Going to Tahoe (the 1st time). Seeking advice.

mudworm · 09-11-2009

I know, I know. I can use search and I have done it. But I'm so psyched about it that I just have to make a shout out of my own. Plus, any advice I get in this thread will be custom tailored, which is even better.

We'll be there for three days, staying in S. Lake Tahoe on Saturday and Sunday nights.
Saturday: Will drive up in the morning. Plan to ride TRT from Kingsbury to Spooner Lake and back. Is that a good intro to Tahoe riding?
Sunday: Want to get more mileage in, and don't mind the footage. What would be a good (scenic and fun) route not too far from S. Lake Tahoe? I'm not a technical rider, but don't mind the technical stuff. Any suggestions?
Monday: Going up to Truckee to ride HITG with a friend before driving back to the Bay Area.

slide mon · 09-11-2009

I think you'd be better off doing it from Spooner To Kingsbury and back. Spooner to the bench is a good warm up, then you have a fun technical descent to Kingsbury, a challenging climb back to the bench and a cruise back to Spooner.

Going from Kinsgury to the bench and back you could end up demoralized by the technical climb at the beginning of the ride, being a bit bored mid ride (bench to spooner and back), and hitting the fun technical descent when you're tired at the end of the ride.

-slide

Passenger13 · 09-11-2009

Like Slide said, the way to ride is Spooner Summit to Kingsbury. For Saturday try riding the TRT from Big Meadow (near Myers on Hwy 89) up to Armstrong Pass then down Upper Corral Connector to Lower Corral to Powerline. This will put you out on Oniedas Rd. Ride that road to Pioneer Trail Rd, go left then left on Hwy 50 (there is a bike path on the left) into Myers. Watta Bikes will shuttle you up to your car for $10 back at Big Meadow. I suggest carrying a trail map to keep you straight on the directions. HITG is a fun trail as well. I start that ride off of the Soda Springs exit and take Snow Laboritory Rd into the parking lot at Boreal Ski Resort, take the overpass (over Hwy 80) and up to HITG. That way you end the ride near your car. Enjoy

nutballchamp · 09-11-2009

Another great ride is to park at Big Meadow and take the TRT to PCT. Turn back and head down Xmas valley. At the bottom of Xmas take a right on the road, cross 89 and continue up to Big Meadow.

mudworm · 09-11-2009

Thanks for the great tips! Notes have been taken. Even if I don't get to all these rides this time, my friend says for sure I will want to return once I had a taste of Tahoe.

I also found some information about Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (loop). It looks like route finding is simple. That might be an option for Sunday. We'll see.

poff · 09-11-2009

Just a word of caution - bring your knee/elbow guards. It is rocky out there.

nachomc · 09-11-2009

If you want some more mileage, you could ride the Donner Lake Rim trail up to Summit Lake and back down when you do HITG.. That has some incredible riding.

J · 09-11-2009

I went up there for the first time this past weekend, previous trips to Northstar notwithstanding.

Considering all the granite, absolute heaven for me. Loved it. Did Hole on Tuesday with Knobbyknees and we had a blast.

However, pace yourself because of the altitude. Plan, take water, maps, medkit and food. Perhaps that's obvious, but hey, you asked!

bailout · 09-11-2009

Spooner to Kingsbury

One of my favorite sections of the TRT. Do it.

Sunday: Mount Rose (Tahoe Meadows to Marlette Lake via TRT then loop back via flume and back up TRT to Tahoe Meadows). Lots of miles, lots of scenery, moderately technical. Just make sure it's an "even" day.

Have fun!

3034 · 09-12-2009

Heads Up First timer:
High Elevation, Soft DG trails, plenty of front tire lifting over rocks, lots of upper body work in the tech sections.
TAHOE MILES are 1.5-2x as tiring as riding elsewhere.
Its the only place I use and love the small ring

Truckee Trash · 09-12-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by bailout

Spooner to Kingsbury

One of my favorite sections of the TRT. Do it.

Sunday: Mount Rose (Tahoe Meadows to Marlette Lake via TRT then loop back via flume and back up TRT to Tahoe Meadows). Lots of miles, lots of scenery, moderately technical. Just make sure it's an "even" day.

Have fun!

Just did that last weekend. . . skipped the Flume section and came in on the backside of Marlette. . . but then we had the downhill to the lake where we dropped the other car. It was stupid fast going down that section of trail.

mudworm · 09-15-2009

Again, thanks all for sharing your knowledge. We ended up doing nothing as planned. I "blame" it on friends. The hubby and I were to stay with three friends in S. Lake Tahoe on Saturday and Sunday nights. Since all of them are way more experienced than me, I figured I would just drag my poor hubby with me for our proper introduction to Tahoe riding while they do their more advanced stuff. Well, despite having stayed in Placerville on Friday night, they had such a late start on Saturday morning that we caught them having breakfast at Gateway Cafe in Meyers. It all went downhill from there once they convinced us to ride with them.

Saturday: Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (loop). We parked at the north end of Saxon Creek Trail and used Upper Truckee Road (mostly parallel to Hwy 89) to Big Meadow for a warm up. It rained a little when we were on the road and stopped before we hit the trail, so it was perfect. I got off my bike occasionally on the climb due to big rocky step ups and also walked a couple of gnarly descent sections. It was really nice to end the ride right at the car. A super fun ride over all.

Sunday: Kingsbury->Spooner->Kingsbury. I would totally have followed your sound advice to start the ride from Spooner, but our friends were not interested in going all the way to Spooner and mainly wanted to work on the section between Kingsbury and the Bench (bike snobs!). So, we started with them, but the hubby and I pushed on when they turned around. I enjoyed the entire trail both ways, but in my hubby's words, the sight after we dropped down to Spooner trailhead was a bit anti-climatic because all you see is a big paved parking lot.

Monday: We met up with another friend in Truckee. She took us on a trail that I could not find any information about online. It's always fun to explore some lesser known local trails and we figured we could always ride HITG on our own some other day. It was a short loop (only around 9 miles), but it was the toughest ride for me on this trip. There is definitely a 2x factor here. The trail is either under deep loose dirt, or loose rocks, or both mixed. Not very steep on the climb (steeper on the descent at sections), but it took a lot of energy out of me just to pedal on the constant moving and shifting surface. The trail was pretty much all ride-able (no big step ups), but I had to get off the bike many times simply because I could not regulate my heart rate any more. I guess the trail is name Animal Trail for a reason. The view at the summit was spectacular.

We had a great time riding with our friends. The hubby thoroughly enjoyed sessioning the technical stuff with the other three, who are obsessed with that stuff. They would work on almost all the technical sections. It's not unusual that they take turns and each makes a dozen attempts at one spot. You have to watch to believe it; it's amazing to watch them trying, and getting, the very tall rocky step-ups (sometimes multiple in a row) that I would have thought humanly impossible. Most of the time though, I would leave them and ride ahead alone to find my own baby projects to work on. It's all about pushing your own limit, isn't it?

That's my first trip to Tahoe. Can't wait to go back!