Sean Allen<\/a>. Sean is currently aiming for the\u00a0inaugural\u00a0race to take place in the Summer of 2013.<\/p>\nI’ve hiked a lot of trails near Lake Tahoe, but I had never bikepacked them. I reached out to Sean about his new route and he\u00a0generously\u00a0helped me create a shorter version that I could easily complete in 2.5 days.<\/p>\n
After my dad kindly dropped me off in Foresthill, I rode a counterclockwise loop to Lake Tahoe, Donner, and back. I started around 7am on Saturday and finished around 10am on Monday.\u00a0My route ended up being around 200 miles and 20,000 ft of climbing.<\/p>\n
I opted for a lot of pavement at the beginning of the ride through the foothills, so I could reach Loon Lake by the end of Day 1. There were few options for getting water along this stretch. It got pretty hot and I was low on water when I\u00a0unexpectedly\u00a0came across a bar called “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” along Ice House Road. Sitting next to leather-clad Harley riders, I happily downed two cold Cokes.<\/p>\n
On the morning of the second day, I past groups of Jeeps on the Rubicon Trail, their drivers still sleeping in their tents. I took a nice spill while bouncing down a long, rocky section, but, thankfully, there was no damage to the bike and I just bruised my hand. After riding past tourists on the bike paths and roads next to Lake Tahoe, the Stanford Rock trail offered beautiful\u00a0single track\u00a0and amazing views. The nice, long downhill along the Truckee River dropped me into Donner. I stocked up on food and then headed out as the sun set.<\/p>\n