A Hot Lap Around Tahoe

Friday night, Nick D. and I loaded up the car and headed for the hills. Our destination was again, Tahoe. This time to join a group of friends from all over Northern California to ride around the lake to celebrate our good friend Shannon's birthday on Saturday.

Happy Birthday Shan!

So, we could not have had better weather for the ride. As we all met at Java Hut in Kings Beach to top off the caffeine buzz, the cool morning temps quickly rose to a comfortable level. No jackets, knee warmers or long finger gloves for this kid. Just sunscreen, Clif Shot Blocks and full waterbottles. Quite a contrast to my usual ensemble this winter where I was usually covered head to toe in multiple layers of lycra and neoprene. I must say, summer is a more humane time to ride your bike. Winter is for skiing!

Ummm...waterskiing anyone???

The plan was to start in Kings Beach and ride clockwise around the lake. (For all of you NASCAR fans that happen to stumble onto this site looking for "Patrick 'Swifty' Bush," NASCAR racer...that's reverse direction).

Forrest (a.k.a. "Off the Couch") informed me that he was relieved to find out we were going clockwise. He reminded me that this was shorter by a couple of miles of the two directions as we are always on the inside of the turn. The theory holds true. The GPS on my bike that the guys from Motion Based provided me with recorded 70.22 miles, while America's Most Beautiful Ride Claims it's 72 miles.

Eleven of us started the ride...and only one did not finish. Josh H. (a.k.a. "The Hitcher") decided to run into the back of Nick's bike while both were watching some Chucklehead laying in the road on the other side cause he couldn't get unclipped.

So... Hitcher hits Nick's rear cassette, blew out his front tire and took an "asphalt nap." He had multiple small cuts and one deep one on the side of his knee. He was going to need stitches. Living true to his nickname, Hitcher hitched a ride into South Lake to get stitched up and call for a ride home. His day was done...but we had miles to go before ours was over.

With an unending supply of some of the most beautiful scenery, the ride ended too quickly. We managed to avoid any more victims and rode at a reasonable pace back to Kings Beach. A few crazies, including Shannon "It's My Birthday, and I'll ride if I want to" decided to go for another lap. No joke, they gobbled down a burrito and headed out for another lap. I was tempted to join, but I promised Dario, my coach, I would take it easy (which is hard for me).

Forrest, Anne-Marie, Nick and I decided to head to the lake to soak the legs and take in the sights before we headed home. It was great to just sit at the lake and catch-up with good friends...if only we could have stayed longer. Next time...

On our way home, Nick and I stopped for coffee at Wild Cherries in Truckee and to meet up with his friend Tau. Instead of his usual burst of psychosis where he starts chattering like a chipmunk on crack 20 minutes and 30 seconds after his first sip of coffee, Nick passed out. Good thing he was driving...

Next time...I am staying another day and I doing two laps...

Enjoy the ride...