LAKE TAHOE RIDE REPORT - THE LAST DAY!

Well - my plan a couple hours ago was to wax poetic (or at least lengthy) on the remarkable weekend (ok - week) that we've had here in Lake Tahoe.

What's that saying about "best laid plans" again"?

Here's a few random thoughts about the last 6 days instead.......

The Ride was a complete success no matter your definition of that......everyone rode well, we raised a ton of $, the BikeFace Spirit was strong, there were 33 new riders out of 85 (!!!!!), the new venue was a complete turnaround from the smelly, dark casino of last year (even if we had to re-locate the Bike Room 3 times!), no one got hurt, the spirit and passion and fervor and power of this Thing We Have Going was in full evidence from the get go........this one goes squarely in the "Win" column!

Y'all * can rest assured that our Team & Chapter were well represented as well - in quality if not quantity. New Rider Roy Logan had a complete blast, rode great, met a buncha folks and could be observed soaking up the Whole Ride Experience pretty much 24/7.

Patti "Pea" Bills & Jeremy rocked the Bike Room, much as you'd expect and despite my fumbling attempts to assist. Speaking of your erstwhile reporter.....the reviews were kind regarding my appearances @ the mic and I managed to not fall offa my bike so I guess I held up my end.

The more I think about it the more I think this might well be the best non-DV option for us to consider. Here's why:
The hotel is great.
The town is as well.
The ride is staggeringly scenic on a regular basis.
The lack of a 100 mile option takes that pressure away.
The timing is good - no trying to stay fit into Oct or Nov.
The road surfaces are generally pretty good.
The food stops are plentiful and well-stocked. (boiled redskin 'tators anyone?)
Did I mention the views?

Now - in the interest of full disclosure I can think of a few downsides:

No 100 mile option.
The route isn't the easiest....the climb up the switchbacks is the toughest bit on any current JDRF course. But it's short, maybe 1/2 mile? The other climb - up to Spooner Summit on the backside of the course @ mile 54 - is Jubilee Pass Light......long (5-ish miles) but not steep and it offers a few flat or even slightly downhill sections to recover.
The traffic is pretty significant......especially 'tween the 2nd stop @ mile 24-ish 'til you turn offa Highway 50 back towards the lake @ about mile 48.
Although the Embassy Suites is in CA, the smelly hell of NV and the low-rent Vegas wanna-be of South Lake Tahoe is literally across the street. (I realize that may not be such a downside for everyone!)

So - not to be looking past DV or Tucson (unofficial Teammie Mary-from-Chicago signed up for Tahoe today!) but I'd put Tahoe strongly in the "should be considered" catagory.

Today was awesome, by the way. Lotsa warm fuzzies @ breakfast then we hit it.....HARD! By lunchtime we could see that our hoes of having all the bikes boxed today was a real possibility so we treated ourselves to a great lunch (best fish tacos of the trip!) and then back at it 'til I had the extreme pleasure of taping the last box shut @ exactly 6:00pm.

All we hafta do tomorrow morning is pack up our tools and workstands and parts and misc crap, make sure all the boxes have packing labels on 'em and check out. We're gonna take the long way outta here - drive the route around the lake /cuz Patti hasn't seen it yet,grab lunch somewhere on the other side of the lake and then it's off to Reno, then Vegas to join some other Velo-Citizens (and Nicole!) for a couple days @ the Big Bike Show.

So - thanks for reading this, since that means that you care.

And thanks for caring, since that means you rock!

This is Rm 822, signing off from Lake Tahoe for the last time this year. Next stop on the Ride to Cure Tour is Death Valley - in about a month!

Let's get it on!

Yours,
Coach Mike

*been hangin' around St Clair too much!