Hey Vegas dudes, how's your moto scene ?

bradnelson
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bradnelson
Edited Date/Time 7/5/2015 9:39pm
There is a chance I will be spending quite a bit of time in Vegas next year. I live within 2 hours of about 6 tracks (including RedBud and Ironman), so this is going to be painful. But what is the moto scene like in Vegas these days ? Is Boulder gone for good ?
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dak446
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dak446 12/11/2014 10:50am
12/11/2014 10:50am
bradnelson wrote:
There is a chance I will be spending quite a bit of time in Vegas next year. I live within 2 hours of about 6 tracks...
There is a chance I will be spending quite a bit of time in Vegas next year. I live within 2 hours of about 6 tracks (including RedBud and Ironman), so this is going to be painful. But what is the moto scene like in Vegas these days ? Is Boulder gone for good ?
Mesquite holds a lot of big races, and it's only an hour away from Vegas (World MIni's and lots of big holiday races). The track is super fun
DesertHusky
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DesertHusky 12/11/2014 10:55am
12/11/2014 10:55am Edited Date/Time 12/11/2014 11:09am
We have Sandy Valley & Mesquite Motocross Tracks here in the Las Vegas area and some more tracks about 3-4 hr drive away.

Sandy Valley MX
http://www.svmx.com/SVMX/Home.html

Mesquite Motocross Track
http://www.mesquitemx.com/

LACR (A New MX Track Just Opened) 4hrs away in Palmdale Ca.
http://www.lacrmotox.com/

Glen Helen Raceway ( 3 hrs away) South I-15
http://www.glenhelen.com/

If you into riding in the open desert we have plenty of that as well. We also have many miles of desert trails and roads from a number of offroad racing events too.
JaredPartridge 12/11/2014 10:57am
12/11/2014 10:57am
There's also Sandy Valley that's out near Jean, which is just before Primm going north into California. Kind of out in the boonies and in the middle of a few mountain ranges, but its a nice little track. The only bummer is that they're not open very often, maybe a few times a month. Boulder is gone for good, but there's the old track out by the dump more in to the city. Although its more of a shit hole with hardpacked dirt that's no fun to ride on. There are some pretty cool trails you can take out that way that will take you to the edge of the Colorado river, just make sure you don't go too fast toward the edge or you'll fall a few hundred feet.


SVMX.COM is the website for sandy valley, or you can find them on Facebook where they post updates pretty often.
bradnelson
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bradnelson 12/11/2014 11:28am
12/11/2014 11:28am
Alright, thanks guys. I didn't realize Glen Helen was that close. Jared ? You Kyle's brother ?

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Rizzo
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Rizzo 12/11/2014 11:37am
12/11/2014 11:37am
bradnelson wrote:
There is a chance I will be spending quite a bit of time in Vegas next year. I live within 2 hours of about 6 tracks...
There is a chance I will be spending quite a bit of time in Vegas next year. I live within 2 hours of about 6 tracks (including RedBud and Ironman), so this is going to be painful. But what is the moto scene like in Vegas these days ? Is Boulder gone for good ?
The scene is shitty, plane and simple. Mesquite is 1-1.5 hour drive and race fairly often. Sandy Valley.... the owners are cool and do what they can, but having families and working 40+ hrs a week, they are only open once a month. Everyone drives to Cali or Utah to ride. Either get a desert tank and camelback or buy some property and make your own track. Mtn bike scene is good though.
Hallzilla
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Hallzilla 12/11/2014 11:42am
12/11/2014 11:42am
Sandy Valley is EPIC ! But they have strange hours of operation.
bradnelson
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bradnelson 12/11/2014 11:52am
12/11/2014 11:52am
Mesquite looks pretty well organized. And they have camping. I always like taking the motorhome. race\ride all day, jump in the shower, pull out the lawn chairs and beer, cook some brats and get ready for the next day. Well, thats how we do it here in Indiana anyway. Sandy Valley looks cool too. I can understand their situation though.
KGAspeed
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KGAspeed 12/11/2014 11:58am
12/11/2014 11:58am
bradnelson wrote:
There is a chance I will be spending quite a bit of time in Vegas next year. I live within 2 hours of about 6 tracks...
There is a chance I will be spending quite a bit of time in Vegas next year. I live within 2 hours of about 6 tracks (including RedBud and Ironman), so this is going to be painful. But what is the moto scene like in Vegas these days ? Is Boulder gone for good ?
I'm from Illinois and lived in Vegas for about 8 years.

You will be disappointed; it will be a bit painful. People that say it is great, probably don't know the type of tracks that you and I do in the Midwest. I pretty much got out of moto completely when I lived there and just made myself adapt to off-road desert riding & racing.

The tracks are flat (Mesquite has some elevation, but not much); I rode Sandy Valley a few times (another flat track), Boulder when it was open, and friends & I would even drive 3 hours to Cedar City to ride a (flat) track that was up there (now closed).

You CAN drive to the High Desert in CA and ride a couple that are up there with a 3 hour drive and go to Glen Helen in 3.5 hours, but that is a LONG LONG day. Not worth it to me.

I'm with Rizzo; I thought it sucked.

The outdoors scene in general is great though. Killer hiking up at Mt. Charleston, Red Rock and even down by the dam (cool hot springs to check out), good mountain biking in a few areas, etc.
Rizzo
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Rizzo 12/11/2014 12:10pm
12/11/2014 12:10pm
bradnelson wrote:
There is a chance I will be spending quite a bit of time in Vegas next year. I live within 2 hours of about 6 tracks...
There is a chance I will be spending quite a bit of time in Vegas next year. I live within 2 hours of about 6 tracks (including RedBud and Ironman), so this is going to be painful. But what is the moto scene like in Vegas these days ? Is Boulder gone for good ?
KGAspeed wrote:
I'm from Illinois and lived in Vegas for about 8 years. You will be disappointed; it will be a bit painful. People that say it is...
I'm from Illinois and lived in Vegas for about 8 years.

You will be disappointed; it will be a bit painful. People that say it is great, probably don't know the type of tracks that you and I do in the Midwest. I pretty much got out of moto completely when I lived there and just made myself adapt to off-road desert riding & racing.

The tracks are flat (Mesquite has some elevation, but not much); I rode Sandy Valley a few times (another flat track), Boulder when it was open, and friends & I would even drive 3 hours to Cedar City to ride a (flat) track that was up there (now closed).

You CAN drive to the High Desert in CA and ride a couple that are up there with a 3 hour drive and go to Glen Helen in 3.5 hours, but that is a LONG LONG day. Not worth it to me.

I'm with Rizzo; I thought it sucked.

The outdoors scene in general is great though. Killer hiking up at Mt. Charleston, Red Rock and even down by the dam (cool hot springs to check out), good mountain biking in a few areas, etc.
I'm not gonna toot my horn, I grew up in Corona CA and have some great friends in moto. I moved from that to LV, to put it lightly, the Moto scene went from HERO to Zero. Boulder was decent when it was open, Mesquite is good as well, but they hold a lot of races. You have an RV, great, drive to Cali or move there. Other than that, either get a mtn bike, start hiking or get some RC Cars. The rest of this town, gambling, hookers and blow will bring you down.
bradnelson
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bradnelson 12/11/2014 12:16pm
12/11/2014 12:16pm
hehe......okay Rizz, thanks for the advice. And thanks KG. I guess I have been pretty spoiled being here in the midwest. One thing I won't miss is the frigging winter weather. I can handle some desert\trail riding. The older I get, the slower I get, but its still fun no matter what.
JaredPartridge 12/11/2014 1:02pm
12/11/2014 1:02pm
bradnelson wrote:
Alright, thanks guys. I didn't realize Glen Helen was that close. Jared ? You Kyle's brother ?
Indeed I am. My avatar is a pic from a bike of his he didn't need when he got the ride with Star back in '11. Like one guy said, the tracks close to Vegas are nothing like what you're probably used to. Mesquite has done quite a bit of work from social posts I've seen, and seems to get better every weekend. Glen Helen is about a 4 hour drive, Comp Edge is about 3, and you can get to Cal City MX within about 4 or 5 hours. We hardly ever rode locally except at the speedway on weekdays when they were open. Other than that, we were in California every weekend just about.
Mchenault499 12/11/2014 1:58pm
12/11/2014 1:58pm
Yeah the scene is no good. Plenty of good desert riding close to town, but even the best off-road areas are over an hour away except for maybe cold creek, which is great in the summer time with the high elevation.
Wildeye511
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Wildeye511 12/12/2014 12:52am
12/12/2014 12:52am
MX scene is not that great. I usually would go to Sandy Valley, but that place can get pretty windy at times and they will shut it down if it gets too bad. There is a track in St George, UT that isnt too far away. I would also drive out to Milestone in Riverside or Comp Edge in Hesperia, CA. In Vegas I would mainly ride out in the desert or go up to cold creek. You can ride all the way to Pahrump from there. When I moved there I thought there would be more tracks, but either way I just made the best of it.
bradnelson
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bradnelson 12/12/2014 4:54am
12/12/2014 4:54am Edited Date/Time 12/12/2014 4:54am
bradnelson wrote:
Alright, thanks guys. I didn't realize Glen Helen was that close. Jared ? You Kyle's brother ?
JaredPartridge wrote:
Indeed I am. My avatar is a pic from a bike of his he didn't need when he got the ride with Star back in '11...
Indeed I am. My avatar is a pic from a bike of his he didn't need when he got the ride with Star back in '11. Like one guy said, the tracks close to Vegas are nothing like what you're probably used to. Mesquite has done quite a bit of work from social posts I've seen, and seems to get better every weekend. Glen Helen is about a 4 hour drive, Comp Edge is about 3, and you can get to Cal City MX within about 4 or 5 hours. We hardly ever rode locally except at the speedway on weekdays when they were open. Other than that, we were in California every weekend just about.
Kyle was just starting to rip two or three years ago. Then he messed up his knee (?). Is he gonna try SX this year ?
TomZ
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TomZ 12/12/2014 6:28am
12/12/2014 6:28am
Is the track in St George Utah worth the drive ?
Wildeye511
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Wildeye511 12/12/2014 7:14am
12/12/2014 7:14am
TomZ wrote:
Is the track in St George Utah worth the drive ?
No clue as to how it is today, had to move east for work. I was out there in 2011. Track was fun, I enjoyed it. I am more novice skill level and it was challenging for me.
JaredPartridge 12/12/2014 7:47am
12/12/2014 7:47am
bradnelson wrote:
Kyle was just starting to rip two or three years ago. Then he messed up his knee (?). Is he gonna try SX this year ?
He had the whole foot deal happen in 2012 and then messed up his knee this year in supercross. Had some old hardware taken out of his left knee at the same time he had the right one fixed, and started riding again in August I believe. He'll be racing this year.
bd
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bd 12/12/2014 8:57am
12/12/2014 8:57am
My thoughts.....

- Add Mesquite MX on FB and Instagram. The track owners are constantly updating the tracks (there is a bonafide SX track where you can see KP practice, motocross track (main track with some supercross style jumps [I feel it could be better - keep it all outdoor style - has an awesome elevation, sand section, a few whoops (where the hell are the big rolling outdoor whoops????), vet track. Its getting a lot better.

- Sandy MX (its an outdoor MX track with SX lay out (safe jumps - no triples). Have night riding in summer. Hours have changed radically.

- Vega Dirt: when wet, slippery as ice. Can get hard pack fast

- May not be moto paradise (like the track RV made on the hills - thats fucking moto) but its moto

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bvm111
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bvm111 12/12/2014 9:18am
12/12/2014 9:18am
I'm transferring (Active Army) from reno to vegas in June and I am just dreading this purely because of the lack of moto locally. We have a really good small track here in reno and its 20-30 minutes from the house!!!!

I guess I'll be putting a lot of miles on the truck going to Mesquite, Comp Edge, and I will ride Glen Helen just to say I did!
JaredPartridge 12/12/2014 9:26am
12/12/2014 9:26am
bvm111 wrote:
I'm transferring (Active Army) from reno to vegas in June and I am just dreading this purely because of the lack of moto locally. We have...
I'm transferring (Active Army) from reno to vegas in June and I am just dreading this purely because of the lack of moto locally. We have a really good small track here in reno and its 20-30 minutes from the house!!!!

I guess I'll be putting a lot of miles on the truck going to Mesquite, Comp Edge, and I will ride Glen Helen just to say I did!
Sandy Valley isn't a bad track, its just a little on the small side. The lanes ride side by side and its a little narrow, but they do their best to update the track often and are always bringing in sand. I rode there quite a bit on practice nights, but I never really liked racing there because of how the track was setup. Its a fun place regardless.
dak446
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dak446 12/12/2014 9:27am
12/12/2014 9:27am
Be sure to check out southern Utah, as well. St. George brought back it's track, and is really good from what I've heard. Monticello has a beautiful track with lots of elevation changes, and a little further away is Cedar City, which used to be a great track as well. Further still is Fillmore, that used to hold a bunch of races - not sure if they do anymore or not.
JaredPartridge 12/12/2014 10:04am
12/12/2014 10:04am
dak446 wrote:
Be sure to check out southern Utah, as well. St. George brought back it's track, and is really good from what I've heard. Monticello has a...
Be sure to check out southern Utah, as well. St. George brought back it's track, and is really good from what I've heard. Monticello has a beautiful track with lots of elevation changes, and a little further away is Cedar City, which used to be a great track as well. Further still is Fillmore, that used to hold a bunch of races - not sure if they do anymore or not.
Fillmore is an awesome place if they're still around. My Dad and I made the god awful drive on a whim when we got a flyer in the mail the day before a race, and then made the trip a few more times to practice. It was nice because it was always prepped pretty well, but never very busy.There was also a track in Utah back in the day called Bunker Hill, but I haven't heard if they're still around or not.
dak446
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dak446 12/12/2014 10:16am
12/12/2014 10:16am
dak446 wrote:
Be sure to check out southern Utah, as well. St. George brought back it's track, and is really good from what I've heard. Monticello has a...
Be sure to check out southern Utah, as well. St. George brought back it's track, and is really good from what I've heard. Monticello has a beautiful track with lots of elevation changes, and a little further away is Cedar City, which used to be a great track as well. Further still is Fillmore, that used to hold a bunch of races - not sure if they do anymore or not.
JaredPartridge wrote:
Fillmore is an awesome place if they're still around. My Dad and I made the god awful drive on a whim when we got a flyer...
Fillmore is an awesome place if they're still around. My Dad and I made the god awful drive on a whim when we got a flyer in the mail the day before a race, and then made the trip a few more times to practice. It was nice because it was always prepped pretty well, but never very busy.There was also a track in Utah back in the day called Bunker Hill, but I haven't heard if they're still around or not.
Fillmore is great. I was at that race when you guys showed up; it was a USRA race I think. I remember the battles you had with the Beni Williams and I think Nick Mortensen. My little brother broke his leg that weekend.

Bunker Hill is in Delta, just a bit further north of Fillmore. That track is really awesome, lots of elevation changes, and the sand is a blast. It's still around and doing pretty well, I think.
JamesOliver 12/12/2014 10:40am
12/12/2014 10:40am
I went to America for the first time over the summer as part of a geology field trip with my university. We flew into Vegas and spent about a day there. You americans are probably used to it but I can't even imagine doing motos in that heat, f*ck that!
bd
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bd 12/12/2014 11:03am
12/12/2014 11:03am
JamesOliver wrote:
I went to America for the first time over the summer as part of a geology field trip with my university. We flew into Vegas and...
I went to America for the first time over the summer as part of a geology field trip with my university. We flew into Vegas and spent about a day there. You americans are probably used to it but I can't even imagine doing motos in that heat, f*ck that!
In the summer you are either hitting the track in early morning (done riding by 9:30am) or night.
JaredPartridge 12/12/2014 11:06am
12/12/2014 11:06am
dak446 wrote:
Fillmore is great. I was at that race when you guys showed up; it was a USRA race I think. I remember the battles you had...
Fillmore is great. I was at that race when you guys showed up; it was a USRA race I think. I remember the battles you had with the Beni Williams and I think Nick Mortensen. My little brother broke his leg that weekend.

Bunker Hill is in Delta, just a bit further north of Fillmore. That track is really awesome, lots of elevation changes, and the sand is a blast. It's still around and doing pretty well, I think.
Really? That's pretty cool, bummer to hear about your brother from that weekend though. I think I remember the delay in waiting for my race to start as well. It was my first race in the intermediate class after winning at Ponca, and the last on that turd of a zook before I got my Hondas. I had only been to Bunker once, but I loved that place. The elevation changes, and that long off camber up top made it a lot of fun for me, not to mention how killer the dirt is. I did stay in one hell of a sketchy hotel while I was there for the weekend though. Worse than any Motel 6 in the middle of BFE Texas I ever stayed in.
JaredPartridge 12/12/2014 11:07am
12/12/2014 11:07am
JamesOliver wrote:
I went to America for the first time over the summer as part of a geology field trip with my university. We flew into Vegas and...
I went to America for the first time over the summer as part of a geology field trip with my university. We flew into Vegas and spent about a day there. You americans are probably used to it but I can't even imagine doing motos in that heat, f*ck that!
bd wrote:
In the summer you are either hitting the track in early morning (done riding by 9:30am) or night.
My dad used to have us out at Apex in the middle of the day, after school, sitting in the AC in the truck smoking a cigarette while we did 20 minute motos in 110 degrees +. Sure as hell got us in shape, thats for sure.
Mchenault499 12/12/2014 11:09am
12/12/2014 11:09am
dak446 wrote:
Be sure to check out southern Utah, as well. St. George brought back it's track, and is really good from what I've heard. Monticello has a...
Be sure to check out southern Utah, as well. St. George brought back it's track, and is really good from what I've heard. Monticello has a beautiful track with lots of elevation changes, and a little further away is Cedar City, which used to be a great track as well. Further still is Fillmore, that used to hold a bunch of races - not sure if they do anymore or not.
Monticello is about 8 hours away... It's a great location, good layout, ok dirt but way too far away from vegas.

I've heard good things about cedar city, haven't been though. Its only about 3 hours, maybe less.
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dak446 12/12/2014 1:02pm
12/12/2014 1:02pm
JaredPartridge wrote:
Really? That's pretty cool, bummer to hear about your brother from that weekend though. I think I remember the delay in waiting for my race to...
Really? That's pretty cool, bummer to hear about your brother from that weekend though. I think I remember the delay in waiting for my race to start as well. It was my first race in the intermediate class after winning at Ponca, and the last on that turd of a zook before I got my Hondas. I had only been to Bunker once, but I loved that place. The elevation changes, and that long off camber up top made it a lot of fun for me, not to mention how killer the dirt is. I did stay in one hell of a sketchy hotel while I was there for the weekend though. Worse than any Motel 6 in the middle of BFE Texas I ever stayed in.
It's all good. That race had a pileup with three guys who all had broken legs - my brother's wasn't that bad, but one of his good friends had a compound in his lower leg that sucked his sock back under his skin when they moved him, definitely one of the gnarlier leg breaks I've seen. That might be why I remember that weekend so vividly.

Bunker Hill is awesome, that off-camber is sweet, and the stepdown afterward is fun!

Mchenault, I forgot Monticello was on the west side of UT (I haven't been there in a while). I thought it was closer to you guys. Cedar City used to be a blast, can't speak for it now but it used to have really good dirt and was always well prepped.

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