Date: Saturday, February 28Meet time: 9:00 a.m.
Ride-out time: 9:30 a.m.
Meeting place: Fiesta Henderson, 777 West Lake Mead Parkway (map)
City: Henderson, Nevada
Rain policy: Rain cancels
Pace: 2 - moderate pace (10-12 mph)
Terrain: 2 - rolling hills
Miles: 37
Enjoy this sampler of the southeast valley as we climb a few moderate hills, enjoy some wonderful downhills, and savor some of the area's magnificent scenery.
From our starting point near the 215/515 junction, we'll start gently downhill on the Union Pacific Railroad Trail and follow it into the Green Valley area. Then we'll gradually gain a couple hundred feet up to Horizon Ridge Parkway and, after about 12 miles of warmup, we'll do our longest climb of the day: the 1.3-mile ascent of Horizon Ridge up to Horizon Drive. The grade averages a very reasonable 4%, and there are only a couple of slightly steeper sections, so feel free to take your time. And what's waiting at the top? A rest stop at Starbucks, of course!
Next, we'll head back to the Union Pacific trail and take it very gently upward to the end of the paved section, and then we'll cut over to the River Mountains Trail for the long, gradual descent back into the valley ... with the added fun of a couple of very short but somewhat steep (both uphill and downhill) little bumps along the way. We'll continue our descent into the Lake Las Vegas area, and we'll take a brief water and toilet stop at Terrazza Park before heading back on the new section of Galleria Drive before our last little gentle climb of about 200 feet back to the Fiesta.
Ride With GPS reports about 1,850 feet of climbing for this ride. Toilets, water, and a Starbucks (of course) are available inside the Fiesta. Park and meet in the rear parking lot partway up the hill on Fiesta Henderson Blvd., near the train tracks.
Click here to RSVP now
Please RSVP so I can plan appropriately.
