Quick (or maybe not so quick) Tahoe recap....with pictures! :)

Tahoe was amazing! Perfect weather and a perfect ride! Carrie and I rolled through the course with ease and finished in a little over 8 hours with about 6 hours and 45 minutes of pedaling time. (yes, we wanted to push ourselves a little but we also wanted to have fun and hang out a little at the rest stops). Here is a quick recap of the weekend, with pictures.....

Friday was a travel day. I flew out with the Illinois team. Flying with assigned seats on a boring airline (American) is definitely not as fun as flying with first come first serve seating on a fun airline with fun people (Southwest). When we finally arrived in Reno, many of us were very excited about the possibility of having the bus stop at In-N-Out, but sadly our coach was in a hurry for some unknown reason and said that we couldn't. We were all very disappointed. The burrito I grabbed at the airport was definitely not a good substitute for a cheeseburger protein style and fries. :( After bike pick-up Friday evening I went to Tahoe Pizza with the Texas team and good times (and a few beers) were had by all! :)

Saturday I rolled out for a short ride (with the Texas team) in order to get the legs moving, make sure the bike was working after the trip, and try to get used to the altitude. That ride makes me nervous every year because the altitude is always a shock on the first few climbs! Saturday afternoon my dad arrived and he, Carrie and I set out for some exploring around the lake, including driving up Emerald Bay.
Carrie and I even tried playing in the lake a little bit, but it was super cold!!
Sunday - Ride day!! We got lucky with absolutely perfect weather! :) Temps started out in the higher 40's and slowly rose to the mid 60's throughout the day, and it was bright and sunny all day! Any of you who have been to Tahoe know that pictures and words can not convey how amazing it is, but I will try anyway. Here are some highlights!
1. I managed to not crash at mile 2 this year! Yea!
2. Emerald Bay went amazingly well - apparently riding with 40 mph winds does help with hill training! :)
3. I beat Carrie up Spooner! (Ok well that could have something to do with the fact that I left Kingsbeach about 15 minutes before she did....)
4. Having your dad at the ride is fantastic because he meets you at the finish line with a cooler full of beer! :)

There are many, many more fun pictures, but I think I'm about maxed out for this post. For those that are interested, the remaining ones will probably be posted to myspace/facebook soon.

Time to start getting excited for AMBBR '09! :)