Sept. 10 – Cruising in to Lake Tahoe

I fell asleep at about 8pm and slept right through till 7am today. Guess I was tired! Whipped up some coffee and oatmeal and enjoyed breakfast while the sun came up and warmed the day. I knew I would make it to South Lake Tahoe….but at what cost? It was a doable 35 miles – but given my experiences with these mountains….just sayin’. Carson Pass was my first challenge at 8,573 feet. Fortified with coffee, oatmeal, and 11 hours of sleep, I powered right up (at about 4 miles per hour!) and reached the top! There was a sign there, but no altitude marking….so what’s the point of a photo? And you know what comes after you come to the top of a pass…..Downhill! Man that was fun! Miles of downhill where I was going so fast that I had to put on the brakes out of fear. Stunning views kept popping up. Like this one:

The run out from the pass was a beautiful valley that I cruised through until I came to….the next pass. I’m not saying that Luther Pass wasn’t a tough climb..it was – but compared to Carson Pass it was a downright pleasure to climb. And only 7,740 feet. No Problem!

Then it was downhill again – pretty much all the way into South Lake Tahoe! I felt alive again! I had never seem Lake Tahoe, and it just as pretty as all the pictures:

The town was bustling as I pulled in – I guess no one got the memo that summer travel is over. South Lake Tahoe is a pretty town, but definitely a tourist town with lots of souvenir shops, restaurants and bars, ski shops etc. I was glad I got in early as I had some errands to run: 1. Get my bikes shifting checked as I was having trouble with the lower gears. Fixed by a good mechanic who found a frayed wire. 2. Buy a new raincoat as I had somehow left mine behind or it had fallen off of the bike. (Yes, I know that the skies are blue and sunny, but the best time to buy a raincoat is when it’s not raining!). This was a little problematic as raincoats are evidently not a popular purchase in South Lake Tahoe – finally at one store I spied a mannequin wearing a cycling rain jacket that just happened to be my size. 3. I needed a new solar charger as mine had died. Big 5 hooked me up. 4. I needed lunch. Simple. I had contacted Dan, my Warmshowers host for the night and we agreed that I would come over to his house around 4pm. Dan lives with his partner Natasha ( who was away) and his dog Poppy (awesome dog) in a neighborhood right off the main drag, so it was an easy ride over. What a great guy! Although I am a lot older than Dan, we clicked immediately over our shared background of ski bumming, bicycle touring and a dislike for living in South Florida. Dan toured coast to coast a few year ago on a route that shares similarities with mine, especially in California, Nevada and Utah – so he has become my mentor of sorts for this leg.

I took a nice hot shower and we threw my stinky dirty laundry in the washer before going out for burgers. When we got back, we tried diligently to get my Garmin GPS working, but to no avail. Around 8 Dan had to take off to pick up Natasha at the airport. I figured that this would be a great time for me to catch up on my blog, catch up on my journal, and maybe even watch some TV. Instead, by 9 pm I was crashed.