MOUNTAIN BIKING
A good source of information about Tahoe’s mountain biking is Cyclepath’s web site: http://cyclepaths.com:80/trailmaps.html. Other sources include the Village Ski Loft in Incline Village, Olympic Bike Shop in Tahoe City, and Paco’s Bike and Ski in Truckee. Alpenglow Sports in Tahoe City sells detailed topo maps of the area.
Flume Trail: the standout among these trails is the legendary Flume Trail, which most riders access by starting at Spooner Lake Park on the east shore, and ending at Tunnel Creek Road just south of Incline Village. This is NOT a beginner ride, -- it starts with a hard climb up to Marlette Lake, after which the trail connects to a singletrack that heads north high above Lake Tahoe – the views are outstanding, but you have to be comfortable with heights to manage the narrow trail carved into the cliffside. The downhill back towards Incline Village is pretty steep and can get very sandy so bike with care. The stretch of Highway 28 from Tunnel Creek Road back to Spooner Park doesn’t have much of a shoulder – if possible avoid biking on this stretch of road, particularly on weekends (it’s best to do this ride as a 2-car shuttle). For more information on trail conditions here, talk to the bike people Village Ski Loft in Incline Village.
Tahoe XC trails: Tahoe XC’s ski trails offer some great mountain biking when there’s no snow. Head towards Tahoe XC just east of Tahoe City (for directions, see http://tahoexc.org/). Unless you know the trail system here, it’s easy to get lost, so it’s a good idea to bring a compass or a GPS. From Tahoe XC’s trail network, you can access the Fiberboard Freeway and bike up to Truckee on Forest Service Road 06 (the last 20K of The Great Race course follows this route).
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