Uhhu

Hi,

I am travelling to Las Vegas from the UK, early January for a conference, Mon-Fri. I will need to travel on the weekend so thought it would be worthwhile going a day or so early to get out on a bike and see somewhere. I can travel to Las Vegas, rent a bike, and go a pedal. But I am wondering if it’s good, or if there is somewhere else I should go that would be more worthwhile. For example, I can fly to LAX for a day or two, cycle, then fly to Vegas. Same for Seattle and other cities with big airports for connections. Ideally, I wouldn’t have to travel too far from the airport to the destination for starting a cycle.
Is there anywhere I should be looking that would be epic?

It would be road bike. Not afraid of hills, but I wouldn’t want to spend all day going uphill. Any advice would be appreciated.

i have checked and can see routes in vegas and places to rent a decent road bike my size.

terrymorse 

San Francisco. The riding around here is hard to beat.

Rent a decent road bike from Sports Basement.

VegasJen

Vegas has several good places to ride, and that time of year should be great. I can tell you from personal experience, the Red Rock loop is nice. If you're OK with some hills, add the scenic drive for some good zone 3/4 work and a few extra miles.

There's also some challenging routes out by Lake Mead. There's not that much flat out here but you can build a route with anything from mild rolling hills to some steep grades. I can help you find something that fits what you want to do if you want.

Barry2 

Uhhu ,
Welcome to Bike Forums.
Not knowing your abilities it's tough to recommend a ride and not knowing what you define as "Epic" makes it tougher.

If somebody was visiting San Francisco and looking for bragging rights........

San Francisco, out across the Golden Gate Bridge.
Then ontinue into Tiburon for breakfast on the deck outside at Sam's,
Next catch the ferry to Angel Island and bike around the entire island.
Return ferry to either Tiburon and back across the bridge. or if you've biked enough for the day, ferry to San Francisco.

Make reservations for the Ferry (s) and ideally Sam's (or plan to be there early)

This wont get you bragging rights for bicycle prowess, but you sure can name drop when you get home.

Barry

Wileyrat

Since it’s January, I’d think Vegas would be fine, but if you’re up to traveling a bit, I’d say head south to Tucson. There’s a reason you’ll see a number of pro riders training here that time of the year.

we have over 130 miles of paved pathways, and if you want a climb, take on Mt Lemmon, 26 miles up to the top.

Wildwood 

Not in Jan for Seattle.

I lived in Lost Wages, but decades ago. Red Rock Loop (2nd from @VegasJen) and a bit beyond on the same road were a nice ride from Sahara Blvd, altho the development has likely changed the optimal start point. Watch the drivers and remember to ride with the traffic , and rent a left-hand drive bike. Wish I had a right-hand drive bike visiting the UK decades back. Nearly put me in hospital.

edit: Go where the weather's best. LV is 'high' desert, might be cold/windy.. Maybe Phoenix or San Diego - western; or Texas or Florida - eastern

jonathanf2

I'd say go to Portland, which is super easy to get around and bike friendly. Though weather in the Pacific Northwest will be quite cold. Maybe try cycling Lake Tahoe by Reno, Nevada. People compare it to Lake Lucerne in Switzerland.

Wildwood 

As a skier, Tahoe in Winter is not a place to ride a bicycle, except maybe a fat tire ebike.

Portland, Seattle, Vancouver BC - good places to ride just not in January.


Every major city in USA has direct flights to Las Vegas. Florida is only a few air hours further than, say.... San Diego.
edit: Florida biking trails may be paved and lengthy, but IMO, a reputation as flat and boring.
Who knows Tucson? In Jan. As opposed to Phoenix, under 2 hours driving time.

50PlusCycling

If you are coming from the UK, and live in the city, you might want to see some scenery which is more uniquely American. On my last trip to Vegas, I rented a car and drove to Sedona, in Arizona. It took a few hours to get there, but the drive was enjoyable, crossing the Hoover Dam, and through some wonderful countryside. In Sedona spent a couple days on the trails and enjoying the spectacular scenery. You can enjoy road or MTB riding, or get rent a gravel bike and enjoy both.

Sedona has many outfitters which can supply bikes and other gear. I like to stay at L’Auburge Sedona, which is a nice place located next to the river. The beds are comfortable, the service is great, and the location is convenient and easy to find. Sedona is also a very safe place, so long as you don’t try to pick up or otherwise bother the local wildlife.

You can rent a car at LAX, Vegas is a few hours away by car, depending on the traffic, and how fast you drive. Sedona is a bit closer to LA than San Francisco, but the driving speeds on the open interstate are faster.

Steve B.

An hour and a half NE on the interstate is St. George, very nice town, lots of road bike options. Weather should be similar to LV, 60’s - 70’s daytime, low 30’s at night, but it warms up quick. Also consider a trip to the south rim Grand Canyon. Slow time of year, they might have snow, but you can decide after you get to LV. Worth seeing if you’ve never been there and a bike is a good way to get around. It’s the slow season, so fewer idiots in cars. It’s I think 16 RT if you go west from GC Village, 44 RT if you go east, so 2 decent road rides.

Note that some areas in the SW see snow, especially above 5,000 ft in elevation.

mschwett 

i have to agree with terrymorse.

fly from the UK direct to SFO. take bart or an uber into the city, grab dinner and a room, crash for the night. get up early and go to sports basement, rent a decent road bike. from there, go across the golden gate. ride up hawk hill and down conzelman, possibly the most scenic and epic descent in the west. then ride north through sausalito, mill valley, etc etc to fairfax. stop and grab a bite. then ride up into the hills, past alpine dam, and up to ridgecrest, which is an equally epic series of rollers that is familiar to many from a thousand car commercials. if you've still got a lot of gas left, hit the top of mount tam. either way, next comes a buttery smooth descent through the redwoods back into mill valley. back over the bridge, return the bike, take an uber to SFO, and you'll be in vegas in two hours.

there are other very amazing rides around the rest of northern california, especially the hills down the peninsula, but for epic vistas and completely unique rides, going north from SF is unbeatable.

in january there's about a one in three chance of some rain.

Desert Ryder

There are many rides to be had here in Las Vegas, Henderson, and Boulder City.
A 5 hour drive, or a cheap flight, will get you to San Diego county and Oceanside CA. You can do a great Hwy 101 coastal ride from Oceanside south all the way to San Diego if you like. I used to do the ride from O'side to La Jolla all the time.Bonus is you could always take the train back to Oceanside if you don't want to ride back.
Make a weekend out of it and visit the many tourist attractions in and around San Diego
Weather would be great. Great scenery, great places to stop and grab a drink, coffee, donuts, or food.

This route starts almost exactly from where I used to live.(Monroe Street)
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/74259?lang=en

t2p

another vote for the San Francisco Bay area

did some of the above mentioned on bike - foot - car

fantastic

Steel Charlie

I would make a point of avoiding the southern states, but that might just be me.

California, Arizona, Nevada would all be great. Oregon and Washington could be iffy with the potential for a lot of wet.

The other comments are way good 'cept for the Florida mention

Hope you have a great time ! !

Barry2 

Wherever you go, be sure you’ll be happy visiting and not riding.
It’ll be January…. Weather happens.

Barry

_ForceD_

A few years ago my wife and I traveled to Las Vegas for a weekend. It was actually our first time there. We stayed right on the strip. Like you, I wanted to do a road ride, but didn’t know where to go to make the best of my short time there. I would only have time for one ride and wanted to make sure it was a good one. There are bike shops there that will actually bring the bike to you (at your hotel), and transport your to where you want to ride. And, the one I used (sorry can’t recall the name), actually had a bike tour guide service also. Obviously it costs a bit more, but again…I wanted to make sure I got a good ride. They asked how far, and where I wanted to ride. I told them a distance, and I asked for their suggestions for location, and I got a 1-on-1 guide, and they provide everything. I had taken my own shoes/pedals, shorts and jersey…but they would have provided all that too. They even provided hydration and snacks…and a six-pack of local brew for post-ride.

edited to add: Bike Blast is the service I used. — https://bikeblastlasvegas.com

One thing that I’ll remind you of…since it was challenging for me when I rode in London — Remember that we drive on the RIGHT side of the road here. So cars will be passing you on your LEFT side, not your RIGHT side. When you make turns…don’t forget to stay in the RIGHT lane/RIGHT shoulder. Good luck and have fun.

Dan

rosefarts

I’ve spent a lot of time that time of year between St. George UT and Vegas. I was never riding, but still outside climbing rocks.

The weather is generally pleasant, sunny, and most storms are short lived. If you get hit with the unusual snow, it’ll have melted by the next day (or hour).

The only thing that’ll be out, would be a lovely scenic ride to Zion. It might not be totally out but it’s cold enough up there that I wouldn’t plan on it.

terrymorse 

Early January is often pretty dry, but there's always that one time where a whopper storm rolls through.

If you want better odds with the weather, San Diego might be a better cycling destination. Plenty of nice riding there, too.

San Diego averages 4 days of rain in January. San Francisco -- 8 days.

Rick_D

January should be pretty nice in the Vegas area and there could be opportunities there. I might consider California's San Diego County, which has good winter weather, coastal rides and plenty of mountains to the east. New Mexico is lovely, too.

Northern California and further north are sketchy in January-you can hit good stretches in the Bay Area or get monsoons. (Except in drought years and we don't know that yet.)

Good luck!

Uhhu

I can’t quote reply, so I’ll do my best to respond as well as I can.
Regarding “Epic” - this is very subjective.

What I am looking for is to fly to somewhere in the U.S., land, do an overnight, get up and go a cycle the following day for a half to full day, dinner, overnight then back to the airport to fly to Vegas.
I would like to see a mixture of sea, trees, hills/mountains. I am not too interested in seeing the perimeter of a city, or a long boring ride which has very little change in gradient and change in scenery. Ideally, I would not need to drive to the start of the route.
Places like Tucson which has been mentioned is too difficulty. It would involve multiple flight changes to get there. But i appreciate the response.
I will check out San Fran and San Diego.

In terms of my cycling ability, I am currently averaging around 25km/h for a 3 - 4 hr solo ride. I will do for example, 75km with 900m to 1000m of climbing just under 3 hours. In January, my fitness will likely be similar or better (hoping for better, and I will be lighter).

L134 

The Great Western Loop in San Diego County is a challenging, beautiful, and popular route amongst serious cyclists. This link shows it and several others in the San Diego area - Great Western Loop Classic Version (ridewithgps.com).

That said, rather than kill two extra days flying hither and yon, I'd find the great cycling routes in the Vegas area, but I can't help you with those.

mschwett 

interesting, the source I saw said 11!

San Diego weather would be a great bet, but I don’t think you can fly direct to San Diego from the UK, which adds a flight.

Steve B.

Lot of work when you are flying with a bike, to get out of an airport, into a hotel, setup bike, ride, back to hotel to pack bike for next days flight, just for one day of riding, I would certainly skip that, go to LV, into the hotel you will be at a few days, setup bike, maybe rent a car and drive out of town, Zion ?, Grand Canyon ?, or just north from LV. Ride, return. Take your time repacking hike, or maybe local trip in LV, which might just be OK.

indyfabz

+1, especially after all that travel time.

L134 

I think British Airways has a non-stop London to SD flight.