This weekend more than 1,600 bicycling enthusiasts from all over the country will pedal in the fifth annual "Tour de Tahoe - Bike Big Blue" around Lake Tahoe.
This is not a race but a tour with rest stops with food and beverages. It is staffed by volunteers professionally managed by experienced ride organizer Curtis Fong.
Bicyclists will ride two different tour options based on their ability with all rides starting and finishing at the Horizon Casino Resort, Highway 50, Stateline.
The 72-mile Tour de Tahoe route around Lake Tahoe is one of only a few bi-state bike rides in the country in both California and Nevada. The route circumnavigates the highways around Lake Tahoe in a clockwise direction and offers more than 2,600 vertical feet of climbing. (A 35-mile ride and boat-cruise leg is sold out.)
All rides begin from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Sunday, with staggered 15-minute starts. All bicyclists will receive a Lake Tahoe welcome packet, a commemorative number, event T-shirt, ride pin, custom water bottle, wrist band, food and beverage at all rest stops, a lunch stop in Kings Beach and after-ride pasta feed and pool party with live entertainment at the Horizon Casino Resort.
Rider check-in and event registration is noon-8 p.m. Saturday at Tahoe Sports Ltd. on Highway 50 and Heavenly Village Way in South Lake Tahoe.
Registration fee for the Tour de Tahoe course options is $115. Participants must be at least 14 years of age to ride and must be accompanied by an adult.
RIM TRAIL MEETING
The Tahoe Rim Trail Association is expanding its annual meeting to a two-day, weekend event Sept. 22-23 with guided hikes, outdoor educational sessions and a celebration dinner at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe with keynote speaker and paraolympian Mark Wellman.
The weekend of events kicks off Saturday with five free-guided hikes along the Tahoe Rim Trail, including a hike to the Galena Waterfall and an interpretive loop hike. On Sunday, the association will host a number of educational sessions, including the latest outdoor gear, health and hiking, mountain biking on the Tahoe Rim Trail. These at the DWR Community Nonprofit Center, 948 Incline Way in Incline Village from 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
The meeting will follow the educational sessions at 3:30 p.m. and will include the State of the Tahoe Rim Trail presentation. The celebration dinner at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe in Incline Village from 5 to 7:30 p.m.
The celebration dinner, educational sessions and annual meeting are $50 per person. See www.tahoerimtrail.org or call 298-0232.
GONDOLA RUNNING
The Heavenly Gondola is switching gears as we move into fall. The gondola will now operate from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
NEW AT NORTHSTAR
Northstar Resort will open its new signature LiveWire trail from top to bottom for the first time this weekend. The trail has an average of six feet in width and a grade of 6 percent and 9 percent. The first downhill bike trail of its kind, LiveWire features an irrigation system that runs the length of the trail. And, at almost two miles long with a vertical drop of more than 1,100 feet, LiveWire features more than 45 tabletop jumps, large berm turns and a surface that is fast, smooth and tacky, giving riders superior traction without the dust.
LiveWire can be accessed off the top of the Tahoe Zephyr Express chairlift. It contains six major sections that flow together and feature tabletops, hips, step ups, step downs and doubles for riders to air off of the entire way down. Watered daily with an additional "noon groom" conducted Friday through Sunday, Northstar Resort's trail crew keeps the trail fast, smooth and tacky.
Northstar's mountain bike park hours of operation are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday-Sunday, weather and conditions permitting, until Oct. 7. Helmets are required for all riders, and can be rented along with bikes and other equipment at the resort. Daily lift tickets are required for lift access and can be purchased for $39.
Visit www.NorthstarAtTahoe.com or call (530) 562-2268.
• Contact Sam Bauman at 881-1236 or Sbauman@nevadaappeal.com
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