We crossed into Nevada just after Death Valley Junction. It was a pleasant desert road, which climbed up and over a small pass to Pahrump. We found the first Wal Mart supermarket of the trip and ate a roast chicken each! Back in the desert, we cycled along a dual carriageway for the afternoon and started climbing the final pass before Las Vegas. Was a good climb, we listened to Blackadder for a bit using Harry's speakers. We cycled into the the night and climbed to about 5,000 ft where there was a layer of snow on the ground. We found a low tunnel under the road which was amazingly warm compared to outside. It felt like a heater was on in there! We cooked lying down looking forward to Vegas the next day.
It was an eventful night! Harry went out for a pee at about 2 am and climbed up onto the bridge to look ar the stars. For some reason he fainted and fell about 2 metres. He bashed his leg, arm and more worrying, his head. I heard him cursing when he came back round, obviously in pain. We don't think he was unconscious for long though. He was bleeding a lot and shivering in the cold. I helped him back into the tunnel then cleaned and bandaged the head wound. It wasn't bleeding badly and we decided to see how it was in the morning.
Harry could ride OK when we got moving in the morning so we rode down to Vegas. We saw other cyclists coming up the hill as we descended in the snow. Vegas loomed ahead of us, a huge city in the desert! It felt great to arrive here on bikes. We cycled up Las Vegas Boulevard aka "The Strip". The massive and hugely impressive hotels flashed past, Mandalay Bay, Luxor, New York New York, MGM Grand, Venetian, Bellagio, Paris, Ceasar's Palace, The Stratosphere and loads more. We found a cheap motel near the Stratosphere and had a relax before heading out.
We looked round the casinos on the strip, saw Flamingos at the Flamingo casino and Lions at the MGM. We saw someone screaming with delight after winning a jackpot on a slot machine and old lady gambling addicts feeding coin after coin into them. Poker players, roulette, black jack and other games I don't know. There's fantastic theming all over Vegas, a replica Manhattan skyline, a replica Eiffel Tower and the amazing Bellagio fountain water music show.
In the evening, we went to downtown Vegas, where we went to town on a buffet, then tried our luck on the casino floor. We started with 20 dollars to gamble with and played Roulette. We got up to 30 and a couple of free drinks then tried Black Jack. Not a good move, lost 21 dollars and down to 9. Back to Roulette we eventually got up to 35 dollars and lost a bit. We left on 26 dollars, 3 dollars each winnings, but better to have beaten Sin City and not lost any money!
The next day we chilled out in the morning then left the city, not much to report. That night we slept in a drainage channel under a bridge, really clean and an easy place to stay.
The following morning we joined a bike trail to Lake Mead via Boulder City. Was a great ride. It weaved up and down hills and into a storm drainage channel that was great fun because it was like a halfpipe. We reached Lake Mead then descended all the way to the Hoover Dam. We cycled onto it. It was seriously impressive, massive! We spoke to a lady who works there, she told us that 95 people died building the dam. Apparently there's also a big problem with suicides there and as it is on the state border, depending on where they jump, either the Nevada or Arizona police have to come to sort it out.
We climbed back up to the main road and onto the new bridge they've built which orders an amazing aerial view of the dam. We crossed it, having to lift the bikes over barriers and reaches Arizona. We were only in Nevada for 3 days but it had been brilliant. Vegas and the Hoover Dam within a day of each other, the US has been great so far.
It was an eventful night! Harry went out for a pee at about 2 am and climbed up onto the bridge to look ar the stars. For some reason he fainted and fell about 2 metres. He bashed his leg, arm and more worrying, his head. I heard him cursing when he came back round, obviously in pain. We don't think he was unconscious for long though. He was bleeding a lot and shivering in the cold. I helped him back into the tunnel then cleaned and bandaged the head wound. It wasn't bleeding badly and we decided to see how it was in the morning.
Harry could ride OK when we got moving in the morning so we rode down to Vegas. We saw other cyclists coming up the hill as we descended in the snow. Vegas loomed ahead of us, a huge city in the desert! It felt great to arrive here on bikes. We cycled up Las Vegas Boulevard aka "The Strip". The massive and hugely impressive hotels flashed past, Mandalay Bay, Luxor, New York New York, MGM Grand, Venetian, Bellagio, Paris, Ceasar's Palace, The Stratosphere and loads more. We found a cheap motel near the Stratosphere and had a relax before heading out.
We looked round the casinos on the strip, saw Flamingos at the Flamingo casino and Lions at the MGM. We saw someone screaming with delight after winning a jackpot on a slot machine and old lady gambling addicts feeding coin after coin into them. Poker players, roulette, black jack and other games I don't know. There's fantastic theming all over Vegas, a replica Manhattan skyline, a replica Eiffel Tower and the amazing Bellagio fountain water music show.
In the evening, we went to downtown Vegas, where we went to town on a buffet, then tried our luck on the casino floor. We started with 20 dollars to gamble with and played Roulette. We got up to 30 and a couple of free drinks then tried Black Jack. Not a good move, lost 21 dollars and down to 9. Back to Roulette we eventually got up to 35 dollars and lost a bit. We left on 26 dollars, 3 dollars each winnings, but better to have beaten Sin City and not lost any money!
The next day we chilled out in the morning then left the city, not much to report. That night we slept in a drainage channel under a bridge, really clean and an easy place to stay.
The following morning we joined a bike trail to Lake Mead via Boulder City. Was a great ride. It weaved up and down hills and into a storm drainage channel that was great fun because it was like a halfpipe. We reached Lake Mead then descended all the way to the Hoover Dam. We cycled onto it. It was seriously impressive, massive! We spoke to a lady who works there, she told us that 95 people died building the dam. Apparently there's also a big problem with suicides there and as it is on the state border, depending on where they jump, either the Nevada or Arizona police have to come to sort it out.
We climbed back up to the main road and onto the new bridge they've built which orders an amazing aerial view of the dam. We crossed it, having to lift the bikes over barriers and reaches Arizona. We were only in Nevada for 3 days but it had been brilliant. Vegas and the Hoover Dam within a day of each other, the US has been great so far.
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