My sisters Kathy, Kris, and I signed up to do the America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride around Lake Tahoe—a distance of 73 miles. We arrived at our cabin in Meyers on Thursday afternoon, in order to have a few days to acclimate, and a light rain began to fall. By Friday morning, it was raining steadily, but the rain eased up enough by afternoon that we were able to go on a short hike.
Saturday was sunny and warm, so in the afternoon we took a 22 mile training ride over to Tahoe Sports in South Lake Tahoe to pick up our registration packets and "gift bags". This ride gives you a lot of schwag! A long sleeved tee shirt, commemorative patch, water bottle, a good map, and a ton of miscellaneous literature are all included in the price of the ride (approx. $100.) It took a bit of creativity to figure out how to carry all this stuff back to the cabin on our bikes.
Sunday morning, we were up at 5:00, pinning on our rider numbers, attaching helmet stickers, and putting on the obligatory purple wristbands. Compared to other century rides I have done, this one seemed especially intent on being able to easily identify cyclists participating in the event. Of course, I'm wearing my Oakland Yellowjackets jersey with pride.
On the course at 6:30 am. 49 degrees, and clear skies. Starting at the Horizon Casino in Stateline, we will be circumnavigating the lake in a clockwise direction. A few miles in, we have our first view of Lake Tahoe. It is beautiful in the early morning light, and the other side of the lake seems impossibly far away. Yet that is where we hope to be later on today.
We are stopped at an intersection to allow a fire truck and rescue vehicle onto the road. A few miles ahead, we pass a cyclist lying flat on her back, being attended to by paramedics. It is a sobering reminder for the rest of us to ride safely.
We pass by Camp Richardson, where we have been cautioned to be quiet, because campers may still be sleeping. I guess we are as quiet as you would expect 3,300 passing cyclists to be.
At Mile 9, we all must get off our bikes and pass single file through a check point, where they make sure we are wearing our numbers, helmet stickers, and purple wristbands. No “bootleggers” allowed on this ride!
The first climb of the day begins—500 feet of switchbacks up to a stunningly beautiful view down to Emerald Bay on the right, and Cascade Lake on the left. The altitude (6800') doesn't really seem to be noticeable, and the climb is similar to Wildcat Canyon in difficulty. The northbound lane of Highway 89 is closed to cars along this portion of the ride, which is really good, because there are quite a lot of us cyclists. I notice that I am passing more people than usual (usually, I pass no one on a climb!). Riders come from all over the country to do this ride, and probably they aren't used to contending with steep hills like the Yellowjackets do on a regular basis.
A fun descent to the first rest stop at Vikingsholm, which, thank goodness, has coffee. Then 300' of more climbing, followed by a descent, rollers, and flat to the second rest stop at Homewood. Salted boiled potatoes are my favorite food at this stop.
This ride has a lot of Team In Training riders—probably about 1,500 of them—from all over the country. They all wear identical jerseys, with the name of their state printed on the back. Each contingent has its own dorky little helmet decoration, an object representing their home state or city. I guess they do this so they can find each other in the sea of Team In Training jerseys at the rest stops. Maryland riders had little plastic crabs, Texas had miniature red cowboy hats, Washington D.C. had little styrofoam capitol domes…you get the idea. My sisters, who are from Sacramento, were kind of disappointed to see that the Sacramento unit had chosen plastic tomatoes for their helmet decorations.
At Mile 33 in Tahoe City, riders have an option to do an out-and-back to Truckee, if they want to ride 100 miles. We opted to stay along the lake. The weather is pleasantly warm by now, and the air is filled with the aroma of pine trees. As I was riding up Dollar Hill, I was surprised to hear someone behind me say "Laurie?" It was Michael, the "new guy" who has come on some of the Yellowjacket rides this year.
The lunch stop was in Kings Beach, where we ate our sandwiches on the beach, and looked back across the lake at the majestic snowy mountains. It seemed amazing that we had started our ride over there just four hours ago.
Good thing we didn't eat too much lunch, because there is another short climb right away, and we re-enter the state of Nevada. At Incline Village, we turn onto Lakeshore Dr., a shady, flat road with beautiful homes and landscaping. We turn right onto Highway 28, heading south. This is the most beautiful part of the ride. The lake is a clear azure blue, with rocky coves and enormous granite boulders We must keep at least one eye on the road along here, however, because there are large metal drainage grates which extend way out into the road, and could easily catch a wheel. We have been cautioned to ride around them.
It's pretty warm now at Mile 52, and time for the big climb of the afternoon—Spooner Junction. Six miles of steady climbing, 1,000’ elevation gain. This reminds of the Three Bears—not super steep, but it just goes on and on. I've been trying to drink plenty of water during the ride, and I hope it's been enough. Michael is right behind me, which is amazing considering he's had some mechanical problems, and can only ride in the middle chain ring. I am, of course, in double granny mode. Everyone is really happy to make it to the final rest stop at the 7,044' summit.
Now for the payoff7—a five mile descent (40 mph.- fast for me) and through Cave Rock Tunnel. There are more of those pesky grates along this stretch of road, so we must concentrate on riding with care. As this is a busy four lane highway, I appreciate the many bright orange "BIKE EVENT" signs placed along the road. Signage and CHP / NHP support has been plentiful throughout this entire ride.
After Zephyr Cove, there are rollers featuring several more short hills. I'm definitely getting tired; I haven't gone this far on my bike since last summer. We round a bend, and the high rise casinos come into view—the end is in sight! Just a few miles more, and we turn in to the Horizon Resort parking lot, and the end of our ride. It's about 1:30; we've gone 73 miles and climbed 2,600 feet. The ride concludes with a barbeque and pool party that my sisters and I decide to forgo in favor of a shower and some cold Racer 5's back at the cabin.
This is a great ride, and I highly recommend it. It is the most professionally produced ride I have ever done. The event is put on by Bike the West. They have two rides annually; America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride in June, and Tour de Tahoe which will be held on Sept. 12 this year.
Here's the route map: