson, a kind and generous bicycle pal.

We shared bike rides all over the Tampa Bay area, especially from South Tampa across the Courtney Campbell Causeway to Clearwater.

We biked the bridges around St. Petersburg, too.

Ellen was in Las Vegas with her sister, Julie, superpal Maria, plus Maria's niece, Denise, for the Project Hero Honor Ride down the Strip and back to the Clark County government center in downtown Las Vegas.

Ellen is off to Arizona and eventually back home to Tampa, Florida. 

It was amazing to see her.   

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Enough is enough -- Too many deaths on Las Vegas roads to bear

 

Enough is enough.

The LVSportsBiz.com letter to the county commissioners on the road violence in the Las Vegas area.

Another Bicyclist Killed In The Las Vegas Area

 

The anger is building and building.

Another accused drunk driver here in the Las Vegas area killing an innocent walker or bicyclist or another motorist.

This time Sunday, Nov. 2.

And yet beneath the anger is the intellectual reality that this is predictable in Las Vegas, the logical result of a lethal combination of impaired drivers and limited prison times and lack of police enforcement.

Bicycling is ageless; Always keep rolling

 

Never too old to not be bicycling!

Keep it rolling. 

Joyfully celebrating bicycling at Pedal Fest bicycle festival Nov. 1 and 2; Way to go SNMBA!

 

The Pedal Fest weekend and the Chainsmoker mountain bike races Saturday showed there's bicycle love in the Las Vegas area.

It was great to hang out with the Jared and Heather Fisher family of tents -- Save Red Rock, Escape Adventure, Las Vegas Cyclery and Aquarius Trail and Hut tours.

The event had lots of outdoorsy spirit and bike love -- and we need that more than ever.

The Southern Nevada Mountain Bike Association (SNMBA) put on the weekend event and it was great to see the many bike groups and retail shops out there.

See You At Pedal Fest In Blue Diamond Saturday and Sunday!

 

Just because local government struggles to create safe roads and safe places for people to bike doesn't mean you have to throw in the towel. 

Create your own bicycle event to celebrate bicycling all the benefits and joys it brings.

Like Pedal Fest at the park in Blue Diamond Saturday and Sunday. It's mountain bike races on Saturday and swap meet on Sunday with a vendor village of tents and tables at the Blue Diamond park off the road off Srare Route 159 in Red Rock Canyon.

 

It's a great opportunity to talk to people from all types of bicycle groups.

There will be lots of people who love the outdoors, plus I will be hanging out at the Las Vegas Cyclery and Aquarius/Hut bike tour tents with my Bicycle Man books!

See you there this weekend on Nov 1 and 2!

You Never Know Who You Will Meet On The Beautiful Red Rock Scenic Drive

 

When you live in Las Vegas, you put up with four months of 100-degree weather. And this summer was a "cooler" one, so there wasn't 117-degree days furnace-blasting Southern Nevada.

So when these lovely days of 70 degrees arrive in late October here in Red Rock Canyon, it's a sin to not roll out the bicycle and pedal the famed Red Rock Loop.

And who do I meet near the top of the Red Rock climb between Mile 4 and the scenic drive overlook but the gang at Escape Adventures and owner Jared Fisher.

Escape Adventures is the premier bike-touring operation in the western U.S. For today's Red Rock action, Jared was working a corporate tour, with the show attendees doing the bike ride on both bicycles and e-bikes.

The weather was exquisite. I was dragging at the Red Rock Homestead. But as soon as I began bicycling there was the magic of the pedaling rhythm along State Route 159 as I headed for the Red Rock Loop entrance.

I also bike a monster single-speed Surly Pugsley, a beast of a steel-framed bike that makes cycling a road bike so much qui ker.

The Red Rock Loop was quiet around 2:20 PM as the tours of e-bikers and scooter riders and small go-carters were done.

Look at this afternoon.

Bicycling is my church, my emotional safe haven, my healing center.

 

Keep on rolling everyone and I will see you at the mountain bike races and Pedal Fest this weekend in Blue Diamond.

Why Do Public Roads Have Lower Safety Standards Than Private Roads?

 

While I was picking up garbage along State Route 159 in Red Rock Canyon, I found this note along the road.

Interesting to see the driving rules set in a private place like Red Rock Country Club in Summerlin such as the lower speed limit and not parking within 40 feet of corners so your visibility of other cars is not blocked by parked cars.

Why do the public roads have lower standards than private roads? So you can reach Albertsons two minutes faster?

The road infrastructure in Clark County is awful, obviously created under a public works head who is a little behind the times. The focus is on moving cars as fast as possible, walkers and bicyclists be damned.

Great sign here applied to Clark County and Las Vegas.

 

Pugsley and Me On Garbage Pickup Patrol in Red Rock Canyon

 

It's my hope that photos of collected garbage would spark others to follow suit and pick up garbage.

Today, it was three grocery plastic bags filled with water bottles, beer cans, cigarette packs and even a road tire tube along State Route 159 via the Surly Pugsley, my friendly two-wheeled, single-speed beast.

My thinking is that if a shlumpy, selfish, self-absorbed shlump like myself can find time and effort to pick up garbage scarring and marring the beautiful Red Rock Canyon, then maybe you can follow suit.

I have to admit it takes anger and that pissed-off feeling inside when seeing the garbage on the side of the road amid the natural beauty of Red Rock that I get into a mental groove of biking the Pugsley and picking up cans and bottles and general trash.

Leadership is not giving speeches. It's living by example and performing deeds that help everyone.

People in Las Vegas are blessed to have the BLM-managed Red Rock National Conservation Area in their back yard. It's both stunningly beautiful and close in proximity.

It was great to meet two Blue Diamond ladies doing their own garbage pickup on SR 159 near the street that leads into the small village of Blue Diamond while I biked home.

Laura and Lynn were out there picking up garbage with pickers and their orange trash bags. Nice work, Laura and Lynn!

They are with Save Red Rock and look for the group's tent at this weekend's mountain bike events at the park in Blue Diamond.

Pugsley and I will be there selling my book, Bicycle Man.