On Bicycling: Pause In Road Cycling, Switch To Mountain Biking Good For The Soul (And The Hip)
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Really, any day with a bicycle ride is a good day.
But on this day in early July, my left hip seized after bicycling the hilly Red Rock Loop outside Las Vegas and I knew I would need to stay off my road bicycle for a while and stay away from steep, paved hills. It’s not fun being immobile.
After several days of bed rest, ice and ibuprofen, the mere act of walking was a victory.
With this rejuvenated mobility, I knew myself well enough that I would be tempted be start bicycling again.
But this time, it wouldn’t be a road bicycle and steep hills.
I turned to my bike with the fat tires and needed to pedal on flatter, off-road terrain with gradual slopes.
That’s where Anna entered the bike story.
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Anna knew some off-road trails in the south end of the Las Vegas metro area, mountain bike trails that I didn’t know about. I did lots of road bicycling on the Red Rock Loop and have stayed away from many roads around Las Vegas because I found too motorists were angry, impatient, aggressive, reckless, impaired, distracted and just plain incompetent. In other words, too many of them endangered my health as a bicyclist on the roads.
So, I played the odds and stuck to roads with less motorists and at times of the day with less motorists, too.
But now, I was giving the road bicycle a place on the bench and pedaling my Surly Pugsley, a big ol’ tank of a fat-tire bike made of steel with no front shock and just a lone single gear. In a place known for the Strip and neon glitz, metro Las Vegas actually has some amazing mountain bike trails and options.
The Pugsley was up to the task. And so was I.
Anna picked just the right trail, an off-road, single-track trail that made a serpentine route through the sloping desert, south of the terminus of Rainbow Boulevard in the south valley. The Union trails.
I was pedaling without pain in the hip, sitting more upright on a mountain bike compared to a road bike.
And the land was relatively flat without too many hills. The sloping topography meant gradual climbs, but nothing beyond the scope of what my hip could handle.
Then the next day, Anna upped the scenery, showing me off-road mountain bike trails at “Tour Debris” not too far from Olympia Sports Park in the Southern Highlands area.
The hills were slightly steeper, but I was biking slower than the speed on a road bicycle with less stress on the hip.
Anna made the rides fun with stops and photo opps. She liked celebrating the rides with pictures, showing the terrain, adding bicycle details and posing in dance steps with the uniqueness that only Anna can do.
And Anna was great at creating photo collages of the mountain bike outings. I was impressed. I thought to myself, “She takes more photos than I do on bike rides.”
Take a look.
I mentioned to Anna that I was hoping to see freight train come chugging through the Tour Debris area.
And wouldn’t you know it, a long line of freight cars came through the area.
“You ordered and the universe delivered,” Anna said.
Indeed.
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The next mountain bike trail was one closer to home where I live in the Summerlin area in the west valley.
Anna had a Calico trail in mind just west of all the homes being built in Summerlin.
I was curious about the route. There is so much residential development spreading west from Summerlin to Red Rock.
It’s a single track that offered hillier terrain than the gradually sloping land in the south valley. But the Red Rock scenery offered a lovely scenic backdrop and the hills were much shorter than biking the Red Rock Loop on a road bicycle.
I returned solo a few days later and saw a stunning sky above the Red Rock.
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Next up: Bristlecone Trail in the Spring Mountains near Mount Charleston.
Bristlecone is a popular trail near the meadows and Lee Canyon ski areas at the end of Lee Canyon Road. It’s serious elevation at about 8,500-9,200 feet, which offers amazing scenic vistas and, naturally, a plethora of photo opps.
Anna and I followed the dirt and gravel fire road up for about three and a half miles. It was cloudy with some occasional drizzle — and a lovely and refreshing departure from the triple-digit furnace temperatures in the valley.
I took the ascent on the Pugsley slowly as we gained in altitude.
We made lots of stops along the away because there were just too many fun opportunities for pictures.
Anna has a nice touch with assembling these off-road outings into collages. Take a peak:
Anna’s messages are spot-on in the collages.
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Bicycling off-road has been a fantastic alternative to help my hip heal while also leaving behind the reckless motorists of our roadways.
I don’t bike very fast. But that’s OK. The breaks are excellent pit stops to take photos, gaze at nature all around you and just reflect on life.
The hip is feeling stronger. One of these days I will get back on the road bicycle and even test out the hip on the Red Rock Loop.
But for now, it’s off road. Nature has a way of healing.
