by Larry Lagarde

Early this morning, I arrived back from Las Vegas and the Interbike 2009 bicycle show. It was quite a week.

On Monday evening, I flew on Southwest Airlines from New Orleans to Las Vegas. I arrived late at the airport so I went straight to the gate. Slung over my shoulder (in a soft sided carry bag) was a brand new 9 speed Birdy Monocoque from Reise und Muller. Breezing through the TSA checkpoint with an approving smile from the security agent, I thought about carrying the Birdy folding bike on the plane like I've done with the smaller & lighter CarryMe folding bike. Since I was in the A boarding group, there would have been space in the overhead and it was a direct flight (so no shlepping the bike from one plane to another).

When it was my turn for the gate agent to scan my boarding pass, nothing was said about the folding bike but my pass would not scan so I had to leave the line and have another agent reprint my pass. Naturally, this put me way back in the boarding of the plane so I simply gate checked the bike. Three and a half hours later, I was in Vegas.

Once I claimed the Birdy from the checked bag belt, my idea was to ride the folding bike from the airport to Bally's Casino (my hotel on the Las Vegas Strip). Based on my experience last year, I expected to be at the hotel within 10 minutes but there were some complications.

Disoriented by the darkness (my flight arrived after 9pm), it took 10 minutes just to find the sidewalk leading from the airport. More importantly, the seat post would not drop into the frame (at some point during shipping, the Birdy folding bike must have been dropped on the frame tube where the seat post goes in) so I had to spend a good 20 minutes carefully working the tube wider with my air pump.

Once I got on the bike, the contrast was amazing. With a spin of the pedals, the noise, hustle & bustle of the airport was behind me. The sidewalk wound away from the arriving traffic and down below a small earthen berm with trees. The sprinklers in this pocket park were on; it was so quiet that I could hear the slight hiss of the water coming from the sprinkler heads. The mist felt comfortably cool.

The sidewalk ends at a street leading to employee and long term parking for the airport. I followed the street to the left for a nice night view of the Mandalay Bay, Circus Circus, the Pyramid and other landmarks on the strip. In the process, I gave walking directions to a European couple that was lost (hopefully, they opted for a taxi because it's a long walk from there to the Strip).

Apparently, the rechargeable AA batteries in my Dosun M1 bike light were getting low because the beam was dimmer than expected. The bike light did give me enough light to see obstructions but I rode the sidewalk against traffic for better visibility.

I had planned on taking back streets to Bally's Casino hotel; however, traffic on Las Vegas Blvd at 10 pm is so heavy that the cars are moving very slowly. Thus, I opted to ride the Strip in traffic and it was a good move. Not only did I get to see the Strip at full tilt (sidewalks packed with walkers and hawkers; traffic lanes stuffed with taxis and limos), I got to the hotel faster as well.

I rode right up to the main entrance for Bally's, dismounted and walked in. The check in line was very long so I used the Birdy as a mobile seat, resting the bicycle carry bag (containing my gear) on the frame.

Once it was my turn, the check in procedure went quickly and I was soon walking the bike through the casino to the hotel elevators. A security guard asked why so many bikes were in and around the hotel but no one gave me any problems about wheeling the bike through the whole casino.

Built in the early 70's, Bally's is one of the older casinos on this part of the Strip (Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Jerry Lewis have all headlined here) so I was wondering what my room would be like. The room was clean and modern with a granite bath, granite desk overlooking huge picture windows and a super view of the Bellagio fountains as well as the Eifel Tower of Vegas at the adjacent Paris Hotel.

Tomorrow:
Riding the Birdy from Boulder City to Lake Mead & Back

Labels: Interbike2009, Las-Vegas-NV