It was a beautiful day in North Shore when Pete, Scott “Scottie”, and myself rode from my car, in Kilner Park. Scottie was the guide for what would prove to be one of the most memorable rides of the summer!
We headed off riding westward and upward. There were a couple of trail splits and divergent roads within the first couple of miles of the ride, but other than that, navigation was pretty straightforward. A piece of advice: if you find yourself in doubt of your direction, in the first half of the ride, just remind yourself that you're trying to ascend out of the Tahoe Basin, so keep climbing! The majority of the climbing on the way up to Stanford Rock was on overgrown logging roads. Today, only non-motorized recreational users, like us, use the aging dirt roads.
Still climbing, but nearer to the top, Scottie challenged me to a tough section of trail. This is where the trail became really steep, but only for a short distance. It's a toughie of a section. Scott had never cleared the section without dismounting. This is the kind of stuff cross country riders really enjoy, maybe some of us dorks anyways. I went with the granny gear to the top of the section, but before I could really bow my chest out and beat on it like Tarzan, Scotty cleaned the section too, right behind me. Stifling my accomplishment, he exclaimed, “That is easier than it’s ever been.” Conditions change, trails are dynamic, so we ho-hummed it for another few moments and then pressed on to Stanford Rock. I think we had been climbing for only another 15 minutes before reaching Stanford Rock and…behold the grandeur! We were on the ridgeline; we made it, and to say that the view was, ‘amazing’ assigns an almost criminal understatement to the truth. Some things just can’t be exaggerated, as was true of the scene before our eyes. Besides that, after an hour of riding we were finally done climbing.
Only a minute or two behind us, Pete arrived and snapped quite a few photos. We sat atop Stanford rock and let our legs get nice and heavy with fatigue before the ensuing descent (You know that feeling when you fully realize the true weight of your legs, after a hard effort and a lengthy cool-down?). Lead legs and all, we made for the descent and it didn’t take long before we were giggling like a bunch of school girls. Oh yah, because the descent was sick!
Tight corners,
well maintained trails
(albeit a
bit dusty in the upper sections), plenty of rocky step-downs,
and some
beautiful scenery (if you get tossed from your bike you might
have a moment to look at it), this trail is the reason why I love riding
in the Sierra Nevada’s. This descent has plenty of technical sections to
test yourself or the will/ego of your riding partners. I don’t recall
any perilous sections that jumped out in front of me, so even
kamikaze-type riders should have time to stop and contemplate tricky
sections before getting in over their heads…or over their bars, as it
may be. After descending for 10 minutes or so, we came to a
marked trail intersection. Staying to the left would have taken us to the PCT
(does not stand for Preferred Cycling Trail),
so we went to the right, about a 110 degree right hand turn to Ward’s
Canyon, as marked.
What a blast
(video clip)! The more we descended, the more manicured (and
fun!) the trail became. As a cautionary note, there were a couple of
granite step-up and
step-down sections with chain ring scars on them, so
unless you have a bash ring, be forewarned and be vigilant to woes of
those who have been there before you.
I’m not sure who maintains these trails (I think the Forest Service), but they’re keeping me and my kind of people very happy with their efforts. I must say, they did it right; it’s a success. They didn’t make the trail too easy, which is sometimes the death of trails once a government agency gets a hold of it. Fast in some sections, but slow and technical in other sections, it’s great, period. I give it a rating of five chain rings, exemplar.
After crossing a
creek (go ahead, try to
ride it), the trail flattened out significantly, shunted us out onto a
rolling unpaved service road and then ended at yet another service road
of heavier use. This was the point at which we could have continued
riding eastward, back towards Lake Tahoe, turning right on highway 28
(south), back to the auto, and then to the tavern for the beer that
Scotty owed me. Alternatively, we could press on for quite a few more
miles, ride the most recently completed section of the Tahoe Rim Trail, and then go on to Paige Meadows. The beer wasn’t going anywhere and Petey had some kind of
wild hair for riding on that July day, so we pressed on.
It was a good climb up the rim trail and
then onto another service road for the remainder of the climb. The
trail flattened out and
then split. We kept to the trail on the left
and a half a mile later we were in the middle of Paige Meadows. Leaving
Paige Meadows, we came to a T-shaped trail intersection and took a
right. For the next two miles we were giggling, yet again. Oh man,
sweeping banked turns, my tires hooked up and felt glued to the hard
pack as I weaved through the trees on a gradually descending section of
the
Rim Trail. Some of the cornering was tight and I had to scrub off a
lot of speed going into it, while other corners were fast and sweeping.
I was constantly moderating my speed, shifting, braking, and corning.
It was like a video game...ah, a good one.
That brought us about to the end of our ride. From there we took service roads back to highway 28 and then back to the auto…and a beer.
Maps
DRG
DOQ
3D-West
3D-East
Elevation
Trail Description
This site was last updated
01/11/04