Bicycling Utah, Arizona, Nevada
May - 2009
Sunday May 10, 2009
Mesquite to Las Vegas NV
Distance 74.7 Miles
We got up early ate breakfast and headed out. The only problem was we took a wrong turn and ended up driving up and into the wind for an extra 6 miles. It took us 1-3/4 hour to ride 13 miles to reach the freeway (which was only 2 blocks from the motel). We were tried and very warm by the time we started up Highway 15 towards Las Vegas. Just as we were ready to take the exit to Glendale, Barb and Scott called from Glendale asking how we were doing. The bad news is the restaurant had burnt to the ground so we had to buy snack food before we started pedaling the rest of the way. Twenty hot miles further down the road we stopped at a gas station to get more water and food.
About 10 miles out of Las Vegas, just after the picture we were coming down a hill, when we heard a large bang followed by a swish sound. Sure enough we had a flat rear tire. By the time we had the tire changed a pickup passed us, turned around, crossed the median, traveled back to our location and re-crossed the median to make sure we were O.K. Laura, the driver than helped load the bicycle into the back of her pickup and took us into Las Vagas, where she dropped us off near the strip. We thanked her for her help and began to load the bicycle so we would be able to finish our bicycle ride.
As we loaded the bicycle we found out the front tire was flat. We fixed the flat and then rode the bicycle about 2 blocks and the front chain caught on the large crank. By the time we got that fixed the front tire was flat again, after 30 min of repairs we started pedaling the strip towards our Casino. We arrived around 5:00 PM with Barb and Scott pulling in about ½ hour later. They drove 88 miles to our 74 miles. By the time we figured out how to check in and take care of the bicycles it was after 7:00 pm when we sat down to an excellent dinner. All in all it was a long hot mother's day, but all ended well safe and sound.
We spent the next day with Scott and Barbara exploring the Las Vagas Strip. This was the end of a great bicycle ride and the completion of riding a bicycle in all of the continuous 48 states.
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