This story sponsored by Las Vegas Cyclery
By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — On summer’s second day just off the Strip in Las Vegas, it was a bone-chilling 93 degrees when I embarked on my bicycle ride from west of the Strip near the Raiders run-Allegiant Stadium through the Strip’s entertainment corridor to downtown Vegas.
With temperatures already striking 106 and 108 in Las Vegas, a 93-degree day sounds just perfect to ride my Surly Pugsly one-speed, steel-framed, balloon-tired monster of a two-wheeler from the subsidized NFL stadium at the route’s southern point to the Fremont Street Experience and the late Tony Hseih’s Container Park at the northern end.
I crafted the route to make a pitstop at the MLB A’s stadium site on the Strip, where Athletics owner John Fisher is staging a ceremonial groundbreaking for his $1.75 billion, domed, 33,000-fan stadium on the Strip at the former Tropicana hotel-casino site. The site is 35 acres, but the A’s believe they can build the stadium on a nine-acre footprint at the Las Vegas Boulevard/Tropicana Avenue location.
The rugged Pugsly is mostly used for eating up dirt trails near my home at 3,220 feet elevation out near the Red Rock National Conservation Area.
But today it’s working the Strip corridor, as I pedal on side roads and sidewalks, avoiding Las Vegas Boulevard.
This route gives you a more raw taste of the gritty, paved Las Vegas life, where tourists mix with homeless people and some locals who venture to the Strip to gamble or catch a meal.
Next stop was Koval Lane and the Las Vegas Grand Prix’s F1 base, the massive pit building at the Harmon Avenue corner. Summer means road race organizers will soon start building it’s track, which is a 3.8-mile linear stadium of concrete barriers, very tall fencing, light mounts and massive grandstands in the Strip corridor. F1 caused a massive traffic headaches and business losses for local merchants in Year 1 in 2023, but things logistically could only improve in Year 2 in 2024.
Nothing says Las Vegas/Clark County when county commissioners approved $120 million for an A’s stadium subsidy while unable to pave a public sidewalk on Koval Lane at Harmon across the street from the F1 grand prix site pictured here:
For the record, that $120 million is part of a $380 million government subsidy package for the A’s, though the team says it will use $350 million of the $380 government assistance approved by Nevada lawmakers in 2023. The A’s, currently sporting a last-place 32-46 record, hope the stadium opens in 2028.
Two sections of Koval Lane near the Sphere had construction cones blocking lanes, though there were no workers — a Las Vegas trademark. The closed lanes gave me a car-free, ad-hoc bike lane that I enjoyed using until I made a left on Sands Avenue, pedaled to Las Vegas Boulevard and turned right at Wynn to head north to downtown still a few miles away.
The Pugsley and I move past Resorts World, Fountainbleau, Sahara and the Strat and I follow my route into Downtown’ Arts District, the new pride and joy of Las Vegas with six blocks of craft breweries, vintrage item stores, cool restaurants and this massive apartment and home complex a few blocks east of Main Street.
I followed streets east of Main into the heart of downtown, pedaling past hotels like Golden Nugget, Circa, Grand and went over to Fremont Street Experience to look for Banger Brewing, which more than a decade ago hosted former Gov. Brian Sandoval for a local business tour that I covered for the local newspaper. Usually reserved and stoic in public, Sandoval showed a side of himseld very different than that of his public persona. He laughed and joked and had a great time with the five boys of Banger Brewing, including the business’ namesake, Michael Banger.
I went over and to check in on Banger Brewing next to Heart Attack Grill near the Fremont Street Zip Line operation and there was no Banger Brewing. A check onlone yielded the info that Banger closed more than two years ago. Here’s to you, Banger.
Container Park, one of Hsieh’s many amazing contributions to the business restart of that section of the Fremont Street area, was still there. I did a fun story on that giant fire-breathing mantis of art and it reminded me of how long I’ve been in this dusty horse town turned sports hub.
Man, what a kaleidascope of images from one end of the Strip corridor to Container Park. I turned around and headed back to my car parked on a secret side street off Valley View Avenue just west of Raiders stadium.
I pedal on downtown back streets, sauntering through the John S. Park neighborhood and eventually to Sahara Avenue. I cross that road and pick up Joe W. Brown Drive, passing past the massive Las Vegas Convention Center and biking to Flamingo Road.
I head east toward the Strip and it’s a left at Koval to MGM Grand. I follow an internal MGM Grand road to Park Drive and T-Mobile Arena, where the NY-NY parking garage bears this plaque near the arena’s ticket windows.
It’s an easy pedal to The Frank, Frank Sinatra Drive and back to the Hacienda Avenue bridge at Mandalay Bay to head west and over Interstate 15 to Allegiant Stadium.
There’s an event at the Raiders home Sunday. It’s Concacaf Gold Cup doubleheader action action with Mexico/Costa Rica and Saudi Arabia/Trinidad and Tobago games set for Sunday. The guys were setting up the beer tent:
So, by the time I return to my nearby car it’s 97 degrees. Strong winds out of the southwest made the return trip from downtown to Allegiant Stadium a nice workout.
This bike and its fat tires mostly churn the high desert dirt of Red Rock west of the Vegas Valley.
But today, it tasted the pavement and gave me a rolling perch to see everything you don’t on the Strip.
If you want to tour the Strip corridor’s back streets for a gritty taste of the Las Vegas you won’t see in LVCVA ads and videos, email me at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com.