It was Dani’s idea. We’d bike around the lake the day after a hard backpacking trip in Desolation Wilderness.

We started near home base on the west shore of the lake. I was a little nervous about that as it meant we’d be doing the largest climb just south of Emerald Bay towards the end of the day. It turned out to be not all that hard of a ride.

If you’re going to do it, Columbus Day, or any other mid-week day in the fall, is probably the time to do it. I wouldn’t exactly want to do this ride on a summer weekend when there are far more cars on the road, more boat trailers and more RVs. This Monday, traffic wasn’t much of a problem. I was only buzzed too closely once.

I was surprised and happy to experience the Tahoe bike paths. There was more miles of it than I expected. It would have been easier to stick to the road because the paths are windy, littered with pine cones, bumps and steeper grades, but it was far more pleasant to be on the trail.

For lunch, we braked in South Lake Tahoe. We braked again at Taylor Creek to watch bears eat salmon.

My legs have never been so dirty with road grime as they were after this ride. I should probably clean my bike.