Monday, September 14, 2009

Tour de Tahoe – “Bike Big Blue” ride (73 miles)

This Sunday’s ride was the Tour de Tahoe – Bike Big Blue ride around Lake Tahoe. The 72 mile loop circumnavigates the lake and is a moderate ride with somewhere between 2600 and 4500 feet of climbing, depending on whether you go by the official website or bikely.com’s elevation calculation. I’m going to guess it’s about 3500 feet of climbing total, over mostly rolling terrain, a couple of notable climbs, and several fast descents.

I got a relatively early start on Sunday morning.. was in the Horizon parking lot by 7 and crossing the start line by 7:05. We had had thunder storms the previous day, but Sunday morning was relatively clear and just a bit chilly. Outside of South Lake Tahoe, around mile 10, we began the first major climb of the day up towards the top of Emerald Bay. Driving around the lake, this is the sketchiest stretch of road. It’s very narrow, no shoulder, steep drop-offs, switchbacks, etc. Near the top there’s a narrow finger of highway with the bay on one side and Cascade lake on the other:

From Tour de Tahoe


On the bike it was actually not too bad. It was early enough that there were very few cars on the road, and there were only one or two short sections that were steep. The first rest stop was just past the top of the climb, at the parking lot for Vikingsholm Castle. This is a cool historic house that offers guided tours (I’ve toured this house before on a prior visit).

The next stretch of the route was really easy, with a long descent and then a flat section through the second rest stop at Homewood. Past Homewood the route continues through Tahoe City with an annoying but short climb up Dollar Hill. This was the stretch where I was feeling a little bit of the altitude, as the lake is at 6200 feet and the highest point of the route is at about 7100 feet.

Lunch was at Kings Beach, at mile 42. It wasn’t anything fancy, but they had subs, chips, cookies, and a pretty nice view.

After the lunch stop we cruised through Incline Village and Crystal Bay (amazing mansions lining the lake there) and then began the long slog up toward Spooner lake. This climb shouldn’t have been that tough – it was only 1000 feet gain over 7 miles or so, but in the heat of the day it was a bit rough. At the summit there was one last rest stop and then more or less 12 miles of descent to the finish line.

The organized ride was pretty good, but this route would be well-suited to a self-supported ride. Most of the southern and western shores have a dedicated multi-use path just off the highway, with the exception of the portion around Emerald Bay. The Nevada side has a bike lane almost the entire way. And there are plenty of little towns all along the route for food and services.