America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride 2015

America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride 2015 gallery on Google+

America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride is a charity bike ride around Lake Tahoe sponsored by Bike The West to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  Over the last 14 years this event has raised over $65.8 million towards the cure.

According to South Tahoe Now, This year over 3,500 bicyclists participated in three divisions, a 100 mile century ride, the ever popular 72 mile bike ride around Lake Tahoe, and a 32 mile fun ride with a cruise to the north shore. 

McClean Hoenig said "It's my first time riding 72 miles, and I'm dead tired but it was worth it and it was a great experience." 

Riders agree that the most challenging aspect of America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride is the up and down terrain of the Lake Tahoe basin. Early finisher James Phillios of Columbus , OH noted: "I'm not used to the hills up here, and there were two climbs that were pretty tough and a little wind towards the end but all in all it was a great ride. Great people, great event."

Riders left from the Hard Rock Hotel Casino in Stateline at 6AM, and the first finishers weren't coming in until noon.

Amgen Tour of California 2015

Stage 1 of the 2015 Amgen Tour of California women's road bike race passed through 

South Lake Tahoe on May 8th, 2015. This is the 10th annual bicycle race sponsored by Amgen, and the second time the tour has stopped in Lake Tahoe.  

The men's race in 2011 famously got snowed out even later in May and we had our doubts about this one right up until the day.  Luckily this year the race went off without a hitch.  

 I caught up with the race start at Ski Run and Pioneer trail where the kids from Bijou Community school were cheering for the ladies;

 and again in front of the Montbleu where I caught the end of the race turning after going 72 miles around Lake Tahoe in a little under 3 hours.  It was a remarkably close race with practically the whole pack going by in less than a minute.  

 and got some comments from the crowd including longtime follower +Marius C.

Gallery

Click here for the Amgen Tour of California Women's gallery if your browser does not support embedded Google+ posts.

America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride 2013

America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride is a 72 mile bike ride around Lake Tahoe put on every year by Bike The West.  Riders complete a circuit from Stateline, through South Lake Tahoe, CA, up the mountain to Emerald Bay, past Homewood up to Truckee and Crystal Bay, and then back down the East shore to finish back where they started in the back parking lot of the Horizon casino resort.




See my full gallery of pictures of 2013's America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride on Google Plus

Slow Rollers 2013 afterparty

For the last 3 years running Lake Tahoe's Slow Rollers bicycling club has put on a costumed bike parade, which last year I filmed as a contender for the Gueiness world record for "World's Longest Bicycle Parade" but this year the spring weather was rainy with a threat of lightning and the turnout wasn't as big as usual. 

It's  usually from the Y to Stateline; this time it was from South Shore Bikes to Mo's Place, so I missed the actual parade; but I caught up with the slow rollers at their afterparty and got this video with all the riders in their costumes.

Random Vlogging: America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride and Wagon Train 2012 in Lake Tahoe

Peloton of bicyclists passes in front of bicycle-themed Art box

America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride was June 3rd, 2012.  I was out there with my camera filming it and the Wagon Train for my YouTube channel. I somehow had the strange idea I could make a movie with no plan at all and get away with it. 

Unfortunately my good microphone had a dead battery after the first standup and I had to resort to using my camera mic next to a busy highway.  I appologize for how highly processed the audio sounds in places, but trust me you'd like it better than the original.

Rider coming in to second lap in front of Montbleu casino

Group of America's Most Beautiful Bike Riders
coming in to the finish line behind the Horizon.

Over 3500 people participated in America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride.  The bike race went 144 miles around Lake Tahoe twice, and the bikes got pretty much scattered around the lake. 

Since I hadn't planned at all, the strech of lake shore I wound up in had almost no bicycles on it at all!  I got some great footage of two parasailers on Lake Tahoe at the same time and had a fun time down on the beach with my dog biting the water, but I didn't see many bikes.

So I headed back towards Stateline to the finish line of the race at Horizon casino resort, in the hope I'd find more bicycles there.   

On the way, I ran into the 61st Annual Highway 50 Wagon Train around Ski Run Blvd.  This leg of the wagon train began that morning at Zephyr Cove and were wagon training to the Lake Tahoe Airport on the south end of town that afternoon to camp out for the night before heading down Highway 50, ultimately to Camino, CA. 

Sea to Shining Sea bicyclists celebrate crossing the state line

Another unexpected find out that day was the Sea To Shining Sea Bike Riders who were having their state line crossing ceremony that day. This group of bicycle riders has been riding across America to honor wounded veterans and have visited 13 states so far (now including Nevada.)

Fan cheering the bicycles arriving in Stateline

Official Proof: Slow Rollers is the worlds longest bicycle parade

Slow Rollers 2012 Bicycle Parade through Lake Tahoe

On May 17, 2012 the SlowRollers.org group made an attempt to make the Guinness Book of World Records  as the world's longest bicycle parade.  The previous record-holder, Davis, CA was a 916 person bike parade in 2010.  According to the organizers this event drew over 1888 registered participants, which, if they are willing to accept our proof will easily break the record for both world's longest and world's largest bicycle parade.

The event was exceptionally well attended and a huge costumed crowd turned out to participate in this event.  I went out to the Slow Rollers event with my camera and made this video of ALL 1180+ bicycles going past my location and put it up on my youtube channel complete with the idea that it might get used as official proof... I really didn't think much more about it than that, until the organizers saw my video on YouTube and decided to actually take me up on my offer of proof, so I'm proud to report that my video is now in their hands and will be officially submitted to Guinness (along with TahoeSouth's excelent promotional video and LakeTahoeWeather's video of the other side of them) as proof of their attempt! 

  

I want to congradulate the organizers on pulling off this long and hard-to-organize parade and share the few still pictures I got while out that day with you guys... It's a new world record, folks, go out and celebrate it.

Tour de Tahoe Bicycle race

The Tour de Tahoe bicycle race started before sunrise at the Horizon casino resort in Lake Tahoe after a brief commeration to mark the 10th annaversary of 9/11.  For more information visit: http://www.bikethewest.com/