America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride

[Hill Slug]

Last Sunday, June 5th, I did America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride, up at Lake Tahoe. It's the main ride for Team in Training. So of the 3,000 riders, about 2,200 of them were TNT.

I didn't get up to the Lake until 2am Sunday morning. I went to see the Lion King Saturday night, and didn't get out of Sacramento till about 12 midnight-ish....So with a start time of 6am, I got up at around 4:45 - yes....I only had a couple hours of sleep. And let me tell you, I'll NEVER do that again before a ride.....
The air was clean, the sky clear, and the WIND was cold!!!!!! I left my jacket and knee warmers on the entire ride. And normally after the first climb that jacket is coming off. But the wind was cold all day. The first major climb, was Emerald Bay. It's only a few miles, but 7%+. Last year I walked a majority of the 3 passes. This year I only walked about 60 yards, so I got back on the bike just before the picture place, so they could take my picture on the bike!!! The rest stops were all pretty well stocked and of course the porta potties were crowded. But there were several campgrounds along the way, so you could stop there if you wanted to. I rode with 2 new riders, and helped them get through it. I was only happy about the wind on the last part of the Emerald Bay climb because I actually felt it push me up the hill. On some of the longer decents you had to pedal because the wind was against you - not nice. There was wind along the entire ride. The views of the lake were gorgeous as usual, and I wish I could have enjoyed that a little more. Because of the 2 lane road, I really had to focus on staying on the white line, and not get hit by any of the traffic. Also, it was hard for me to focus because I was so tired. I did stop at each rest stop to get some food and water, and that seemed to help me stay awake. Once we got to the Nevada side, we started the 8 mile Spooner climb, and I honestly thought I could just lay down on the side of the road and fall asleep. I was sooooo close to calling the SAG wagon, and I got upset with myself that I was letting my teammates down. I walked for maybe 1/2 mile and then got back on the bike and talked myself into just getting it done. So at about mile 2 of that climb, we stopped got water and gels, and we kept going. I tried to remember all the climbing mantras posted here, and I had some of the Lion King music going through my head too! Because of the altitude my breathing was labored, but I was able to find a beathing/pedaling rhythm, and that helped. When I got to the top of Spooner I just about cried.....Last year, I could only get up about half of it, and was SAG'd to the top. It really was an accomplishment for me. My companions came in about 15 min later. And I told them, ok, we've only got about 12 miles.....let's go. On the Spooner decent, there were incredible gusts of wind coming off the lake. It truly was scary. Normally I would have taken that decent at 30+, but I rode the brakes at about 18-20, it was that bad. And the gusts were coming from both sides. A few riders ended up walking their bikes down. I was really careful because I didn't want to end up on the side of the cliff.....But we all came to the finish line safely. I was so exhausted.....Went to dinner with another mentor at about 7, got back to the room and promptly fell asleep at 8:30 with my clothes on. Woke up at 1am, changed and got into bed.
All in all it was a nice ride. I would never ride around Tahoe alone. The road is just too narrow, and sometimes the drivers just don't want you there.....

Here's the elevation map:
http://bikethewest.com/Art/AMBBR-Elev.jpg

[SadieKate]

Congratulations! Sounds like you made some big improvements over your efforts last year. You should be proud!

Your write up brought back my memories of Tour de Tahoe a few years ago. I've lived in northern CA for 25 years and had never been to the Lake because of the crowds - just not my thing. Anyhoo, Petunia asked me to ride with her as hubby wanted to ride with a faster buddy. You're right - don't do it alone and only with an organized group. Some of those drivers are scary!

But the ride was beautiful, especially around the Emerald Bay side. That wind coming out of the tunnel near the end! Whoosh! Like hitting a brick wall! Sounds like you really persevered and stuck it this time! Good job!

[wabisabi]

Ah, my old stomping (and backcountry skiing and kayaking) grounds! I can remember that hill and feel the winds in your description. Good for you, what an accomplishment! I may just have to do the fall ride now...

[yellow]

I figured it'd be windy that day. It was super windy in Placerville the night before and day of. It's a very beautiful ride...glad you did so well!

I heard about a "beer can incident" from a friend that did the ride. Apparently some bozo in a truck hucked a full beer at a cyclist and the cyclist went down. Apparently they got the bozo and arrested him for assault or some such thing.

Sierra Century was tame by comparison. We just got the finger a few times.

I figure these folks are out of shape light-beer drinking smokers that are insecure about their health and are trying to make themselves feel better by trying to scare or otherwise annoy cyclists.

[CorsairMac]

way to go HS!........doesn't it give you a feeling of accomplishment to know you bested yourself from last year? Tell me about the winds - with our mountains and canyons there are days every direction is a headwind and sometimes I just want to cry. But when I tough it out oh what a feelin!

Thanks for sharing!