Road Cycling Lake Tahoe recommendations?

I am planning a family trip to Lake Tahoe at the end of April. I would
like to take one day, rent a road bike and take a 50 to 100 mile day
trip.

I do bicycle in winter, but I would like to know what to expect.
I do hills, well New Jersey hills, anyway.
I would call myself a B- rider, but because I plan to go by myself, I
don't see how that matters.
I do own a tiny GPS, so I am not worried about finding my way home.

I would greatly appreciate any recommendations.

Thanks

Rick Poleshuck

wrote:

I am planning a family trip to Lake Tahoe at the end of April. I would
like to take one day, rent a road bike and take a 50 to 100 mile day
trip.

The basic loop around the lake is 72 miles.

I do bicycle in winter, but I would like to know what to expect.
I do hills, well New Jersey hills, anyway.

The lake is around 6200' and there are two major hills. At Emerald Bay
you climb to about 6800' and on the Nevada side before turning onto
Rte. 50 you get up to just over 7000'. Total elevation gain is about
3000'.

I would call myself a B- rider, but because I plan to go by myself, I
don't see how that matters.
I do own a tiny GPS, so I am not worried about finding my way home.

I can send you a GPS tracklog if you want.

Except for a section while climbing/descending the hill on the
Nevada side, you can stay pretty close to the lake.

In article .com,
wrote:
I am planning a family trip to Lake Tahoe at the end of April. I would
like to take one day, rent a road bike and take a 50 to 100 mile day
trip.

The loop around the lake (about 70 miles) is a classic ride. There is
traffic, but if you're used to biking on the east coast, you should be
able to handle it. The terrain is rolling hills; nothing serious.

On 14 Feb 2005 12:58:14 -0800, wrote:

I am planning a family trip to Lake Tahoe at the end of April. I would
like to take one day, rent a road bike and take a 50 to 100 mile day
trip.

I do bicycle in winter, but I would like to know what to expect.
I do hills, well New Jersey hills, anyway.
I would call myself a B- rider, but because I plan to go by myself, I
don't see how that matters.
I do own a tiny GPS, so I am not worried about finding my way home.

I lived and rode in NJ and the hills can be steep but they are usually
short. When you get into the Sierra, the hills can be miles long with
sections 10%.

For South Lake Tahoe, if you can make it from State Line to Emerald
bay, that would be a challenge. There is one hill close to the
viewpoint for Emerald Bay that is about ½ mi. and likely 9-10% in
sections. You can walk that.

wrote:
I am planning a family trip to Lake Tahoe at the end of April. I
would
like to take one day, rent a road bike and take a 50 to 100 mile day
trip.

I do bicycle in winter, but I would like to know what to expect.
I do hills, well New Jersey hills, anyway.
I would call myself a B- rider, but because I plan to go by myself, I
don't see how that matters.
I do own a tiny GPS, so I am not worried about finding my way home.


I love to cycle and I love Lake Tahoe. Others have commented on the
ride around the lake. I always avoid that because of the traffic.
There are other, much more enjoyable rides.

If you are staying in South Lake Tahoe try taking Pioneer Trail just a
few blocks west of the Casinos. It will bypass all the main drags and
its traffic and reach Highway 50. There is a stoplight there where you
can make a left on Hiway 50. Go less than a mile and make another left
on Hiway 89 (a two lane road). You will begin a long climb up Echo
Pass (~8000 elevation). There will be some traffic here but nothing
like the ride around the lake. After you go over the top enjoy a 20
mile downhill. Hiway 89 will 'T' with highway 88. Turn left at the T
and continue downhill into Nevada. Once in Nevada take 206 (left) to
207 (left) and you will begin another big ascent. There WILL be
traffic here on this ascent. When you crest that hill you will descent
back into Stateline Nevada, just east of the Casinos. This is about a
60 mile ride.

For a nice ride with virtually no traffic go south into Alpine County
and duplicate sections of the Death Ride route (Google "Markleeville
Death Ride" for route info).

Finally, let me add that there is an outstanding mountain bike trail
around the hills that rim Lake Tahoe. It's called the Rim Trail and
the local forest service can give you all the info.

Enjoy and I wish I was there to ride with you,
Tom

In article . com,
wrote:
Finally, let me add that there is an outstanding mountain bike trail
around the hills that rim Lake Tahoe. It's called the Rim Trail and
the local forest service can give you all the info.

Are bikes now allowed on the entire Tahoe Rim Trail? Last time I was
there, bikes were only allowed on the section of the trail in Nevada.
That is a real nice ride, even if you have to U-turn to get back to
your start.

On 14 Feb 2005 12:58:14 -0800, wrote:

I am planning a family trip to Lake Tahoe at the end of April. I would
like to take one day, rent a road bike and take a 50 to 100 mile day
trip.

Rick,

First and foremost check the weather. April may still be winter
around Lake Tahoe and you may have a fine spring day.

If you start in Truckee (North Shore of Lake Tahoe area) talk to John
at the BackCountry Bike/Ski store about rental road bikes and routes.
Contact them before you travel to make sure they have the rental bikes
out of winter storage.

Be aware that sand is used on the roads for winter traction and road
riding can be pretty unpleasant due to the sand under your tires and
being kicked up by cars.

Riding around the Lake is pretty but narrow roads and traffic make it
less than a great route.

The suggestion of riding the roads the Death Ride uses is a good one
if you start riding from South Shore.

If it's still winter around the Lake, and you're at the South shore
end consider Garderville/ Carson City/ Virginia City for routes.

If you start from the North Shore/ Truckee area consider an out and
back from Truckee over Donner Summit, down to Cisco Grove.

Also consider the Gold Lakes Loop. Satley, Bassets, Grey Eagle and
back to Satley. Make sure the road from Bassets to Grey Eagle is open
as they don't plow the snow off it in the winter.

Watch out for ice in the shade and have fun.

Al Sharff

I am planning a family trip to Lake Tahoe at the end of April. I would
like to take one day, rent a road bike and take a 50 to 100 mile day
trip.

The weather is the big question. End of April can be all over the map at
Tahoe, so I'd keep your plans very flexible. As another poster mentioned,
the roads might be a bit messy even if the weather is nice, due to sand.

*If* the weather was nice, I'd suggest the ride around the lake, even though
some say there are better rides in the area. It's not a really difficult
ride (someone said 3k feet of climbing, which isn't too much for a 72 mile
ride) and, if you do it clockwise, it's kinda cool that you'll always be
looking across the lake to either where you will be or where you've come
from.

I'm not sure how traffic is in April but, if the ski season is largely over,
my guess is that it would be fairly light. My experience has been that the
worst traffic is actually around Tahoe City (north shore), even though you'd
expect the worst issues to be around the dense South Lake Tahoe casino area.
Funny thing, though, even though there's a fair amount of traffic at the
south shore, it's never been a problem for me on a bike, while I've had
frequent near-misses around Tahoe City, primarily with older folk in very
big cars that don't think bikes should be there (and it's a two-lane road,
by the way).

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
IMBA, BikesBelong, NBDA member

wrote in message
oups.com...
I am planning a family trip to Lake Tahoe at the end of April. I would
like to take one day, rent a road bike and take a 50 to 100 mile day
trip.

I do bicycle in winter, but I would like to know what to expect.
I do hills, well New Jersey hills, anyway.
I would call myself a B- rider, but because I plan to go by myself, I
don't see how that matters.
I do own a tiny GPS, so I am not worried about finding my way home.

I would greatly appreciate any recommendations.

Thanks

Rick Poleshuck

C wrote:
In article . com,
wrote:
Finally, let me add that there is an outstanding mountain bike trail
around the hills that rim Lake Tahoe. It's called the Rim Trail and
the local forest service can give you all the info.

Are bikes now allowed on the entire Tahoe Rim Trail? Last time I was
there, bikes were only allowed on the section of the trail in Nevada.
That is a real nice ride, even if you have to U-turn to get back to
your start.

About half of it, including the section from Big Meadow (just below
Echo Pass) to Kingsbury Grade, my favorite part.

http://www.tahoerimtrail.org/trail_page.htm
http://www.tahoerimtrail.org/mountain_biking.htm

Like I said before, I wish I was there to ride it.

Tom

Weather is the biggest question here in Tahoe in April. Traffic is
moderate by then as the winter tourons are gone and the summer ones
haven't arrived yet. One clarification that may help if you take the ride
one poster mentioned out of the basin and down into Nevada: it's Luther
Pass *not* Echo that you're looking for, and 207 in Nevada is more
commonly known as Kingsbury Grade (11 miles from one end to the other, 8
of it uphill from the valley) There is actually a fair amount of road
pedaling, some less known than others, from mellow to why-the-hell-am-I-
doing-this. Lapping the lake is a nice ride I think, I've never had any
serious problems doing it. If you post a question again here in early
April, you can get an up to date weather report.

Eric