Day Tripper

Today we went to Tahoe for the day to do a little riding and have lunch with my folks. I picked out Sugar Pine Point State Park on Highway 89 as our starting point. We have a Golden Poppy day pass, and this was one of the state parks we can visit for free.

We first rode north to Tahoe City. The West Shore Trail meanders through the woods and sometimes along the lake. Unfortunately it crosses the highway four times, which can be a nuisance. For the most part drivers were courteous and stopped for us at the crossings.

The main reason we like bike trails is having the ability to relax and focus on riding and not worrying about cars. This trail does a reasonable job at that, but there are numerous side street crossings and even a few places where the trail stops and you use residential streets to connect to the next trail section.

Any time the trail passed near a pine tree, there was a good chance we would hit root bumps. There were hundreds of them. Because trees also make shade, sometimes they were hard to see as you exited the bright sunlight. Even with our fat three-inch tires it was a bumpy ride at times.

When we hit Tahoe City we turned west and rode on the Truckee River Bike Path for a bit. The river is running high and clear, which is nice to see.

We were running a bit late due to Highway 50 construction on our way up, so we turned around at the 12.5 mile mark.

The water is as high as I can remember.

In places it is lapping right up to the trail.

Currently the lake is just under (6228.94) the 6229 flood pool level, which is the maximum they allow for flood protection. 

We finished up with a little over 25 miles on the day.

After cleaning up and changing into fresh clothes, we drove to Incline Village where we enjoyed a late outdoor lunch with my dad and stepmom.

The drive home on Highway 80 was a long one due to construction that narrowed the highway down to one lane. Well, technically zero lanes since we drove on the shoulder for quite a while. This added almost an hour to the drive home.

Except for the driving it was a nice day, and I already want to go back and explore the area more when we don't have time constraints.

Later.