Vegas Red Rock Loop

For whatever reason, I love riding to Red Rock National Park in Las Vegas. Perhaps it's because this was the place of my first ever ride on a road bike. Maybe it's also that I usually do this loop during the winter months if I get down to Vegas on business, so to get any ride in is a relief. Either way, I love it.

The first time I did Red Rock was in November 2006. I had just gotten into riding that year when I'd bought my first mountain bike in May, as Abby was getting ready to start riding her bike with training wheels. By October/November, I had hooked up with Paul at Chain Reaction Bicycles and I knew that I'd be getting a new road bike the following February. We had a boys trip planned for Nobember to Vegas, so I contacted a store on Charlston Blvd where I could rent a road bike.

I took a cab out to the store one morning, and they put on flat pedals (I didn't know anything about clipless pedals, shoes etc). I got outside and got on the bike, and spent the next 20 minutes riding West on Charleston trying my best to figure out how the gears on the damn bike worked. Things had changed a bit since the last time I'd been on a "10-speed". I got it figured out just in time for the terrain to change to complete desert. The guy at the store had simply said "go West until you see the Red Rock sign". It seemed to take forever, and with the altitude, lack of experience riding and heat, I was getting a little tired. When I finally got to the entrance to the park, I was pretty relieved, not knowing that I'd have to spend the next hour or so trying to get up to the top of the scenic drive within the park. The terrain was beautiful, but I barely noticed - I couldn't get enough oxygen into my brain. I took turns riding, walking and sitting. By the time it was all over, I felt like I'd achieved quite a lot and was pretty happy with myself. I never would have thought then that I'd get so addicted to riding, and put on 6-7,000km on my bike the following year, my first year on the road.

The subsequent times I've been back to Red Rock since (maybe 6 or 7 times), I always think of how hard it seemed back then. Now, I ride from my hotel on the strip (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Strip-to-Red-Rock-Loop) and although it's a great ride with plenty of climbing, it's not quite the "Everest-like" experience I'd remembered. Still, Red Rock remains one of my favourite rides...

PS Today I road Red Rock from Paris... nice hotel!