July 03, 2005

Riding Near Stampede

Here is another guest entry from a dirt bike rider.

Today we tried to get out and get on our dirt bikes as early as possible, as it was going to be a hot day. After a short drive to Verdi, we parked at the base of the dirt road heading up through Toiyabe National Forest. It's basically a dirt road that we took down through the valley at the bottom of Crystal Mountain where there were lots of campers and off-roaders. We couldn't figure out which trail to take to get to the top of Crystal Mountain but we found Crystal Mine. Not much to look at there so we headed up towards Stampede Reservoir.

The ride was mellow and nice which was good for checking out all of the beautiful wild flowers that are in bloom. There are tall purple ones, bright yellow ones, bushy red ones and delicate white ones - it's so beautiful right now. Stampede Reservoir was alive with boaters, campers and people fishing. We stopped and ate lunch on the shore under a shade tree and took it all in. I loved that there were no houses or paved roads anywhere to be seen.

After lunch we headed up towards Verdi Peak, which was a smooth road for most of the way but turned rocky and a little narrow toward the top. By the time we reached the summit at 8,000 feet, I was pretty worn out but we climbed the stairs to the fire lookout and it was all worth it. Out one way I could see all of Reno and beyond, the other way was I-80 running alongside the Truckee River curving through the mountains and back up towards Lake Tahoe. Being that high up and seeing that much is an amazing feeling that's hard to duplicate.

Posted by AdventureGrrl at 04:29 PM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2005

Getting That Adrenaline Pumping

This is a guest entry from a bike and dirt bike rider..

What an absolutely beautiful weekend in the Truckee Meadows! The weather was perfect for my Saturday morning ride - not too hot, not too cool. I got on my road bike near Arlington & California and rode down past the Truckee Whitewater park which was already alive with kayakers. I rode out Mayberry up to 4th street and on towards Mogul. Once I got up the hill in Mogul, I hopped on the new installation of the Tahoe-Pyramid bikeway that goes from Mogul to Verdi. The path is beautiful and makes that stretch so easy, I didn't have to ride on I-80 at all, which made my ride much more pleasant and enjoyable! After my ride, I got out my town bike and cruised down to the Farmer's Market on California Avenue. The selection this Saturday was amazing - there were fresh zucchini, yellow squash, corn, cherries, nectarines, strawberries, basil, and flowers. And the best part - almost all of it was picked the day before, it doesn't get much better than that!

Sunday was another gorgeous day. We loaded up the dirt bikes and headed out to Peavine for some trail riding. We were all geared up and ready to get going, I was adjusting my Camelbak when my knees buckled and the trailer rattled - it was the craziest feeling! We knew right away that we had just felt an earthquake and sure enough, we heard on the news later about the 4.3 earthquake centered in the Tahoe Basin. With our adrenaline going, we took off and rode all over the mountain, to the top of Peavine where the radio towers are and back down the other side into a beautiful meadow with an outer space type rock formation. It's amazing that we can ride so much great terrain right outside of Reno - the forests on the way up and the views from the top of the mountains are breath taking.

Posted by AdventureGrrl at 04:24 PM | Comments (0)

June 02, 2005

Now That's An Adventure

Here is an Adventure that was submitted to our blog by Mike:

This past weekend, I went dirt bike riding across the vast Nevada desert. Seeing the majestic mountains and wild horses running free was amazing.

Following the Pony Express Trail, I found antiques along the way. We had a bar-b-que in the quiet desert mountains as the sun went down. Now that's an adventure!

Posted by AdventureGrrl at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)