New tattoo

Ok, so most of you know I have some tattoos and I am a big cycling
advocate. I've wanted a new tattoo for a while and wasn't sure what to
get. About a month ago this idea came to me and I really thought about
it. All my tattoos mark something special in my life, a time, event,
etc.

This really connected with me. So it's on my left calf where pasing
drivers can see it. Let's hope they understand it.

As for the tattoo, it took about 2 hours which was a lot longer than I
thought it would. Because of the fine lines and symmetry Russell (the
tattooist) was really challenged. All the other tattooists loved it
and were really impressed. Some rated it as a 15 on a difficulty scale of 1 to
10. Russell rated it an 8.

In any case, I love it!

A private concert

So yesterday was pretty tame. We went down to Heavenly to take the
Gondola up and hike. After a really windy ride we got to the top and
started out to the trails. We were pretty sad to find almost all the
trails were closed for some reason. So we wandered around for a while
and finally headed back down. We went into customer service and complained a little and got our $90 back. Which made all of us a little happier. The ticket sellers didn't know the trails were closed, so when we asked them about hiking they told us all about these great trails to hike. 

The real highlight of the day was visiting with Ginger & Rachelle and
getting a private concert from Nextdoor Neighbor (Ginger & Nathan). We
had a great meal, tons of GREAT music and lots of fun.

A few bruises but worth it

This morning Charmelle wanted to do a road ride up to the Mt Rose
summitt and I wanted to do a Mt Bike ride. Where Charm was riding to
was about where my ride would start so I left the car for her and
headed out on the trail.

This was a section of the Tahoe Rim Trail. It is only open to
cyclists on even days of the month, so this was a good day to give it
a try.

The descriptions of the trail sort of under sold it. The Flume was
billed as pretty difficult and this was only tricky in a couple of
sections according to the reports.

Well here is my report: this trail rocks! In more than one way. First,
it is likely the most technical trail I've ever ridden. There is a
fair, but doable amount of climbing, countless drop-offs, and more
rocks to climb over/around/between than I've ever seen. The drops were  
pretty high and often tight quarters with a bunch of them in a row.

There were tons of rock steps to climb up or down as well. Most were
manageable, but there were some that even the really experienced riders I
saw struggled with.

As for the bruises, I had a couple crashes. Really only one crash and one
fall. The crash must have looked good to observers, it wasn't much fun from
my angle. I ended up endo-ing right over the bars still clipped into
my pedals and slide down the slope a bit. It was a nice face plant. I
sat there for a couple minutes and took inventory and things were fine.
I'll be sore tomorrow with a nice bruise on my knee and a stiff neck.
The other fall was into a boulder while I tried unsuccessfully to go
up a set of steps. I made all but the last one. My elbow and wrist
took the abuse on that one.

But it was all worth it. The views were amazing and the ride was a
blast! The photo is just one example or the great views from this trail.

Another Successful Trip on the Truckee

The day started with a walk down the hill for coffee and then back UP
the hill. Then it was off the breakfast at the Old Post Office!

After a great breakfast we headed off for a day of rafting. Last
year's rafting experience proved to be one of the most exciting and
comical moments of our trip.

This year was right up there. Of course we got stuck on the same
freakin rock near the end again! However, we didn't flip, flood, or
sink the boat this year. Also the cameras survived and no one had to
jump into some one else's raft.

Then came the big excitement! We hit Front Street Pizza and inhaled a
couple of pizzas and some other snacks.

Tahoe Rim Trail

The 4 of us went for a nice morning hike along the Tahoe Rim Trail. It
was a GREAT hike. We did about 7 miles and enjoyed every minute of it.

While we were on our return trip Angela finally arrived in Incline
Village! So we picked up the pace a little and got off the trail and
picked her up. Then it was back to the house for lunch! 

A restful day

Today we kept things pretty low key. We ran down to Reno to pick up Jo
& JJ. We sort of bumed around and ran down to Kings Beach and did some
shopping.

We cooked a great dinner and sat out on the deck enjoying great wine,
whiskey, and conversation. Isn't that a key ingredient of vacation?
Plus we were treated to a coyote trotting down the fairway (backyard).

Why we have Mt Bikes

So today we set out the ride the Flume Trail. This trail is ranked as one of the top-10 trails in the nations and it is certainly the GREATEST trail either of us have ever ridden.

The start of the

 ride is really tough. Basically, we climbed for 4 miles. We rode some and walked some. Charm is the climber, I have no problem walking the really tough hills. Once we got to the top it was all worth it.

We went to Marlette Lake (a great downhill) and it was breath taking. More photos will come soon. Then we connected to The Flume. This is an AMAZING trail ride along the edge of the mountain. The trail is great and the views are outstanding.

After riding along the edge, we dropped back into Incline Village. Litterally dropped back down! I rode my brakes the entire drop just to stay at 20mph. What a ride! Just 14 miles, but the most beautiful 14 miles we've ever ridden.