Trail Rides

ON THIS PAGE:
Friday | Saturday | Sunday

Friday:
There will be an experts-only ride on Friday, on a trail called Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (see some pictures!). This ride involves over 1800' of climbing, topping out at around 8900'. That's very high altitude, and on very technical terrain. Distance is over 10 miles (but feels like more), with no shortcuts if you bonk. If you would like to join this ride, contact ride leaders Nathan Hoover or Bruce Bundy.

We will start the ride with a delicious (none of us has ever been there) breakfast at Frank's Restaurant: 1207 Hwy. 50 (about 1/4 mile south of the "Y"), South Lake Tahoe. (530) 544-3434, See a menu and map at tahoemenus.com. We'll meet at 9am, eat, then drive a short distance to the bottom of the ride where we consolidate cars for the shuttle after the ride. The ride will last approximately from 11:30 to 5:30, so bring PLENTY of water, food & repair equipment. Make sure your unicycle is in TOP working order - this ride eats unicycles. Last but not least: helmet, arm/leg armor, gloves or wrist protectors, more than just a good idea for this ride.

Detailed topo Toads map.

Saturday:
We will ride the trails of Northstar at Tahoe, a ski/mountain bike resort. We had a great time at Northstar in 1997 as you can see at right. Lifts will take us up the mountain to an elevation about 8000', where we can then ride down a variety of scenic and/or gnarly trails, at different levels of difficulty. We will meet back at the village around noon for our pre-made lunches. There will be a big mountain bike downhill race there that day, so we'll get to mix it up with the mainstream cycling world a bit. We also hope to have our own competitions, consisting of an uphill race, and/or a singletrack time trial. Maybe more.

Northstar's trails vary from wide, fairly smooth dirt roads to gnarly, rocky singletrack. You will receive a trail map that will be color coded with the different levels of trails. Groups will set out together to take various routes down the mountain.

See some Northstar trail maps on the Maps page.

Sunday:
We will ride the world famous Flume Trail, high above Lake Tahoe. This trail gives panoramic views of the lake from its eastern shore. The ride is not technical, but the altitude and distance may make it too much for some. It's about 14.5 miles, at altitudes ranging from 6300 to 7800 feet, with a relatively gradual 500' climb (it starts around 7300'). You must be very confident in your ability to ride at least 15 miles because there are no shortcuts out of this ride. If you've never ridden at high altitude, remember this will affect you.

The riding surface on much of the trail tends to be sandy, so you'll appreciate wider tires rather than narrow ones. As mentioned, there are only a few technical sections, but if you're afraid of heights you might also want to think twice about this ride...

We are working on alternate easier rides for people not up to the Flume Trail. One possibility will be walking up the trail from the end, to ride part or all of the Flume from the end, then reversing and riding back down. But this involves a more climbing than riding the trail from the beginning. We also have some leads on trails around Spooner Lake, Donner Lake, or the Emigrant Trail. We'll try to get more details on those rides. For those not wanting to ride, the trail ends very near to the Ponderosa Ranch. This was where the TV shows Bonanza and Ponderosa were filmed between 1959-1973, and is an interesting tourist place with lots of activities.