A ride on the Flume Trail
My parents came down from Washington to visit a few weeks ago to see the new house, and Kit and I brought my dad out on one of my all-time favorite scenic Tahoe bike rides. We left a car at the bottom of the Chimney Beach trail, and because there was still too much snow on the Tahoe Rim Trail from Mt. Rose to Tunnel Creek we started at the Incline Flume lower down on Mt. Rose Highway. The Incline Flume is mostly flat, being another abandoned flume, and also has some excellent lake views. It runs into Tunnel Creek Rd. about 3/4 of the way up so there is still a bit of climbing involved to get to the Flume.
From there we pedaled across the Flume Trail, marveled at the views, and continued past Marlette Lake up to the top of the climb to the beginning of the Chimney Beach trail. Chimney Beach was so fast and fun and I was feeling my confidence coming back, diving into corners and attacking the steep parts of the trail on my little hardtail right behind Kit the whole time. Dad took a little while longer to make it to the bottom in his wise old age but he put on an impressive performance overall. Being in his 70s, he's got quite the motor and didn't seem to let the altitude bother him too much. I'm thankful for the good genes and really hope I can be going strong at his age!
