OK, Asia (and anyone else who would like to read it) ... here it is, my Tahoe ride
report, albeit quite late.
Bruce and I rode America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride in Tahoe on June 3. They
have a 35-mile ride, a 72-mile around-the-lake ride, and a century which adds an
up and back to Truckee. Perfect weather! There is good news and bad news
about this ride. First the bad news. I had ridden the century last year and knew
what to expect. This ride is a HUGE Team in Training event. There are a total
of 3,000 riders, and about 2,000 are Team in Training riders. It's a GREAT
cause, HUGE fund-raiser, and their comradarie is amazing and fun to be around, but
at the risk of sounding negative there is a very large number of newbies riding
their first 72-mile ride or first century. You can imagine what happens when you
have that many newbies riding in very large packs over mountain roads ... carnage.
And I mean LARGE packs, they take up the whole lane and it's very difficult
to get around them. I saw so many accidents last year because riders didn't hold
their lines. I was broadsided at one point (not bumped but full-force broadsided).
Fortunately we hit shoulders, didn't touch wheels & I stayed upright. The good news
is the SAG support and food are excellent and you can't get better scenery anywhere.
It's a drop-dead gorgeous and FUN ride!
This was Bruce's first time riding around the lake, and also his first 72-mile
ride, and I rode it with him. He did great! To avoid the accidents, we left at
5:30 a.m., which is 30 minutes before the official ride start. It was FREEZING
the first hour, my fingers were numb, but so worth it and the plan worked really
well. Because we left so early, we arrived at the 1st three rest stops early,
when they were opening, and we had an early lunch at rest stop #3. When
riders caught up to us they were fast & experienced riders. The newbies were
still behind us.
I think pictures will show more than I can describe. I'm attaching a link to
my Tahoe photo album. The photos also include a couple of other rides we did that
week before the ride around the lake so you'll see more of the area, including the
bike path to Truckee, which is part of the century ride.
I can highly recommend this ride, however I also highly recommend that you leave
at 5:30 a.m.. Here's the link:
http://www.fototime.com/inv/387AD161BE17B9D
You can click on the top left thumbnail & scroll through larger views with captions
at the bottom of most pics.