Bicycling Nevada, the look ahead

by Curtis Fong, the guy from Tahoe

In recent years, bicycling has become an integral part of attracting tourism to the state of Nevada. Bike the West was at the forefront of promoting bicycle tourism since 1992 and in 2018 continues to produce the 27th Annual America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride – Lake Tahoe, on June 3.

This ride attracts over 3000 participants and includes the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training participants with teams coming from over 50 different cities and regions across the country. Online registration is open through May 25.

Here is a look at other bicycling events coming up, and one of the biggest and best is at the top of the list:

Thursday May 18
South Lake Tahoe and Carson Valley will again host one of the most reputable stage races in the US with the Amgen Tour of California hosting Stage 2 of the Women’s Tour and Stage 6 (Finish) of the Men’s Tour. Mark your calendars for Thursday, May 18, with Start and Finish activities staged at the California base of Heavenly Mountain Resort.

Stage 2 of the Women’s Race empowered with SRAM will depart Heavenly’s California Base at 11 am and head out Pioneer Trail and the up and over Luther Pass (Hwy 89) as the first Queen of the Mountain points will be awarded. Then descending down to Hope Valley, turning east on Hwy 88 and descend Woodfords Canyon with a loop in Diamond Valley and then through the Carson Valley. The route will then put the Peloton on Foothill Road, under the shadow of Freel Peak to the base of Hwy 207 – Kingsbury Grade to climb up and over Daggett Pass with 2^nd QOM points and down to Hwy 50, come through Stateline to Ski Run Blvd. and climbing back up to finish in the Heavenly California Base. 67.1 mile with an approximate Finish time at 2:21 pm.

The Men’s Stage 6 will start from Folsom, CA at 9:40am and ride 122.1 miles racing up to Placerville, then on to Iron Mountain Road, connecting with Highway 88. Climbing over Silver Lake Grade, Carson Spur and Carson Pass. the Peloton will descend down to Hope Valley and down Woodfords Canyon and on Foothill Road through the Carson Valley and climb over Kingsbury Grade to the Finish at Heavenly. The approximate finish time is projected to be 3:41 pm.

Volunteers are also sought to assist on the roadway both in South Lake Tahoe and in the Carson Valley. Please visit: www.tahoesouth.com or www.visitcarsonvalley.org for more information and to volunteer.

The Alta Alpina Ray Rickard Memorial Spring Century will take place on Sunday, May 27 and non-members are invited to ride this annual spring event up and over Monitor Pass followed up with a club barbecue and social. Riding the Wild Sierra on June 30 offers a Metric Century, Century, 5 Pass Challenge and 8 Pass 200 mile Challenge.

The 2018 Death Ride – Tour of the California Alps, is slated for Saturday, July 14 and continues to offer 129 miles over 5 mountain Passes with 15,000 vertical feet of climbing. This event is a must do for any rider who likes to challenge their ability and fitness.

As for Mountain Biking: One organization to align with and become a member is TAMBA: Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association. TAMBA has been extremely active in trail building and maintenance in and around the Lake Tahoe basin with cooperative grants with the US Forest Service and other sources to create, engineer and build new trails annually. Trail building is a social affair and attract over 60 passionate volunteers on the their trail days.

One of the most Iconic Mountain Bike rides in the state of Nevada is the Tahoe Flume Trail high above Lake Tahoe departing from Spooner Lake State Park. climbing up to Marlette Lake and riding the Flume back to Incline Village, or vice versa. Depending on the amount of winter snow, the Flume Trail is accessible from June until the snow flies again. Max Jones, the founder and rehabilitator of the Flume Trail continues to rent mountain bikes at Flume Trail Bikes and provides return shuttle service out of Tunnel Creek Café in Incline Village.

The Flume Trail will also be included in the course for the Epic Rides Carson City Off Road Mountain Bike Race Series to be hosted in Carson City, June 15-17, 2018. This event is growing annually and is the premiere mountain biking event of the year in Northern Nevada, attracting visitors from all over the country as well as locals who want to test their mountain bike skills against the country’s best. Events for pros, amateurs as well as for kids. Make sure you mark your calendar to join in the fun and excitement of this Epic Rides Event in Carson City.

One of many volunteer groups that will be assisting in the Carson City Off Road event is Muscle Powered. Muscle Powered works to make Carson City healthier for all citizens and a safer and more accessible for bicycling and walking through education and advocacy, the promotion of bicycle and pedestrian friendly infrastructure, and developing and maintaining recreational trails throughout the city. They provide area biking & hiking maps, maintain trails and host weekly hikes and promote their Bike Month that includes the annual Tour of Carson City. Denis Coyne of Bike Habitat has been promoting this annual ride with Muscle Powered for several years and it’s coming up on Sunday, May 6, 2018. For more information on Muscle Powered and become a member, please visit: www.musclepowered.org

Speaking of iconic trails, Kudos to Nevada Department of Transportation and Tahoe Fund with the continuation of the Incline Village to Sand Harbor multi-use path that is currently being built. Granite Construction has built a parking lot near Tunnel Creek in Incline Village and is working on building the trail on the Lakeside of Hwy. 28 to connect with Sand Harbor. This will eventually eliminate vehicle parking on Hwy. 28 and providing a multi-use path for hiking and biking to the beaches on the east shore.

Tahoe Fund has just received confirmation from the Northern California Toyota Dealers of a $1 Million donation to add to their private donor funds to acquire a $12.5 Million Federal Grant to fund the 3 mile project. Learn how you can help make this a reality.

This multi-use path is to continue all the way up to Spooner Junction and back to Stateline, South Shore Lake Tahoe in the future with the Nevada “Stateline to Stateline” project that is currently adopted. From Stateline, South Shore, several phases are completed, including behind Lakeside Inn towards Edgewood Golf Club; Kahle Drive with a trailhead parking lot and multi-use path to Nevada Beach and from Nevada Beach to Round Hill Pines Resort.

One organization that you should join and support is the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition, an all volunteer organization dedicated to promoting bicycling, bike events, and new bicycle infrastructure such as bike paths and bike lanes throughout the Tahoe region. They continue to strive to help Lake Tahoe become more Bicycle Friendly.

The Coalition is responsible for the maintenance existing bike paths and assisting in grants and funding new bike paths in and around the Lake Tahoe Basin. The Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition with Tahoe Regional Planning Agency will be hosting their annual Bike Challenge – Bike to Work, School and Play June 1 – 14. A two week period where the community is challenged to ride their bikes and log their miles on to an official site to win prizes and recognitions for individuals, students as well as business teams and more. They produce the most comprehensive Bike Trail Map for Lake Tahoe and distribute them free as well as fund the Bike Safe Lake Tahoe bicycle safety multi-media campaign, annually, during the bicycling season at Lake Tahoe. They work with many partners in researching and recommending input on a variety of master plans transportation issues as well as Safe Routes to Schools and Complete Streets design qualities. For more information and to become a member of the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition, and to join the Bike Challenge, please visit: www.tahoebike.org

There are more clubs and organizations providing bicycling activities and advocacy in Nevada and include:

Procrastinating Pedalers of Reno Tahoe – www.pedalers.org

The Reno Wheelmen – http://www.renowheelmen.org

Southern Nevada Bicycle Coalition: http://www.snvbc.org

Las Vegas Valley Bicycle Club: https://www.lasvegasbikeclub.org

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