Tahoe 2009: America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride

100 Miles: We did it!

My heart raced as we approached the orange arrow that pointed us to the finish line. Could this really be it? After all of the anticipation over the course of the past few months and the last 99 miles we were on our way to crossing that 100 mile mark. I almost missed it and skid out, but caught myself in the knick of time. The cheering crowd could be heard long before we pulled through the finish line. Arms were in the air waving and folks from all over the country were joined together by the excitement of a victory. This ride symbolized victory for so many of those who have won their battle against cancer and lived to cycle 100 miles in America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride in Lake Tahoe. For me it was a personal victory over a challenge that I had set my mind to do and had accomplished. "Go TEAM, Go TEAM," I shouted with my hands in the air as I pedaled fast to get through the line and cross under that victorious banner.

The day began at 4:30am with the sound of a wake-up call. Race day was here. Daniel and I hurried to get ready and pack down a few Cliff bars before we had to be downstairs at the start line. We were lucky; the start line was right outside our hotel, resting on the border between California and Nevada. We got downstairs, checked gear, pumped our tires full of air, took a few photos and were on our way at 6:25am. We started out the first 9 or so miles with some nice flats that helped us warm up. The temperature was in the 40s and I could tell the sun was going to come out and make for a beautiful ride day. We got lucky with the weather. The previous day, on our training ride, we rode just ten miles and had ten flat tires among the team members - with Daniel and myself making up two of those. Around mile ten we began our approach to Emerald Bay: the first big climb! And, it really wasn't bad. This climb was where we met the switchbacks, and while they were a bit steep and long our training had prepared us. We passed people who were walking their bikes up the hills - I really don't know what they did the rest of the ride considering this was only between miles ten to twelve. We took a quick rest stop at the top of the point that overlooked the gigantic lake and continued on our way. What a descent that was. After a long climb up the mountain, we were able to coast back down and get up to speeds of 40 mph. Of course, that only meant that we would have to go right back up. But, it was fun while it lasted.

The course was steady in between. We kept a good pace and only had to stop to repair one flat tire that day. Our average pace was around 14 mph, but we found ourselves consistently speeding along at 20 mph. It was the climbing that slowed us down; that was when we just sat back in the saddle and kept it at a steady seven mph pace to conserve energy. We would need it for the climb to Spooner Summit. Around mile 70 we began to descend more again and coast for a little while on some flat parts around the lake. We knew Spooner was coming. It was the climb we had been hearing about all season long. I heard various things about it - some said it was twenty-four miles of steady climbing, some said twelve and some said only six. According to our calculations it was eight miles up from the very bottom. So we took it ready, able and with caution as to not burn out our legs. The bright side was that we knew immediately following Spooner that we would get to go downhill for about five miles. That was the light at the end of the tunnel, literally. We really rode through a tunnel.

One of the most amazing things that I saw on the climb up to Spooner Summit was a guy on a unicycle. Yes, he rode 100 miles on a unicycle. He probably looked at the rest of us like we were a bunch of whimps. After we reached the summit we opted to skip the last rest stop and make up some time by finishing out the last fifteen miles. As I coasted down the hills at about 30 mph I enjoyed the fresh air that was not coated in soot and smog. It was absolutely amazing. With the wind blowing against me as I looked over the hills and down at the lake that was lined with trees, I was in awe. It was an absolutely amazing setting and feeling. I shed a few tears of joy and then continued to pedal faster to near the finish line.

Words can't really describe how awesome or beautiful it was. The snapshots of the memories from the event will be with me always. If only I could turn those memories into photos then I could best describe how truly amazing it was.

Emerald Bay

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