Recommendations for night cycling in Vegas?
July 16th, 2025 at 1:09:27 AM
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I know a few people here ride, and now that it's summer- well, cycling is a perfect application of that adage "Just because we can, doesn't mean we should." I can ride in the heat but I sure don't want to, and physical exertion at 110 degrees has put younger and more athletic men than me in the back of an ambulance. So I shouldn't.
Going out at night is nice. I like to avoid trafficked roads and stay on trails and paths. Lit is important. I've been on the Pittman Wash trail but that has people sleeping there at night. I'd rather avoid that because of the risk of confrontation and also of someone who is intox staggering in front of me, that's going to be a bad outcome.
So where's a good place to ride at night? Maybe a loop of a mile or a few, lit, parking, and where I'm not going to encounter anything that will harsh my mellow. Kind of neat if I could start/end at a casino too!
And a cautionary tale for all riders: last month I felt like I got hit by a truck.
Why? Because I did get hit by a truck! Down on the St. Rose trail in Henderson, where the many driveways of the shopping plazas cross the trail. Normally when the cars are stopped I wait to see them make eye contact with me before I cross. But in this case due to the height of the vehicle what I thought was the driver looking at me was actually her looking at her child in the passenger seat, and she hit the gas. Spun me around, dragged me a bit, but I was able to shove off the fender to avoid the wheels and broke my fall with the part of the elbow I would usually use to break other things.
Got up, took a bow for the crowd that assembled, and was blessed to see that despite the alleged age I haven't lost much robustness and was able to ride away, damning and blinding and with my wheel bent but that was a cheap and easy fix at the bike shop. No desire to sue anyone- when I get a break I pass it on. But be careful on that kind of trail! Most drivers don't even realize it is a trail, they are watching the cars, and especially if you are coming up on their passenger side their attention is mostly to their left which is where the traffic they have to deal with is coming from.
Going out at night is nice. I like to avoid trafficked roads and stay on trails and paths. Lit is important. I've been on the Pittman Wash trail but that has people sleeping there at night. I'd rather avoid that because of the risk of confrontation and also of someone who is intox staggering in front of me, that's going to be a bad outcome.
So where's a good place to ride at night? Maybe a loop of a mile or a few, lit, parking, and where I'm not going to encounter anything that will harsh my mellow. Kind of neat if I could start/end at a casino too!
And a cautionary tale for all riders: last month I felt like I got hit by a truck.
Why? Because I did get hit by a truck! Down on the St. Rose trail in Henderson, where the many driveways of the shopping plazas cross the trail. Normally when the cars are stopped I wait to see them make eye contact with me before I cross. But in this case due to the height of the vehicle what I thought was the driver looking at me was actually her looking at her child in the passenger seat, and she hit the gas. Spun me around, dragged me a bit, but I was able to shove off the fender to avoid the wheels and broke my fall with the part of the elbow I would usually use to break other things.
Got up, took a bow for the crowd that assembled, and was blessed to see that despite the alleged age I haven't lost much robustness and was able to ride away, damning and blinding and with my wheel bent but that was a cheap and easy fix at the bike shop. No desire to sue anyone- when I get a break I pass it on. But be careful on that kind of trail! Most drivers don't even realize it is a trail, they are watching the cars, and especially if you are coming up on their passenger side their attention is mostly to their left which is where the traffic they have to deal with is coming from.
