Bicyclists ride past Emerald Bay in this file photo.
After a two-year hiatus, the 29th “America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride – Lake Tahoe” returns today with more than 3,000 bicyclists from all over the country to ride around the 72-mile shoreline of Lake Tahoe.
This ride is not a race but a fully supported bike tour and promotes the Lake Tahoe Bikeway project, the master plan to construct and interconnect all the bike lanes around Lake Tahoe and assist the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition with its annual Bike Safe Lake Tahoe campaign.
The ride is professionally managed by experienced ride organizers with decades of knowledge of the Lake Tahoe area.
The ride is also the culmination of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training Cycle 100 national fundraising program where nearly 700 participants from 35 chapters and branches are participating and expect to raise over $3 million dollars. Over the past 25 years, TNT has brought a total of 24,000-plus participants to Lake Tahoe to ride America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride, bringing their total funds raised to $107 million dollars.
Since its beginning in 1988, more than 650,000 participants have helped TNT and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society raise more than $1.5 billion to support blood-cancer research and patient service programs to improve the quality of life for their patients and families.
Bicyclists will ride two different tour options based on their ability level with all rides starting and finishing clockwise from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, located in Stateline.
For conditioned bicyclists, the 72-mile route around Lake Tahoe is not only one of the most scenic, but is also one of the only bi-state bike rides in the country with its route in both California and Nevada. The 72-mile route circumnavigates the highways around Lake Tahoe in a clockwise direction and offers over 4,000 vertical feet of climbing.
For the more conditioned “Century Rider” bicyclists, a 100-mile option is offered that includes an additional out and back on California State Route 89 from Tahoe City to Truckee that offers additional vertical feet of climbing before returning to Tahoe City to continue around the lake. This ride option offers over 4,900 vertical feet of climbing.
Rest stops stocked with a variety of fresh fruits, energy bars, cookies, energy drink, and more, are offered at the Vikingsholm parking lot overlooking Emerald Bay; Gate Keeper’s Museum in Tahoe City; Save Mart in Truckee; Kings Beach and Spooner Junction.
Various local area bike shops provide technical support at all rest stops. Sponsoring rest stops include volunteers from Sierra at Tahoe Ski Education Foundation, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, Rite of Passage and the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition, plus many other volunteers.
Event communications are coordinated with the Tahoe Amateur Radio Association and the Tahoe Blue Riders provide motorcycle course support. Barton Health Care / Tahoe Orthopedic Center and Douglas County and Carson City Search and Rescue providing medical first aid services. Both California Highway Patrol and Nevada State Police will provide traffic control services.
All ride options begin at 6-7:30 a.m. with staggered 15-minute start windows. All bicyclists will receive a Lake Tahoe Nevada Department of Transportation goodie bag and welcome packet, a commemorative number, event t-shirt, wristband and custom water bottle. There will be food and beverages at all rest stops, a lunch stop in Kings Beach and those who complete the ride will be awarded medals at the finish line, as well as being treated to an after ride meal and pool party with live entertainment at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Pre-registered rider check-in will take place from noon-8 p.m. today, at Tahoe Sports Ltd in the Village Shopping Center, in South Lake Tahoe, or on Sunday, June 5, the morning of the ride, at 5 a.m. at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Parking Lot C. Registration is sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Tahoe Sierra. There will be a limited number of spots for late/same day registration.
America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride – Lake Tahoe has been supported by the Reno-Tahoe Territory of the Nevada Commission on Tourism and sponsored by the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tahoe Sports Ltd, Outside-Lake Tahoe TV and KTKE 101.5FM, KRLT 93.9FM and KOWL AM1490.
