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.

   

Let's Light Up The Pugsley

 

It's getting dark much earlier now.

But I have front and rear lights on the fat-tired Surly Pugsley.

And it was time to juice up the rear red light.

So, I got a kick out of using a charger cord connected to a plug that hooked into an outlet that is at the end of its own cord.

I'll be biking on the Pugsley Saturday morning.

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Slow Down And Watch For Burros On State Route 159 Outside Las Vegas

 

Red Rock Canyon is home to many burros.

I see them wile hiking on dirt trails all the time.

And occasionally they will wander across State Route 159.

On my bicycle, I yield every time.

 

Long Shadows, Deep Bike Ride

 

It's the morning and there's so much hope.

The long shadows and the anticipation of another spectacular bicycle ride in Red Rock Canyon.

Then it's a left turn onto the Red Rock Scenic Drive.

There's no better feeling when I arrive back -- alive and refreshed.

 

If Only Las Vegas Cared About Health Care, Education, Trails, Roads As Much As It Does Building Stadiums

 

The first photo above is the A's stadium construction site on the Strip. The second picture is the paved trail from Summerlin to the Red Rock Scenic Drive entrance on State Route 159. Both started around the same time in June and July.

The stadium is going up on the site of the old Tropicana hotel-casino.

The trail is, well, hard to figure out what exactly is going on there.

I saw both scenes on my 51-mile Big Rectangle bicycle route from my Red Rock area home to the Strip and Downtown Las Vegas and then back up Alta Blvd. and State Route 159 through Red Rock Canyon.

That's Las Vegas in a nutshell.

A building project that helps the Strip gets built lickety split, while a project that helps locals -- like road work -- lasts forever.

Man, if only this area built paved trails in this market with zeal and public enthusiasm as it does with stadiums.

Always keep rolling!

Picking Up The Garbage Of Garbage People/Drinking While Driving Motorists

 

There's an under-developed human being/motorist who litters the roads near the State Route 159/Avery Road corner with Coors cans.

It's a 24-ouncer and the Coors cans along with the roadside memorials in the SR 159 corridor are increasing here in the Red Rock area.

Don't know why a moron would throw beer cans out his car window.

But mathematics and karma are a powerful duo and, sadly, the odds of drinking while driving will eventually catch up with this selfish idiot. I just hope this reckless driver doesn't kill another motorist.

Missing Interbike In Las Vegas In Mid-September

It's mid-September in Las Vegas and by now the 100-degree temperatures are cooling down to a comfy 95 degrees (haha).

But there's a hole in Las Vegas because the bicycle industry no longer holds its once-annual gathering here in the desert. The photo above shows the tear down of the last Interbike in Las Vegas in 2017.

It was a family reunion for me. It was wonderful to see bicycle buds from around the country and renew friendships.

It's been eight years since Interbike closed shop in Vegas.

Man, I miss the High Holy Days of September here in Las Vegas.

A Decade Later: The Breaking Away Reunion At Interbike

From the way back collection. This happened today ten years ago.

Wow.

Interbike was still in Las Vegas and Pat Hus the Interbike chief put together a Breaking Away movie reunion featuring three of the four Cutters -- Dennis Christopher (who played Dave), Dennis Quaid (Mike) and Jackie Earle Hailey (Moocher). Only Daniel Stern (Cyril) was missing. 

I wrote a story about the reunion for the local Las Vegas newspaper and then did this story on the story behind the reunion for Bicycle Stories. 

A whole decade has passed since these scenes.

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Meeting The Mythical Fisher King Creature Of Red Rock

 

This mythical creature emerged on two wheels from the darkened mountain bike trail tunnel into the Late Night parking lot off State Route 160.

This helmeted bicycling bigfoot of Red Rock's dirt trails looked familiar.

His name?

Jared Fisher.

I was on my road bike and had just climbed to the Mountain Springs summit and was descending back to the homestead when I made a pitstop about five miles down the massive downhill at the Late Night lot.

I figured I might meet a few people and engage in some ad-hoc bicycling schmoozing.

Indeed, I bumped into an Escape Adventures tour guide, Javy, and the EA van where I met Javy and a customer, a fella from the Washington, DC area who had lived in Tampa and Jacksonville.

Then as I took off and pedaled back toward SR 160 out of the parking lot when I noticed his bike first and then The Fisher King himself.

Many have heard of this bicycling sasquatch, but you are a lucky person to enjoy an actual sighting and conversation with Jared.

Near the Mountain Springs summit is a side road to a famous biker bar and a Nevada Department of Transportation site. There were some fun signs:

Working LVSportsBiz.com Beat Via Bicycle

 

I stay away from the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino parking garage and prefer to park just west of Allegiant Stadium and bike on Hacienda Avenue over I-15 and head over to the Mandalay Bay arena where the WNBA Aces are playing Game 1 of the playoffs against the Seattle Storm Sunday.

I lock the bike on a bike rack next to a security station on the side of the parking garage.

And again, the parking is easy and mostly accessible.

I'm working the Aces beat tonight.

Last night, I was at Allegiant Stadium, which means only one thing.

I used the ol' 1980s-era Raleigh road bike to reach the stadium to cover the Canelo vs Crawford boxing match.

 

Bicycling In The Late Day Shadows

 

It was a twilight bike ride tonight and these rides in the fading light remind me of my bike rides when I was in my young 20s working long summer days at the Liz Claiborne production plant in New Jersey.

I would get home around ten minutes of 7 PM, wolf down dinner and hop on my bicycle for a bike ride that would last until there was no light.

The same feeilings of freedom and independence come over me when I bike in the dusk at the end of the day.

Las Vegas and Clark County Does Not Make Bike Commuting Easy, But Use Guile, Local Streets To Reach Destinations

Reaching the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) meeting room is not east to get to.

Technically, the LVCVA -- the government tourism board charged with attracting tourists to Las Vegas -- has its office and meeting room in a new section of the Las Vegas Convention Center complex. It's on the east side of the complex at 3260 Joe W Brown Drive and the car parking is limited.

So I drive to a quiet nearby street, park and ride my bicycle over which means my parking is fine.

Bicycle As Transportation, Not Just Health, Fitness, Recreation And Sport

The bicycle is a beautiful instrument of mobility.

Here in Las Vegas the people who promote bicycling talk about it's terrific health effects.

But bicyclists should understand that bicycling is transportation and I use a bicycle to report on news for LVSportsBiz.com in the Strip corridor, especially as commuter transportation to the Raiders' Allegiant Stadium and to cover the A's stadium construction site.

When elected officials understand bicycling is transportation, not just for health, recreation and sport then more resources will be committed to protected bicycle lanes and paved trails.

 

In Bicycle Love With Lovell (Canyon)

It's a bicyclist's dream ride in the furnace heat summers of Las Vegas.

Lovell Canyon.

It's not like you're biking up at Mount Charleston.

Lovell Canyon is off State Route 160 just over the summit at Mountain Springs. Take a look at the scenery here in this video.

It's 11 miles on a U.S. Forest road to a dirt road. And even thought the paced road surface is bumpy, it's a terrific refuge away from the dangerous, reckless, impaired and uneducated car drivers that threaten the safety of bicyclists on our metro Las Vegas roads.

I parked my car in a dirt lot off SR 160 at Lovell Canyon Road.

Then with a nice tailwind, I biked up the gently sloping uphill road.

As the time appraoched 7 PM, the light and shadows in this canyon, especially on the green-covered contours, made for visual artwork.

It's about 5,900 feet elevation at the end of the 11 miles of pavement and the temperatures are much cooler than the Vegas Valley. Figure about ten degrees cooler.

There are people camping from all types of vehicles, from trailers to cars to tents. There are no facilities so please do not drop garbage on this land.

Buy Alan Snel's Bicycle Man book -- you will enjoy reading it.