Every Wednesday at 4:00 Tahoe Mountain Club offers a FREE guided mountain bike ride for Members. I had wanted to participate for weeks and even brought my bike to Old Greenwood and back home a few Wednesdays in a row before making it happen. When I was finally in my cycling shorts, I was excited for the opportunity. I met Julie in the Pavilion 10 minutes before the scheduled departure. She offers to check out your bike for proper fit if you arrive early. A properly fit bike makes such a difference in how efficiently you ride and how much control you have over the bike on varied terrain. There was only one other Member, Bob, in for the ride that day and after looking us over and sizing us up Julie led us out toward the trail. The rides are open to everyone 6 and older and Julie, the guide, will determine the route and duration of the ride based on the experience level of the group. She must have thought that Bob and I were in pretty good shape as we went on a 2 hour ride from Old Greenwood around Prosser reservoir, through Gray’s Crossing and back to Old Greenwood. She said that if it was a family with kids, the ride would have been much different.

I have lived in the Tahoe Truckee area for nearly 20 years and rode mountain bikes regularly for the first 10 years or so but had not been on a ride of any significance in a long time. We started out on pavement until we got to the end of Prosser Dam road where it turns to dirt. The warm up on pavement was perfect and as the rubber left the road onto the dirt, I really started getting excited for what lied ahead. We picked up a fun and slightly technical single track that took us through a meadow of beautiful wildflowers to the Prosser dam. The views of Mt. Rose were awesome and the reservoir lay still on the other side of the trail. We linked up to a dirt road and cruised fairly easily to the junction of the Emigrant trail. I had been on this single track many times in the past and immediately remembered how fun this section is. It was mostly downhill and smooth with gentle meandering turns requiring not much more that a look and lean to negotiate at moderate speed. Throughout the ride, Julie did a great job of setting our expectations and letting us take turns in the lead position and somehow knew that I was faster downhill while Bob was a better climber and we always seem to be in the right place at the right time keeping it fun for us all.

It was a beautiful and fun ride and when I was done I felt that I got a good workout without being totally worked over. I was able to enjoy the scenery of the mountains, wildflowers and the lake while keeping a comfortable pace. We stopped as needed for a breather and water while we enjoyed the views and conversation. It was great having a guide and although I was familiar with some of the trails we rode, I was experiencing much of it for the first time and I look forward to going back and riding it again.