Tahoe Loop Ride.

It's been a while since I just got out for a ride.  The honest truth is most of my riding is for transportation purposes.  I ride to work, I ride to the store, I ride to get to social outings.  A ride, just for the sake of riding however, just doesn't happen as often as it should (although I'm getting better).  So thanks to my buddy Chia, I found myself headed for Truckee early Sunday morning for a huge greasy breakfast in Truckee and a loop around the lake.

We choose to head out from Tahoe City and ride in a clockwise fashion.  This way you can look out at the lake all day long without having to look across traffic.  Technically it also shaves like 4 miles off the ride just be being on the inside of the "circle"!

I'll go with my typical picture and comments for the ride.

We had an absolutely beautiful morning to start the ride.

The views along the whole ride were just terrible! 

There is a bit of climbing on the route...~4000 ft.  But you hardly notice it because you're staring at world class views while you do it!

Did I mention pristine meadows?

More climbing.  Chia wasn't loving this one.

After about 40 miles we just happen (totally not by accident) to end up at the brewery in South Lake Tahoe right at lunch time.  Pizza and beer readied us for the climb up over Emerald Bay.

A side shot of Emerald Bay....I can't say you won't notice the climb here....but it's mostly down hill from here on out!

The last 10 miles or so back to Tahoe City are all on separated bike paths....nice shade and beautiful trees.

It is worth noting that while much of the route has adequate shoulders, bike lanes, and even separated bike infrastructure, there are multiple places where you'll be riding right on the white line on the edge of the road with less than a foot of wiggle room between you and some serious drop offs.  So this probably isn't a great route for less experienced riders unless you want to just do certain portions.

However, traffic is pretty light this time of year (before tourist season) and hitting it on a Sunday doesn't hurt either.  So if your a moderately confident rider and you want to put some beautiful miles under your belt, get out and hit the Tahoe loop while the weather's mild!