Ha! I thought you were at Caples Lake. Cool. The wife & I took a youth mountain bike group there 30 years ago. And we too had a bear visit. We were prepared. Our neighbors weren’t, had food stolen, freaked out & left in the middle of the night. Amateurs! Great video & bike tour. You two are STUDS! Love the train to Reno. Perhaps we’ll give that a go on the tandem!
You have some amazing scenery and you capture it perfect, your editing skills are off the charts. You have a prefect blend of cycling and non-cycling in this little series, and looking forward to Stage 3.
Thanks Zipp! We missed out by a day. The smoke finally lifted the next morning so missed out showing the beauty of Carson Pass. On a clear day it's really spectacular.
Patrick and I talked to that same flagger by Tahoe who held up traffic for us too. She had a lot of horror stories about how badly motorists would treat the flaggers some times. I think she appreciated anyone that would stop and chat with her.
Ha! No way! She was very sweet. She told us a story about how a motorist drove up and said she (motorist) didn't feel she needed to wait because she wasn't from the area! She also told us a story of how a motorist drove past the whole line of idle cars only to drive right into the oncoming traffic. Turns out it was a Contractor who felt he was entitled to pass through because he was working on the project. The good news is the Superintendent of the project got ahold of him!
Would love to get a run-down of your two's thoughts on gear, as well as packing/divvy-ing up of, useful on a short tour like this. Particularly what worked / didn't and if anything proved to be unnecessary vs forgotten at home. Also wondering if you cooked in camp or whether the Carson / Caples area actually has dining or provision options! Keep it rolling and Have a Nice Ride!
BTW - Did the Bears pay you a visit over night? Question, given the climbing on this ride so far, are you two running sub-compact chain rings? Thanks, keep up the good video work!
Yes! The bear did pay us a visit, and not only us, but turned the entire campground upside down. LOL! He flipped all the garbage cans upside down and went through everyones stuff.
No we stayed on 89 which wasn't bad at all. Although, a back way sounds more fun especially if there are fewer cars. Did you happen to get the name of the road? What day did you ride through?
Alas, the time I heard about that route from the locals was the last time I rode Luther pass which is a number of years ago now. The route they spoke of came out very near the summit and was the 'old' route up from Meyers before the highway was built. South Upper Truckee Road. Looks like it is 'residential' down near Meyers.
BTW, the ride where we met the same flagger was in late June of this year, and was a simple circuit of the lake, which I had never done until now. The last time I rode Luther Pass was quite a few years back, maybe 9 or 10 years ago.
Nice! You just missed the smoke! This was my first time riding on the East shore. I've ridden from South Lake to Tahoe City a number of times on the West shore going around Emerald Bay. The East shore was spotty in places where it felt a little unsafe. I was appreciative of the road construction. Had it not been, I think there would have been more close passes by cars. Otherwise, South Lake itself was also under construction with new bike lanes being added through town. The rest of the ride from South Lake to Carson Summit was quiet for the most part. Cools missed out on a clear view descending down into Hope Valley, but all in all we had a great time. It might be fun to next time to take Route 207 (Kingsbury Grade Over) and then catch the 89 to 4 to Bear Valley.
This tour was in the month of August. It was pretty warm, but I don't recall it being too hot. The Sierra's are usually a little cooler in the summer then other parts of California.
Thanks Eric, I never would have guessed that! Its just so massive. The bark looks a lot like redwood, very thick and stringy. However, the needles were throwing me off. This tree must be pretty old.
Um yeah, bears. I was going to bring up bears in Stage 1, didn't. Now that you have how, how, how does one ever fall to sleep knowing bears are in the area? Seems backward, put the food in the tree and the human stays on the ground. Ever see a bear run up a tree? Na-a-a-a-a-asty fast. I don't like traffic or bears. You are both tough like bark on a tree. GUess you lived being this was 2018 and I just found it in 2021. Be well just the same.
It was a little unnerving, but it was a black bear and they aren't normally aggressive. It's the Brown bears you want to avoid. We just played dead like they do in the movies and she/he left us alone 🙏🏼
Ha! I thought you were at Caples Lake. Cool. The wife & I took a youth mountain bike group there 30 years ago.
And we too had a bear visit. We were prepared. Our neighbors weren’t, had food stolen, freaked out & left in the middle of the night. Amateurs!
Great video & bike tour. You two are STUDS!
Love the train to Reno. Perhaps we’ll give that a go on the tandem!
You two make a good team :)
These videos are inspiring. I can't stop watching.
You have some amazing scenery and you capture it perfect, your editing skills are off the charts. You have a prefect blend of cycling and non-cycling in this little series, and looking forward to Stage 3.
Thanks Zipp! We missed out by a day. The smoke finally lifted the next morning so missed out showing the beauty of Carson Pass. On a clear day it's really spectacular.
For crying out lound man! Socks and Sandals? 😂 nice video 👍
So fun guys, thanks for sharing :)
Patrick and I talked to that same flagger by Tahoe who held up traffic for us too. She had a lot of horror stories about how badly motorists would treat the flaggers some times. I think she appreciated anyone that would stop and chat with her.
Ha! No way! She was very sweet. She told us a story about how a motorist drove up and said she (motorist) didn't feel she needed to wait because she wasn't from the area! She also told us a story of how a motorist drove past the whole line of idle cars only to drive right into the oncoming traffic. Turns out it was a Contractor who felt he was entitled to pass through because he was working on the project. The good news is the Superintendent of the project got ahold of him!
Wow, looks like she had new stories to tell, or she didn't have time to tell us all the last time.
Would love to get a run-down of your two's thoughts on gear, as well as packing/divvy-ing up of, useful on a short tour like this. Particularly what worked / didn't and if anything proved to be unnecessary vs forgotten at home.
Also wondering if you cooked in camp or whether the Carson / Caples area actually has dining or provision options!
Keep it rolling and Have a Nice Ride!
I bet you guys were using every bit of your granny gears on Luther and Carson.
BTW - Did the Bears pay you a visit over night? Question, given the climbing on this ride so far, are you two running sub-compact chain rings? Thanks, keep up the good video work!
Yes! The bear did pay us a visit, and not only us, but turned the entire campground upside down. LOL! He flipped all the garbage cans upside down and went through everyones stuff.
Did you guys take the 'back way' up to Luther pass from South Lake? Some locals told me about it, *after* I had already climbed the main route.
No we stayed on 89 which wasn't bad at all. Although, a back way sounds more fun especially if there are fewer cars. Did you happen to get the name of the road? What day did you ride through?
Alas, the time I heard about that route from the locals was the last time I rode Luther pass which is a number of years ago now. The route they spoke of came out very near the summit and was the 'old' route up from Meyers before the highway was built. South Upper Truckee Road. Looks like it is 'residential' down near Meyers.
BTW, the ride where we met the same flagger was in late June of this year, and was a simple circuit of the lake, which I had never done until now. The last time I rode Luther Pass was quite a few years back, maybe 9 or 10 years ago.
Nice! You just missed the smoke! This was my first time riding on the East shore. I've ridden from South Lake to Tahoe City a number of times on the West shore going around Emerald Bay. The East shore was spotty in places where it felt a little unsafe. I was appreciative of the road construction. Had it not been, I think there would have been more close passes by cars. Otherwise, South Lake itself was also under construction with new bike lanes being added through town. The rest of the ride from South Lake to Carson Summit was quiet for the most part. Cools missed out on a clear view descending down into Hope Valley, but all in all we had a great time. It might be fun to next time to take Route 207 (Kingsbury Grade Over) and then catch the 89 to 4 to Bear Valley.
How hot was it, what month did you ride,
This tour was in the month of August. It was pretty warm, but I don't recall it being too hot. The Sierra's are usually a little cooler in the summer then other parts of California.
tree is a type of juniper
Thanks Eric, I never would have guessed that! Its just so massive. The bark looks a lot like redwood, very thick and stringy. However, the needles were throwing me off. This tree must be pretty old.
I was hoping someone would be able to tell us! Thanks!
I wonder if anyone will guess how old it is...
It’s actually a Western Cedar. Common in the Tahoe Basin.
Um yeah, bears. I was going to bring up bears in Stage 1, didn't. Now that you have how, how, how does one ever fall to sleep knowing bears are in the area? Seems backward, put the food in the tree and the human stays on the ground. Ever see a bear run up a tree? Na-a-a-a-a-asty fast. I don't like traffic or bears. You are both tough like bark on a tree. GUess you lived being this was 2018 and I just found it in 2021. Be well just the same.
It was a little unnerving, but it was a black bear and they aren't normally aggressive. It's the Brown bears you want to avoid. We just played dead like they do in the movies and she/he left us alone 🙏🏼