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Tour de Tahoe — Bike Big Blue Sept. 9 |
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Written by Submitted to the World
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Tuesday, 04 September 2007 |
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Imagine the scenic beauty of Lake Tahoe with its crystal clear blue waters surrounded by towering majestic peaks. Imagine being able to ride a bicycle around its 72-mile shoreline. On Sept. 9, 1600-plus, bicycling enthusiasts from all over the country will participate in the 5th Annual “Tour de Tahoe - Bike Big Blue” around Lake Tahoe.
This fun ride is not a race, but a tour and is fully supported offering spectacular scenery, fresh mountain air, rest stops with great food and beverage. It is also staffed by volunteers from various organizations and professionally managed by experienced ride organizers. The event is supported by a grant from the Nevada Commission on Tourism.
Bicyclists will ride two different tour options based on their ability level with all rides starting and finishing from the Horizon Casino Resort, located on U.S. Hwy 50, South Shore, Stateline - Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
For the “recreational” bicyclists, the Lake Tahoe Boat Cruise and 35-mile Half Ride is offered featuring a sightseeing boat cruise on Lake Tahoe Cruise’s Tahoe Queen Paddle Wheeler, complete with a continental breakfast across the Lake to the North Shore where participants start their 35 mile bike ride back to the Horizon. This ride option offers challenge as well as beauty with more than 1000 vertical feet of climbing along Lake Tahoe’s East Shore. This ride option is limited to 100 participants and 50 family members and guests with a non-bicycling option.
For the conditioned bicyclists, the 72-mile Tour de Tahoe route around Lake Tahoe is not only one of the most scenic, it is also one of the only bi-state bike rides in the country with routes in both California and Nevada. The 72-mile route circumnavigates the highways around Lake Tahoe in a clockwise direction and offers more than 2,600 vertical feet of climbing.
Rest stops, stocked with a variety of fresh fruits, Fig Bars, cookies, Revenge Sport Energy Drink, Power Bar, Power Gel and more, are offered at Vikingsholm Parking lot overlooking Emerald Bay, Homewood Mountain Resort, Kings Beach Plaza and Spooner Junction. A lunch is featured at the Kings Beach rest stop co-sponsored by Port of Subs. Tahoe Sports Ltd., Wattabike Shop, Eastern Sierra Cycling, Big Daddy’s Bicycles and others also provide technical support. Sponsoring rest stops include volunteers from Kiwanis Club of Tahoe Sierra, Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, Rite of Passage, Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition and other volunteers, such as the Tahoe Amateur Radio Association providing communications.
All ride options begin at 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., with staggered 15-minute start windows. 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.
Pre-registered rider check-in and event registration will take place on Saturday, September 8, from 12:00 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Tahoe Sports Ltd. located on Hwy 50 & Heavenly Village Way in South Lake Tahoe. Same day - late registration will also be available at that time or on Sunday, September 9, the morning of the ride, starting at 5:30 a.m. at the Horizon Casino back parking lot C. The registration fee for the 72-mile Tour de Tahoe course options are $115, including the late fee. The Lake Tahoe Boat Cruise and 35-mile Half Ride is pre sold out. Participants must be at least 14 years of age to ride and must be accompanied by an adult.
Tour de Tahoe - Bike Big Blue is sponsored by The Reno-Tahoe Territory of the Nevada Commission on Tourism, Tahoe Daily Tribune, Lake Tahoe Cruises, Champion Nutrition/Revenge Sports Energy Drink, Tahoe Sports Ltd., Tahoe Amateur Radio Association, Power Bar, Power Gel, Sparkletts Water, Port of Subs, Pace Sportswear, Adventure Medical Kits, Yakima Rack Systems, Giro Helmets, Cycle California! Magazine, Safe Pedaling In Nevada (SPIN), Bicycle Nevada, Alpen Sierra Coffee Company, Maui Jims, Specialized Bicycle Components, RSN @ Lake Tahoe, K-MTN TV and KRLT 93.9FM.
For bicyclists looking to make a weekend getaway, a variety of accommodations are available from campsites to luxury suites in the high-rise casino hotels to private condominiums. For accommodations at the start/finish - Horizon Casino Resort, call 1-800-648-3322 or call the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority at 1-800-AT-TAHOE.
Tour de Tahoe - Bike Big Blue is produced and professionally managed by Curtis Fong of TGFT Productions/Bike the West, a 22-year member of the Bicycle Ride Directors Association of America (BRDAA), which sanctions the event requiring all participants to wear helmets. TGFT also produces OATBRAN - One Awesome Tour Bike Ride Across Nevada, September 23-29, 2007; “The X Rides,” May 3-4, 2008; and America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride - Lake Tahoe, June 1, 2008. For more information visit the website, www.bikethewest.com, call 775/588-9658 or e-mail:
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PLEASE SHARE THE ROADWAY WITH BICYCLISTS - SUNDAY, SEPT. 9
Tour de Tahoe - Bike Big Blue participants will be riding clockwise around Lake Tahoe starting and finishing at the Horizon Casino Resort at Stateline, South Shore, Lake Tahoe, Nevada from 6:30 a.m. - 7:30 a.m. The roadways will be OPEN and motorists are asked to share the roadway and plan a little more time to get to their destinations. Below are the highways, locations and times that bicyclists will be sharing the roadways.
• Hwy 50 west bound Stateline - South Lake Tahoe 6:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
• Hwy 89 north bound South Y - Camp Rich - Emerald Bay 6:30 a.m. - 10.30 a.m.
• Hwy 89 north bound Emerald Bay - West Shore - Homewood 7:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
• Hwy 89 north bound Homewood - Tahoe City 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
• Hwy 28 east bound Tahoe City - Kings Beach - Incline Village 9:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
• Hwy 28 east bound Incline Village - Spooner Junction 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
• Hwy 50 west bound Spooner Junction - Stateline 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 04 September 2007 )
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