Anyone doing the Tahoe ride on Sunday?

[ROJA]

I am planning to do the 72-mile Tahoe loop. http://bikethewest.com/AMBBR.html

[exhorserider]

I am! doing the 100 mile with Team in Training

[ROJA]

I am not registered and it is sold out. I hope they don't turn me away (there is apparently a CHP checkpoint).

[jonathanb715]

I am! doing the 100 mile with Team in Training

Cool - which team did you train with? I know several of the coaches for the SF region Tahoe and STP teams (they had me helping with SAG on the last ride on Saturday).

JB

[exhorserider]

I actually trained with the east side Los Angeles team (Andy Popinski is our coach) because I go to school down there, but back up in norcal for the summer

[Knubby]

I am not registered and it is sold out. I hope they don't turn me away (there is apparently a CHP checkpoint).

We tried to sign up at least a month ago and it was already sold out. We are doing for the 9/20 100K Tahoe Sierra Century.

[Ty.S]

How many events are there in Tahoe?? I know there is one later.. possibly the 9/20?
Anybody have any info on these events? I've always wanted to do an event in Tahoe.

[parity]

There is Tour De Tahoe - Bike Big Blue on 9/7. Tahoe Sierra Century on 9/20. AMBBR is this weekend. They may have same day registrations based on no shows, see the following URL:

http://www.bikethewest.com/AMBBR.html

There's nothing stopping you from riding around the lake any time. My wife and I have done Tour de Tahoe two years in a row. Its put on by the same people as AMBBR except its only around Lake Tahoe (72 miles) with less participants.

[ROJA]

I thought so, too, but check this out:

Road Closure: Northbound Highway 89 - Emerald Bay Road will be closed from 6:15am to 8:45am, to through traffic allowing only registered participants on the course. Registered riders must display their Helmet Sticker, Special Wristband and Participant number (on back) to be allowed on the course. All unregistered riders and vehicles, except for official and emergency vehicles, will be held by the California Highway Patrol until the roadway re-opens.

[BlastRadius]

AMBBR should be renamed the Team in Training Jamboree. Last couple of times I rode it, most of the participants were from Team in Training from all across the country.

There should also be a contest for "Best Team Helmet Adornment".

[Ty.S]

How many usually show up for the Tour de Tahoe? I've seen a few of the jerseys around.. I guessed it was popular, maybe not? The one time I rode in Tahoe I was in northbeach and the shoulder was pretty gnarly, but I have no idea what it would be like for the rest of the lake.

[murphstahoe]

How many events are there in Tahoe?? I know there is one later.. possibly the 9/20?
Anybody have any info on these events? I've always wanted to do an event in Tahoe.

turns out the roads are open .... "every day". OK, sometimes they are closed due to snow.

I recommend (because I am a grouch) that you not bandit the event. The roads there can barely accommodate the number of cyclists registered for the event. This event is extremely dangerous in my opinion due to the large number of riders on the narrow shouldered roads that are shared with large amounts of tourist traffic in automobiles and narrow minded locals.

They cannot - as far as I know - disallow you from riding on the roads without an event registration. They can keep you from eating their food, but that's it. This is different from the Death Ride, where the roads are closed for the event and as such only persons registered for the event can use the road.

Be careful out there. Other obstacles of note. The early descent off of Emerald Bay is extremely fast - I have ridden down it at 50 MPH. There will be talented riders who will reach these speeds. The problem is there will be a lot of less talented riders afraid to take it above 15 MPH on this winding descent. That mixture of speeds can be a problem. Typically riders sort themselves out before such obstacles, but this event is notorious for slower riders worried about finishing the event who start 1-2 hours before the course officially opens. A large part of this is from the large TNT contingents from outside California/Nevada who are legitimately worried about how they will handle the climbs, since they are not from areas with hilly terrain. The result is the riders off the front for the official time reach the descent at the same time as the riders who started at 5 AM. And the technical nature of the rapid descents turn out to be a bigger concern for those from the flatlands than the anaerobic nature of the climbs. Events always see some riders take off before the course opens, but it's usually onesy-twosy. For this event, 50 TNT riders who came up together from Florida might depart 1 hour early en masse. God bless them, but the law of unintended consequences cannot be ignored. For those of you riding TNT from NorCal, I have not seen such "bad behavior" from the local groups but the NorCal groups tend to have much better coaching given the strength of the local cycling community. Just my opinion, YMMV.

Another note. Maybe they have improved, but Bike the West is extremely cheap. The entry fee for this event is very high, yet somehow they always end up running out of food at the lunch stop, and the last time I gave them a chance, they ran out of water on Spooner Summit. Carry an emergency power bar and keep your bottles full.

[murphstahoe]

I thought so, too, but check this out:

I spoke too soon. This is a very good idea.

[murphstahoe]

AMBBR should be renamed the Team in Training Jamboree. Last couple of times I rode it, most of the participants were from Team in Training from all across the country.

There should also be a contest for "Best Team Helmet Adornment".

Heh, I should have read the whole thread and responded in one shot.

This ride has become the TNT jamboree for a very good reason. Bike the West (Worst). They charge 2x what typical club centuries charge and then run out of food and water. The non TNT cyclists abandoned the event. In order to make their $$$ (BTW is a for profit enterprise) they started marketing the event heavily to TNT, especially out of state groups attracted to the scenery and challenge level of the event. The TNT groups have not abandoned the ride because they typically have additional TNT support out on the course. Generally this is good (unless you need water and a TNT van refuses to give you some) but sometimes the supporters will stop at random spots on the side of the road where there is no shoulder. Another dangerous feature of this ride.

[ROJA]

Did it yesterday (the 72). Great ride, and much more scenic now than it was when I did it last September. We ended up able to buy registrations from others, so we were even 100% legit. Tough ride, I considered the century for about 30 seconds and was very glad that I didn't do it.

[exhorserider]

Did the ride on Sunday (full century). It was a lot of fun and not as hard as I had imagined; our (LA) team was well prepared! Here's a picture from the finish line.

[BlastRadius]

Looking good. You're in the center, correct? What was your team's helmet adornment?

[ROJA]

I thought it was a gorgeous ride, but not easy despite having minimal climbing (compared to the Bay Area). I finished in 5:55 (including stops) In fact, at least three or four riders actually finished the entire century before I finished my 72 miles!

[exhorserider]

It is a Hollywood sign because were were the greater Los Angeles team. (but I'm in the bay for the summer- from here originally). Yeah, I finished in about 8 hours including stops but my rolling time was 6 hrs 30 min. Between the regrouping and lunch and bathroom lines and picture stops it ended up being longer :-)

[exhorserider]

and yeah, I'm the one in the middle. :-)

[ROJA]

Sounds like our average speed was about the same (mid 15s), only you did it for 28 extra miles! Nice job! BTW, your riding companions look like very very nice people. I'll bet you enjoyed spending 8 hours with them! ;)

[ROJA]

Here are my stats, in case anyone is interested: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5896495

[exhorserider]

Are you sure the elevation gain is accurate? I thought around the lake was <3000 ft and with truckee it was 3000 ft

[ROJA]

Are you sure the elevation gain is accurate? I thought around the lake was <3000 ft and with truckee it was 3000 ft

You are right. Motionbased is notorious for overestimating climbing. The actual gain was probably around 2500' or maybe a little more.

[exhorserider]

yeah that sounds right... as much as I wish that the climb I did was what it said :-)