Monday, September 10, 2012

Wow! Wow! Wow!

Yesterday may just have been the most beautiful ride I've ever done. Lake Tahoe is absolutely  gorgeous and we rode around the whole thing. 73 miles and over 4,000 feet of elevation gain. Plus we started at 6,200 feet of elevation, so there were some sections where we were breathing pretty hard. But the weather was perfect and the views were incredible. This is one of those places that words and even pictures can't do justice to. Although I will be posting a bunch of photos in the next few days.
There were 18 of us from West Michigan who participated in this ride, out of 135 JDRF riders overall. There were 1,800 riders in total at the Tour de Tahoe. The JDRF group started first at 6:30 a.m. Then the throng came upon us. As we approached the first climb at about the 10 mile mark it was like picking your way through a grand tour peloton. There were cyclists everywhere, of varying abilities and etiquette. As we started climbing the switchbacks near Emerald Bay the crowd started to thin out. The first rest stop was at an overlook of Emerald Bay. This is known as the prettiest spot on the lake for good reason. You are surrounded by mountains with the lake and bay a thousand feet below you. Huge pine trees and boulders dot the landscape. It was already an epic ride on a great day and we were only about an hour into it.

More on the rest of the ride in the days to come.

No comments: