I love to ride my bike, and I’ve been riding since I was a young boy in Belgium. Now that I am far from the tricky tramway tracks of Liege and from the daily climb back to Embourg after school, I ride around Victoria and up and down Vancouver Island. I used to follow Ryan’s baseball team to Parksville, Port Alberni or even Maple Ridge. My favourite ride, though, is the Lake Tahoe bike trip.
My friend Craig Reeves grew up in San Francisco, and Craig & a group of friends meet every year in sometimes sunny sometimes snowy California for a two day Lake Tahoe bike trip: one day on the road around the lake (120 km), and one day on mountain bikes high above the lake on the Flume trail and around Marlette Lake.
Day 1: Road Bikes
The ride around the lake has a few very nasty climbs (I made the mistake of having a beer at lunch the on my first trip, and won’t try THAT stunt again), a few exhilarating downhills (the cars had better get out of the way), and a long rolling hills trip back to Mark Maier’s family cabin, where you DO by then deserve a drink or two 😎
The scenery is breathtaking, the views from above make every pedal turn worth the effort and, even if there is the odd close call (have a look at the picture of Mark Maier’s tire after breaking to avoid a careless driver, or at the picture of the warning sign along the flume trail), the Lake Tahoe bike trip is always enjoyable and memorable.
Day 2: Mountain Bikes
The mountain biking is VERY tough but very rewarding, even if I needs to walk my bike through some of the more challenging sections of the trails. Mark Maier and his brother George always seem to find new trails and different challenges, and their motto seems to be “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” …
Santa brought me a GoPro camera one year, so enjoy the 2 clips on the Flume Trail – with two very different kinds of music 🙂
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