See You Down the Road!
by Curtis Fong “the Guy from Tahoe”
June bicycling events and activities will be kicking into high gear this month with a variety of opportunities. The Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition will kick off its annual Tahoe Bike Challenge in partnership with TRPA June 1-14. This event challenges individuals and teams to get out of the gas-burners and ride bikes to work, school or play and log miles for prizes. Join in and register here.
June 1 features Tahoe City Clean Up Day from 8:30 am till Noon meeting at Commons Beach, followed by South Lake Tahoe community bike path clean up on Monday June 3, 5 – 8 pm, starting from multiple locations with a Happy Hour Celebration to follow.
Get outdoors and enjoy what our beautiful state has to offer and join in the activities that continue to make riding a bike in Nevada a fulfilling experience. See you down the Road!
You just finished climbing the mountain on your mountain bike. Perspiration soaks your shirt, and your body aches from the long climb up. You now claim your prize and head down the mountain. The wind whips through your hair. The bike shakes from the rocky trail, as your Rock Shocks absorb the bumps.
You may be one of many mountain bikers surprised by the number of trails available for riding in the Pahrump area, for Pahrump is better known for off-roading with motorized vehicles.
Black Rock Desert Project: Jungo Rd to Jackson Creek Ranch Rd
by Kurstin Graham
This year I am taking on a project to write a guide for touring The Black Rock Desert – High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area (NCA). While it seems to be a no-brainer that this is a hot spot for adventure touring the current BLM literature makes no specific reference to travel by bicycle.
For many people I get it, the vast harsh desert seems like an unlikely touring destination. But not for my tribe of adventure cyclists, so let me be your guide.
I have identified four major routes in or along the NCA that can serve as the basis for any number of trips. Out of Gerlach to the North west is Co Rd 34 to Vya. Out of Gerlach to the east is Jungo Rd. Up the middle to the north is Soldier Meadows Rd. And a slash from south east to the north west is the Applegate-Nobles Emigrant Trail.
This ride follows the southern and eastern edge of the NCA on Jungo Rd to the ghost town of Sulphur then turns north on Jackson Creek Ranch Rd. I chose an arbitrary turn around point near the turn off before Red Butte Canyon and Bonita Spring.
Mountain biking is becoming quite the individual or family recreational sport in Lincoln County. That is due primarily to the new trails that have been and those still being constructed under the leadership of the International Mountain Bicycling Association.
Local biking enthusiast Christine Harrington said, “The mountain bike network in Caliente now consists of 22 miles of custom-built single track.
“Kershaw-Ryan State Park recently completed construction of an exciting new flow trail, which is friendly to both beginning and more advanced riders,” she said.
Fears, Tears and Beers in Ely
Ely is probably the greatest bicycling destination you’ve never heard of, with miles of mountain bike trails easily accessible and two sterling events. Fears, Tears, and Beers the original and longest running Enduro Mountain Bike Race in the USA, is scheduled for June 8th this year.
The race begins with bicyclists careening through two local casinos before climbing into the surrounding hills and racing to the top of the mountain. Then they turn around and race down again, timed through a variety of sprints and twisty downhills, and these times add up to determine the winner.
