Mountain biking

To find a trail close to home that my wife and I can actually hike is no small thing. Being surrounded by steep mountain ranges means having to do some climbing. For the average area hiker, this is no great feat. But for those with disabilities, trails that are handicapped friendly seem hard to come by.

Applying our local knowledge of the region, and after doing some Internet research, we decided to give the Spooner Lake Trail Loop a try.

Nevada is the seventh-largest state in the Union. There are 109,781 square miles to explore, from the basin-and-range landscape on the northern end to the scenic desert panoramas in the south. This summer, discover your Nevada on a road trip to Tonopah or Valley of Fire State Park, or maybe drive the U.S. 50-Interstate 80 loop from the Reno-Tahoe area.

Carson City will host a mountain biking event with up to 2,000 trail riders on a weekend in June of 2016, Joel Dunn, Visitors Bureau director, said Tuesday.

Lake Tahoe's Northstar California will open this winter’s first halfpipe to skiers and riders this coming Friday, Jan. 9, resort officials announced Tuesday.

Located on Pipeline trail and accessible via Vista Express, the halfpipe is a popular and highly-anticipated feature among Northstar’s terrain park users. Its addition allows for a contiguous, uninterrupted terrain park descent from the top of Pinball Park, which currently offers guests access to 46 features, into the Pipeline Park, which hosts the halfpipe.

The Nevada High School Cycling League is hosting a new documentary film about the sport of high school mountain biking. Recently added as one of the emerging leagues of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, the Nevada League will be officially launching a league race series in Fall of 2016. A handful of demonstration races to get more kids involved will be planned in 2015.

Never before has such a grand combination of iconic ranch, lakefront and forestland been offered for sale at once in Lake Tahoe’s rich history. This rare offering includes: historic Shakespeare Ranch with 133 acres of lakefront ranchland; Squaw Valley Homestead, arguably the most coveted landholding in Squaw Valley; and High Canyon Ranch, encompassing 321 acres of one of the last remaining privately owned large acreage parcels in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Last weekend we got up to South Lake Tahoe to check out some of the trails they’ve been building up there. To get to the trailhead, we headed south on Pioneer Trail road just past the Casinos, then east on Oneidas Street near Meyers. We followed Oneidas Street until it became a narrow Forest Service road known as Fountain Place Road. We parked just past the creek crossing at a trailhead parking area.

Now that Autumn has arrived, it’s a great time to explore the areas east of Carson City. These trails and back roads can be impassable in the winter, muddy in the Spring, and too hot during the Summer. This time of year, though, the dry conditions and mild temperatures make it the perfect time to go. One of our favorite Fall rides is the off-road route up to Virginia City via the American Flat Toll Road. With the area’s fun and lively Old West history, this ride has started to become an annual event.

Monday, Sept. 1 will be the last chance to receive the early-season rate on Lake Tahoe Local, Tahoe Value, and Epic season passes — all of which offer access to Heavenly Mountain, Kirkwood and Northstar California resorts.

Registration has begun for the 2014 Kids Adventure Games, the premier race for children ages six to 14 that features teams of two competing in mountain biking, hiking, zip lines, a Tarzan rope swing, giant Slope-n-Slide, cargo nets, mud pits and more.

The race is scheduled for August 2, 2014 at Mammoth Mountain as part of a new, exciting eight-race series, the Kids Adventure Games, taking place at various locations across the nation. Event details are as follows:

The Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau has launched the first of several video promotions on Youtube.

Produced by THS Visual Production's Todd Simon, who also does video production for the Nevada Commission on Tourism, the 2 minute, 53 second spot is a seasonal highlight of Carson City, said Joel Dunn, executive director of CCCVB.

The job is simple: tell visitors why Carson Valley, Nev. is “Rugged. Relaxed. Reachable.” all while riding a horse. The Carson Valley Visitors Authority is looking for one horse savvy woman to become the “Carson Valley Rider.”

Launched in 2012, the “Rugged. Relaxed. Reachable.” campaign plays upon the area’s gateway status as a tourism outfitter for the region. From Topaz Lake and the Pine Nut Mountains to the Tahoe Rim Trail, Carson Valley is looking for a storyteller to bring it all together.

The Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (US Forest Service/LTBMU) and the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA) have been working together for a couple of years to improve mountain bike trails all while protecting the natural resources of our local forests. Lake Tahoe is a special place, loved and used by millions of visitors each year from around the world. The local forest service has been at the forefront of working collaboratively with user groups and the public to ensure that protecting the environment of this special place, still allows for uses that are compatible and fun.

If you’re new to tubeless bicycle tires, you may not be aware that they need periodic maintenance. Although a tire may continue to hold air indefinitely, flat protection can diminish after just a few months as the sealant drys up. In addition to adding fresh sealant, it’s best to remove the old sealant for best performance. The old sealant can pool and stick to a specific location in the tire, or form into strange rubber crystals. If not removed, the dried sealant adds excess rotating mass to the tire, and can throw the wheel out of balance.

Regular readers of BikeCarson.com may have noticed that there have been far fewer postings lately. I suppose an explanation is warranted, because I don’t want you to think that I have lost interest in cycling, as this is not the case. I haven’t been riding my bike though, and it’s awfully hard to write about something I’m not actively engaged in.  After years of tuning-up my bike, it was time to tune-up my body.

Prestigious snow carvers from around the world will call North Lake Tahoe home February 8-12, 2013 for the region’s first-ever Carve Tahoe competition, with the judging take place February 13, 2013.

The weeklong international snow sculpture contest is specifically geared for spectators who will view firsthand 20-ton blocks of pure snow shaped and carved into breathtaking masterpieces. The competing teams are the best of the best – selected from the event’s top applicants and representing more than 20 countries.

About a year ago, a few of us participated in the making of a promotional video for Carson City. Our segment was to promote our city’s recreational trails, so Ash Canyon was selected for the location. For about an hour, we all pedaled up and down the dirt road, and back and forth on the trails. Nearly two seconds of the footage made it to the final cut.

Powerful early-season storms combined with the area’s largest and most advanced snowmaking operations have allowed Vail Resorts’ Lake Tahoe mountains – Heavenly Mountain Resort, Northstar California Resort and Kirkwood Mountain Resort – to open early with 111 acres. Heavenly and Northstar will open on Wednesday, Nov. 14 with a combined seven lifts and eight trails, totaling 51 acres.

With Lake Tahoe area ski lifts just days away from turning for the first time this ski and ride season, it is not too early to start planning holiday vacations, especially with the wide variety of holiday activities and great vacation packages Heavenly Mountain Resort, Northstar California and Kirkwood Mountain Resort are offering.

Join Daniel Robertson, MD, an orthopedic physician with Tahoe Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, on Wednesday, October 17 at 6 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express in Minden, Nev., for a free, hour-long-discussion with a focus on shoulder arthritis treatment options.
The discussion will focus on shoulder anatomy, the signs and symptoms of shoulder arthritis, and how physicians diagnosis and treat shoulder arthritis.

Not able to ride today, or need some motivation to get on your bike? Here’s a fun Go Pro video from Marcus Marchegger, riding his bike above Vicee Canyon on Carson City’s west side. Great Fall colors, cool temperatures, and smooth fast singletrack along the small canyon’s rim make for some exceptional mountain biking this time of year!

The Tunnel Creek Cafe up at Incline Village is now open! Max Jones and Patti McMullan, who currently own and operate Flume Trail Bikes at Spooner Lake, have recently opened a new cafe at Tunnel Creek Station. The cafe is located on Tunnel Creek Road near the old Ponderosa Ranch which was used for filming the 1960s television western Bonanza. More importantly though, the Tunnel Creek Cafe is at one end of the world famous Flume Trail.

Carson City and Muscle Powered (a community group dedicated to making Carson City a better community for bicycling and walking) have been working with the US Forest Service and the public for many years to develop a trail system along the foothills of the Carson Range with connectivity to Carson City.

The unseasonable warm weather around Carson City makes it ideal to get out and take advantage of some of the area’s outdoor activities including ice skating, hiking, mountain biking and golf. Check out the latest blog from the Carson City Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The 10th annual Tahoe Adventure Film Festival offers gnarly footage as “all-risk” describes the fast paced, high energy series of extreme sports short films that premiere Saturday, Dec. 10 at MontBleu Resort Casino and Spa. Lake Tahoe, recognized as a breeding ground for elite athletes and year-round adventurers, is designed to capture the intensity and passion of adventure with the film festival a perfect reflection of that outdoor culture.

A seemingly obscure connection between two of Carson City's trails soon could make walking and mountain biking on the east side of town more enjoyable and, for some, a lot easier.The city's Open...

LAKE TAHOE — If another La Nina visits the Sierra this winter – all-time records were approached in 2010-11 with more than 700 inches of snow – Tahoe South ski resorts are ready to roll on another epic season.

A Las Vegas man was killed Friday afternoon mountain biking in Spooner Park.According to Carson City Sheriff's Deputy Bob Motamenpour, Daniel Otter, 50, was with a group of friends descending a tra...

What do six months of record snowfall mean for South Lake Tahoe this summer? It translates to pure blue energy on and off the water, reports the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority.

PRESS RELASE — Is 35 minutes of travel time worth up to $100 in value-added savings at South Lake Tahoe?

South Lake Tahoe lodging providers are offering value-added deals to make the time pass more quickly as a detour for Highway 50 over Echo Summit will divert traffic for about two weeks.