Riding in Tahoe/Truckee Area

[false_Aest]

Folks,

Friend's 40th on the 12th. His wife is renting a nice pad in Truckee for the weekend.

Someone hook me up with some loops?

~20-40 miles would be great.


Thanks!

[Bob Ross]

I was just out riding in Truckee last year... um... now if only I could remember where we got our routes! Let me poke around in my archives when I get home tonight, I'll see if I saved anything.

I do recall it was gorgeous and fun riding out there.

[foo_fighter]

Road, Mountain or Gravel?

Folks,

Friend's 40th on the 12th. His wife is renting a nice pad in Truckee for the weekend.

Someone hook me up with some loops?

~20-40 miles would be great.


Thanks!

[false_Aest]

Road please.

[foo_fighter]

There is a nice trail that starts from Squaw Valley and goes down to Tahoe City where you can grab a bite to eat or some ice cream, etc.
http://www.tahoecitypud.com/assets/bike_trail_map.pdf

If you want to do some climbing, stay right down 89 and hit this:

https://thetahoeweekly.com/2014/07/tahoe-time-road-biking-heaven-barker-pass/

There are some loops near Donner lake and up to Donner Summit too:
http://www.arounddonnersummit.com/activities/cycling.html

[bikingshearer]

Road please.

Highway 89 south to Tahoe City and back is about 30 miles, IIRC. Gentle up going south, gentle down coming back. Very steady grade (1% to 2% at most) along the Truckee River; very pretty, and Tahoe City has plenty of eateries for mid-ride refueling. :D The downside is it is heavily trafficked. The shoulders are downright luxurious virtually the entire way, so it is safe, but the cars can be a bit annoying.

My recollection of the ride over Brockway Summit (Hwy 267, I think) to the middle of the north shore of Lake Tahoe is that it is not pleasant - all the traffic, very little of the shoulder. That's too bad, because otherwise the loop of Brockway Summit/north shore of the Lake/Hwy 89 back to Truckee is great.

If you take the main street of Truckee out of town to the west, you will go along Donner Lake and eventually climb (and I do mean climb) up to Old Donner Summit (the one that the Lincoln Highway and old US 40 went over, not the place where I-80 crosses over). I have ridden this downhill, but not uphill. Based on that, I can tell you it is (1) challenging and (2) drop-deal gorgeous, with views to kill for. This one of the most beautiful roads anywhere. There are no shoulders to speak of, but the lanes are wide enough so that you can defend yourself. The traffic varies.

[Hindmost]

Highway 40 is pretty cool. Some local traffic, not too bad. It's super scenic. You can go up the hill to the summit and then down the other side (less steep than the east side) as many miles as you choose and then come back. Some provisions available along the way.

You can go around Donner Lake on the southside through the state park, cars can't go through, and see some quiet neighborhoods while avoiding some traffic.

Middle of summer, weekend? I would avoid the major roads in the Tahoe area. Now mountain biking... The LBS, Paco's, can provide local knowledge.

[bart998]

As I recall it's about 70 miles or so to do the complete loop around the lake. Some great climbing and awesome views around Emerald Bay. A little busy/traffic through So. Lake Tahoe, route 50 past the casinos.

[pdmtong]

Forget the road. Go to north star for lift assisted downhill. Plenty of trails for all abilities. Bike rental includes full face and armor. Going downhill all day is a blast


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[livesadventure]

Road please.

The Gold Lake's Loop is one of the best road rides in the area. You could ride 89 from Truckee to start, but its not worth it. Id take the left turn at Frazier Falls Rd. for a bit steeper climb with a tiny bit of road friendly gravel at the top.

http://www.mapmyride.com/us/portola-ca/gold-lake-loop-route-1560649

[Bob Ross]

I think -- not positive, 'cuz I can't find any of the emails where my wife & sister discussed the routes last year -- we rode south on 267 to the lake, then west along the shore until Tahoe City, then north on 89, to make a big ~50-something mile loop. That was the longest ride of our trip. Climbing 267 was a serious workout, descending it was a gas, but yeah, lots of traffic. 89 north definitely has a downward bias, so if you get lucky with wind direction that can be screamingly fast.

We also did a couple ~20 mile out&backs along that bike trail that foo_fighter mentioned; that is surprisingly gorgeous, fun but not at all challenging. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[false_Aest]

Thanks ya'll!

This is super helpful.

-T-

[EDS]

Reviving this thread. Supposed to be camping in Yosemite with my family and friends of our next week but that is obviously not looking good at the moment. Tahoe is the fall back (not a terrible one in the grand scheme of things to be sure) since our friends have a place near Truckee.

Any additional recos for rides and rentals would be appreciated. Looking generally for road rides, but am looking into mountain bike riding options too.

[Clean39T]

Same question, but for the Stateline, NV area...and road or MTB...

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[woodworker]

I rented a road bike and took a couple of nice rides right out of downtown Truckee. The ride is out to the Boca dam / reservoir. You can take the Truckee River Trail (paved) to Glenshire and then along Stampede Meadows Road. Quiet ride with little traffic. Mostly rolling, although there is a mile-long 9% grade along Glenshire. Guy at a local bike shop recommended this as an alternative with little traffic, and he was right.

[Bob Ross]

Any additional recos for rides and rentals would be appreciated. Looking generally for road rides


We rented some *very* nice road bikes from Paco’s.

[cnighbor1]

The Gold Lake's Loop is one of the best road rides in the area. You could ride 89 from Truckee to start, but its not worth it. Id take the left turn at Frazier Falls Rd. for a bit steeper climb with a tiny bit of road friendly gravel at the top.

http://www.mapmyride.com/us/portola-ca/gold-lake-loop-route-1560649
My suggestion Start at Stanley

[EDS]

Looks like we are staying near the top of Donner Pass, so I guess climbing is on the menu.

[false_Aest]

Thanks ya'll for your recs. Unfortunately, I tweeked my back pretty bad right before the trip so the most activity I got was a short hike to the top of Mt. Judah and some time at Long Lake.

I'll be back there for sure. The climbing and descents don't look that bad at all -- but I live at sea level so . . .

Anyways, I'll be back there soon enough.



Also, FWIW, the Bakery (11429 Donner Pass Rd Unit 4, Truckee, CA 96161) made an effin' amazing chocolate cake. 12 of us couldn't finish it over 3.5 days -- so rich, so good!

[srockets]

Same question, but for the Stateline, NV area...and road or MTB...

You can do a route similar to this year's wtoc day 2 - south on 50, turn left to 89, and once you cross back into nv take the 206, then 207 to kingsbury, and back down to stateline. it's 60 mile-ish or so, with kingsbury being the only challenging part. doing it the other way around (climbing kingsbury from stateline) would probably be easier.