|   Tahoe! | bigboulder
Jul 16, 2002 9:25 PM | | I finally rolled in from Tahoe Late yesterday...First one to get there...last one to leave. I wish I could have added a little ride in yesterday....but...The knee is badly swollen from my otb on the TRT. Good thing it happened on Sunday....my adrenaline kept me going for the remainder of the ride.
It hurts! and I'll be off my bike for a week just to make sure things heal up.
I don't take pics....even if I had a digital cam...I probably would not stop to take many pictures anyway....too much fun riding...
So here is my take on the Tahoe Gathering....sans pics.
First.....The weather was great! The thunder and lightning was only a small annoyance...kinda spooky....The trail conditions were excellent for Tahoe....early season condition...Toads was the best I have ever seen. The TRT from Spooner to Kingsbury was near perfect...
Thursday....Arrived at Emerald Bay camp 9am...first beer 9:30...second 10am....And so the day went. Rollingbones showed up at 2pm. We drank some more beer. At about 4pm we heard the first sounds of thunder to our south and west...No rain...just some high dark cloud cover. 7:30pm at the Brewery...more beer...some food. we met fast eddie, BV, Parkmeister PJ, XC rider and the OTB gang from LA.
Friday...Everybody is on time 9:30 at Spooner summit. There are lots of pained faces near the top of the first climb. we are near 8,000ft for the first time and I can tell that almost everyone is having some difficulty adjusting
i think to myself..."uh oh...these folks are going to hate me after tomorrow" at the top of the ridge....everyone is smiling...what an incrdible view! The next 8 miles of single track really make everyone smile. This is only my second
time on this wonderful section of tech single track and I am beginning to think this is one of my all time favorites. At Kingsbury we take a quick break after
the staircase section...then turn around and go the other way...The trail is much more technically challenging in this direction. I am riding in the middle of the pack and some of us reach the top of the ridge when it begins to rain and the wind begins to blow. We can see a lightning striking at freel pass (where we will be
tomorrow) and a storm as it moves across the lake with curtains of rain and lightning very cool...but its time to get off this ridge. Parkmeister actually gets knocked over by the wind while descending a technical section at the top. The downhill to Spooner is sooooo fun! Back at the cars we drink beer and wait for
the rest of the riders. Everyone is tired and happy! By the time we get back to camp a thunder storm is raging. It only lasts for an hour but it's too late for Parkmeisters sleeping bag.
Saturday....The Punisher....BV and PJ join Fourarm for an "advanced" death ride. We will meet at Freel Pass..."nearly" 10k feet above sea level. The rest of the group begins at the stagecoach ski lift at heavanly valley. the first 1/4 mile is a steep sandy slope that has everybody off their bikes pushing and gasping. We splinter off into several groups as we make our way up this beautiful section of the TRT carved into the side of the mountain
4,000ft above the Carson Valley. The trail becomes Sandy and technical..then completely unridable just before the top of Monument Pass. We cross over into California at the top. After only 5 miles there are lots of tired faces again. I point out Freel Pass to the small group riding with me in the middle of the
pack. I think..... they think I'm kidding. I'm in constant radio contact with The back of the pack. They are having a hard time and they are way behind. Thunderheads begin to form. After a wonderful ridgeline section of single track
we climb again to Star Lake at around 9000ft where we join the lead group. After a long break with some swimming BV contacts us from up above on Freel Pass. They will come part way down and join us for the climb back to the top. We leave
Iodine tabs for Marvin and the last group. They are already out of water after 5 miles! Two way radios are a must for group rides like this...so is lots of water! After the summit it's downhill to Armstrong pass. Great fast semi tech single track that goes down, down, down. Then we go up again and for the second
time in two weeks I am walking sections I should be riding. I'm tired too! At the last summit I get radio contact from Marvin. he says they have just reached Armstrong Pass. This is good news! they are catching up! No! Wait! I confirm
that they are way back at FREEL Pass! Yikes! Get off that mountain!...we can see the dark thunderheads gathering abvove the summit. Onward we journy through Freel Meadows...upper Toads...then Mr. Toads (aka saxon creek). What a great
way to finish. For many this is their first Toads. Over the years this trail may have lost some of it's luster due to over riding and novice mis-use but it is still a real kick in the pants. I believe that the lead group finished this 25
mile course in around 5 1/2 hours...for me it was close to six. the last group of four rolled in at around 7pm.....over nine hous after leaving heavanley! Back at the Brewery.....more beer...food...and FP's antics.
Sunday....The OTB guys are on their way back to SoCal and most of the remianing
riders have already had enough. BV, PJ, Parkmeister, Marvin, Fast Ed and myself
meet up with Rick from Nevada City for a farewell to Tahoe ride near Tahoe City.
At breakfast we are treated to a stunning view of two beautiful peaks!
Marvin and Eddie shuttle up to Brockway summit and ride into Watson Lake.
The rest of us climb up the Western States trail. I bring up the rear. My legs
are done but I am getting it done. At the top it happens....Parkmeister lets
me move in front him for the downhill and seconds later I am OTB. good thing
he let me go by...because i needed his help. gary carrys a pretty well stocked
first aid kit. Clean up...cover up...ride on but my confidence is down and I am
tired...so i just kinda roll along to Watson Lake. I hang back with marvin for the
ride back to Squaw Valley while the rest go back down....sampeling Missing Link trail
before finishing off on the WS. Quick swim in the Truckee river and I am the
only one left.
I returned to the campground made a nice dinner then sat quitley at the campfire
and thaught about the four days...Perfect! |
| All right !!! Nice report.... | Battman42
Jul 16, 2002 9:48 PM | | Hope yr' healing up....
I got home just as those T-storms were hitting Quincy.
Mary and I had great weather at Little Grass Valley, and met the Outfitters in Downieville.... I'm itchin' to get more of that kind of riding but it'll have to wait till Mary is back in school... so I can take some weekday time up there.
Thanks again for the report.
Tim |
| "You're a pussy!" | Zonic Man
Jul 17, 2002 1:20 AM | | --That hurt my feelings.
Wished I made it. Nice write up.
--jed |
| sorry dude... | bigboulder
Jul 17, 2002 5:49 AM | | we missed ya....thanx for sending a stand in....you got a great lady there! |
| Can you stand one more pic? | Finch Platte
Jul 17, 2002 5:56 AM | | Nice shorts.
fp |
| More than a little impressed Big Boulder with.... | sheebo
Jul 17, 2002 6:41 AM | | your early morning breakfast cylinders. This is a proven stratey in our camp as well. Nice write up and one hella brutal set of rides. Well done. |
| bigfun! | parkmeister
Jul 17, 2002 6:59 AM | | hey,
muchas gracias for organizing the weekend get together. these mtbr gatherings are more fun than just about anything i can think of. i've ridden tahoe a few times in the past, but i rode new and tasty dirt every day of this gathering. sweet! thanks again.
gary |
| We need to do 'The Punisher' again before summer ends (nm) | jilm
Jul 17, 2002 7:41 AM | | |
| I'm definitely thinking about heading back | Kanga
Jul 17, 2002 8:51 AM | | I had a great time there, and haven't been able to get some of the views out of my head. Camera would have been nice, but thanks to BV I'll have something to look at. Thanks BigBoulder for making it happen!
Steve (OTB'er from Oz) |
| Check Yer Watch | Kra$h
Jul 17, 2002 11:18 AM | | Just trying to set the record straight.
Last of the group rolled in at 7 pm after nine hours. That means start time was at 10 am. If the lead group did it in 5.5 hours they'd be done at 3:30 pm., but they weren't. Not to take anything away from you guys but we started from the bottom of Kingsburry Grade at 11:00 am that same day and blew through your crowd by Star Lake. We completed at 4:20 pm (just in time) for a total time of 5:20 having left your "leaders" at the senic overlook way before Toad's. My guess is the soonest the leaders could've finished is 4:45 to 5:00 pm (they were just starting their break when we left) for a total time of around seven hours. Having done this ride several times you need to be on a mission to do it around six and you need to be on fire to do it in around five. With a group that size there's not much chance of that happening. I honestly admire the spirit of many of the group - I don't think they knew what they were in for.
If there's any point to this it's important for people to realize that you need to be totally prepared for this ride, start early, bring food, water filter/purification, and even in good shape it'll be five hours before you reach the top of Toad's and you can't be cashed. It's very rugged, bailouts are few and getting hurt is not a good option. Heading out with a cell phone and a smile is just going to get you into trouble. This isn't just another epic ride. It's listed as one of the best 20 mountain bike rides in the world in the book of the same name. |
| re: Tahoe! | Spiff
Jul 17, 2002 1:07 PM | | Nice one Steve. Hope you get better soon.
Gui |
| Nice write up. Thx for putting it together! (Oct Gathering?) nm | wg
Jul 18, 2002 9:06 AM | | |
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