America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride

[bikergal]

Hi! My husband and I are training for AMBBR in June. I was wondering if anyone knows what the total amount of climbing is for this ride?
With all the rain that we have been having, I haven't been able to get as much hill training as I would like. We are doing the Primavera 100K this weekend and I'm hoping that will be a similar amount of climbing.

Shelley

[Bike Goddess]

Probably about 3000 feet total elevation gain. I've done this ride (on my own with another friend). It's not terribly difficult- perhaps the hardest part is getting up to the top of the Emerald Bay peninsula. That's short and steep. the Spooner Grade is long and gradual. Other than that it's mostly rollers.

The Primavera metric century should be fine for training. You'll get in some mileage. If you can do a metric, you can for sure do 72 miles!

I'll be doing the Primavera century ride. Not sure what I'll be wearing, but I'll be riding a black Scott bike. Not hard to miss as there aren't many of these bikes around (yet!). What about you and DH?

[SadieKate]

I've ridden the Tour de Tahoe version which is the same route.

Based on the info from http://www.bikethewest.com/AMBRR.html the climbing totals 4,400. It's not a difficult ride. If you take your time and drink lots you won't even notice the elevation. If you are training with hills, you'll do just fine.

The 72-mile America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride circumnavigates the highways clockwise around Lake Tahoe in both Nevada and California. It includes a challenging 800 foot climb to a rest stop overlooking Emerald Bay and a 1,000 foot climb to Spooner Junction. There are also many short rolling ascents and descents totaling over 2,600 vertical feet of elevation gain! The altitude ranges between 6,300 feet and 7,100 feet above sea level and the ride is recommended for conditioned recreational bicyclist, not for beginners.

[SadieKate]

Bikergal, I was just thinking. Are you doing the full 100 or the 72 mile version? Mailloitpois probably knows the additional climbing for the Truckee leg but but my best guess is the Primavera is about the same or more.

[Veronica]

We did the full 100 mile version in June of 2002. I show just over 4200 feet of climbing.

Personally I didn't think the leg out to Truckee was that great. We were on a bike path for a large portion of it. With so many riders a bike path is a dicey proposition. However, if a century is what you want, it's a nice one to do.

It was very cold when we started, below 30 degrees, so bring layers and full fingered gloves.

V.

[bikergal]

Nancy, I'll probably be wearing my red Tierra Bella jersey and I ride a blue specialized bike. DH rides a red specialized bike. I'll look for you. I'll probably be the one pushing my bike up the wall!

We are going to do the 72 mile ride. I heard that the out and back to Truckee was not that great so we decided to stick with the 72. Thanks for the info everyone!

Shelley