Vegas / San Fran

irishmotorist

I'm off on my hols in a while and will be spending a week in Las Vegas and a week in San Francisco. I've done a bit of research on the web and there are places that I've found to rent bikes out for a day or 1/2 day etc.

Has anybody here had experience of any particular rentals/tours in either Vegas or San Fran that you can recommend? I haven't decided whether to go road or off road in Vegas - I haven't done any real off-road stuff before so I won't be doing anything mental down the side of the grand canyon or anything like that.

kenmc

Personally speaking, a week in vegas will be a looooong time. a weekend was fine for me, and even at that 1 of those days was spent flying to and from the Grand Canyon. But anyways, each to their own.

in San Fran, be sure to do the golden gate bridge cycle - you can rent bikes from down along the waterfront (can't remember the exact place) and cycle over the bridge and get the ferry back to the wharf - might be pier13 or something like that - it's around that area anyway. There are loads of bike rental places, they're all about the same.

bobtjustice

I lived in San Francisco for about 7 months great place.!
yeah I agree with Ken the Golden gate cycle is great.
Get the ferry from Fishermans Warf, over the bay to Sausalito get a bike from over there and cycle back, when I was there you could just drop the bike on the SF side of the bridge and they ship it back, be warned theres a bitch of climb to get to the bridge.

In Vegas you can do the Canyon run..(not as dangerous as it sounds) its a cycle trip along some easy to moderate trails along the top of the Grand Canyon. Plenty of water is the key here. Sorry i dont have any websites for you any of the hotels will have info.

would agree on both counts.

Blazing Saddles rent bikes near/on fishermans wharf, their website gives a few ideas, but biking the bridge and getting the ferry back is good fun.

http://www.blazingsaddles.com/

there are also options of cycling in Napa valley, visiting a vinyard or 2, which would be nice, do a google,

A week in Las Vegas?, spent a day and a half there, and that was enough, but then different strokes................

bassman22

There's no major difference between the ones along the piers in San Fran, so any are fine

bobtjustice wrote: »

I lived in San Francisco for about 7 months great place.!
yeah I agree with Ken the Golden gate cycle is great.
Get the ferry from Fishermans Warf, over the bay to Sausalito get a bike from over there and cycle back, when I was there you could just drop the bike on the SF side of the bridge and they ship it back, be warned theres a bitch of climb to get to the bridge.

Golden Gate cycle is nice, but cycle from the city over the bridge to Sausalito, then get the ferry home from there (you can go down the hill! plus its nice to relax on the ferry after the cycle!)

daymobrew

Bike shops should also have a map showing the gradient of the hills - it's often quite easy to avoid the hills in the city by simply going sideways a block or two.

I rented from the Columbus Ave shop and cycled to Fort Point under the Golden Gate Bridge, across the bridge, back, down to Seal Rock (west end of SF), along highway 1 and back at some point to Twin Peaks. Excellent view from up there.

E@gle.

what date are you going out, im heading there in 3 weeks and plan to do the same thing

i was in contact with www.baycitybike.com and they have offered me a weekly/multiple rate on their bikes

irishmotorist

Great stuff - thanks for the ideas all.

E@gle, I'll be there in two weeks so we'll probbably pass each other in the airport!

steo123

does one have to bring the bikes back at end of each day if borrowing for a week

daymobrew

steo123 wrote: »

does one have to bring the bikes back at end of each day if borrowing for a week

Highly unlikely but you should email them to confirm.

Cabaal

4 days in Vegas is enough a week is far to long, going from experioence of being their twice

E@gle.

irishmotorist wrote: »

Great stuff - thanks for the ideas all.

E@gle, I'll be there in two weeks so we'll probbably pass each other in the airport!

cool i'll be in san fran on the 27th so wil be renting a bike maybe a few days after i arrive

tampopo

daymobrew wrote: »

Bike shops should also have a map showing the gradient of the hills - it's often quite easy to avoid the hills in the city by simply going sideways a block or two.

I lived there for a few years and found this to be the opposite. I tried cycling from near the Civic Centre to City College. I had to abandon the bike and take the Luas type thing or the bus. Horrific.

I think the bit you describe is by the seafront and by definition is ... level.... at sea level...but beware of going inland, anywhere!!!!

RasTa

bassman22 wrote: »

Golden Gate cycle is nice, but cycle from the city over the bridge to Sausalito, then get the ferry home from there (you can go down the hill! plus its nice to relax on the ferry after the cycle!)

Yeah I done that cycle also, it's great fun. Think it was 28k's

conor rowan

myself and my mate (also named conor) rented a tandem from blazing saddles on fishermans wharf and cycled across the brdge to sauslalito and got the ferry back. very funny as everyone assumed we were a gay couple.
think theres a microbrewery out that way aswell which has 8% strawberry flavoured beer! dudnt find it myself but have heard good reports

cycling across the bridge is fun thogh! and also facing union sq is a posh hotel whcih has an outdoors glass elevator. great views of san fran and get that willy wonka buzz.
ahh the things you do skint on a j1

rossie1977

interesting that people are saying a day is long enough in vegas :eek: yeah to navigate your hotel properly i wonder how many of the clubs, stores, shows, bars, thrill rides those guys got done in one day, not many i bet http://www.vegas.com/attractions
http://www.vegas.com/nightlife/
http://www.vegas.com/shows/
http://www.vegas.com/shopping/

i cannot believe they didn't add the las vegas gunstore to those attractions, great way to spend an hour or so http://www.thegunstorelasvegas.com/rental.htm

loads of great areas to cycle around vegas, go west as far as red rock and if you can manage as far as mount charleston, go east as far as lake mead and into arizona, valley of fire is amazing as well and not far from the strip.

San Francisco is all hills so prepare for that, some are stupidly steep

irishmotorist

Cheers for those links Rossie...

To be honest, I haven't been expecting much from Las Vegas - there's a wedding there so we're there around that. The itinerary currently includes jetlag, wedding and rehearsals etc., grand canyon + hoover dam, a half day cycle with the father in law on the cottonwood trail here -

http://www.lasvegascyclery.com/tours_rentals/mountain_bike_day_tours.htm

and a minimum spend bar (at the wedding) that I am one of the few drinkers at. I feel a challenge coming on! The wedding is 2 days before the cycle so I'm hoping to still be alive to make it!
I'm not too used to offroad but the lady assures me that we'll be fine!

San Fran and the spin across the bridge to...wossname....sas something...I'm really looking forward to. I don't consider myself much of a climber, but here's a good chance to find out!

rossie1977

what hotel are you guys staying in vegas??

done properly there is a mindboggling amount of stuff to see and more stuff every time you come back with the amount of construction that goes on the las vegas strip. i have been to vegas 5 times and i never gamble and still i haven't done close to everything. For a outdoor enthusiast vegas is a great destination if a little too hot in the summer so beware that tempeatures often reach 45C in July and August and thunderstorms bring flash floods to the valley

irishmotorist

I'll be in the pyramid yokie - luxor or something? I'm interested in sampling the themes, but gambler I'm not. I'm going to have a good gander around alright - firing a machine gun looks like a bit of entertainment!

I'm hoping to beat a casino by not letting them realise that I'm Irish. I'll be at a 5c slot machine, gambling slowly till a free-beer staff member comes around to try to keep me gambling. They're hopefully going to assume that I'm a gambler and not an alchoholic!!!:pac:

rossie1977

luxor is a cool hotel and in a great location at the south strip. LAX is the big nightclub in luxor, more than likely you will see the likes of britney, paris etc out partying if you are there at the weekend, now thats if you want to see them

Mandalay Bay next to Luxor the big 500ft gold hotel is one of my favs in vegas, it has an great bar/club on the top floor with a patio which gives stunning views of the Strip http://www.vegas.com/nightclubs/mix/#