SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Thousands of cyclists will take to Lake Tahoe’s highways this weekend for America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride.
The 30th annual event on Sunday, June 4, hosted by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, will feature more than 1,600 cyclists from all over the country and roads will be impacted throughout the Truckee-Tahoe region.
Participants will be riding clockwise the 72-mile circumference of the lake and from Tahoe City to Truckee and back to Tahoe City, starting from 6-7:30 a.m. at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino at Stateline.
Traffic will be delayed on northbound State Route 89/Emerald Bay Road from 6:30-8:30 a.m. at Baldwin Beach Road. Southbound SR-89 will remain open. The remaining roadways will be open and motorists are asked to share the roadway and plan a little more time to get to their intended destinations.
The highways, locations and times that bicyclists will be sharing the roadways on Sunday include:
U.S. Highway 50, westbound, Stateline – South Lake Tahoe, 6-8:30 a.m.
SR-89, northbound, South Y – Camp Rich – Emerald Bay, 6-10 a.m.
SR-89, northbound, Emerald Bay -West Shore – Homewood, 7-11 a.m.
SR-89, north/southbound, Tahoe City – Truckee – Tahoe City, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
SR-28, eastbound, Tahoe City – Kings Beach – Incline Village, 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
SR-28, southbound, Incline Village – Spooner Junction, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
US-50, westbound, Spooner Junction – Stateline, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
US-50, westbound, Cave Rock Tunnel, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
US-50/Lake Parkway: Stateline / Expect Delays, Noon – 5:30 p.m.
This fun 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 in addition to assisting LLS raise funds to find cures for blood cancers. This is a fully supported bike tour offering spectacular scenery, fresh mountain air, and rest stops with great food & beverage staffed by volunteers from various local organizations. It is professionally managed by experienced ride organizers with decades of knowledge of the Lake Tahoe area.
The ride is also the culmination of the LLS’s Team In Training national fundraising program where nearly 500 participants from all over the US have set a goal to raise over $4 million dollars. Over the past 25 years, TNT has brought a total of 24,000-plus participants to Lake Tahoe and America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride, bringing their total funds raised to $110 million dollars. Since its beginning in 1988, more than 650,000 participants have raised 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 on U.S. Highway 50 at Stateline.
For the conditioned bicyclists, the 72-mile 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 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 State Route 89 from Tahoe City to historic 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, 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 & Carson City Search & Rescue providing medical first aid services.
All ride options begin at 6-7:30 a.m. with staggered 15-minute start windows. All bicyclists will receive a Lake Tahoe NDOT goodie bag and welcome packet, a commemorative number, event t-shirt, wristband and custom water bottle. Plus, food & beverage at all rest stops, a lunch stop in Kings Beach and after ride meal & pool party with live entertainment at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino are also provided. All riders will also be awarded an AMBBR Finisher Medal at the Finish Line. Pre-registered rider check-in will take place from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday, June 3, at Tahoe Sports Ltd. in the Village Shopping Center, located on US-50 and Heavenly Village Way in South Lake Tahoe, or on Sunday, June 4, 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 Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tahoe Sports Ltd, and KTKE 101.5FM, KRLT 93.9FM & KOWL AM1490.
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, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, call 1-844-588-ROCK (7625) or call Visit Lake Tahoe at 1-800-AT-TAHOE for other accommodations.