10th Annual Tahoe Bike Challenge starts June 1

Every year for two weeks, hundreds of Lake Tahoe residents and visitors park their cars and ride their bikes to work, school, and for fun. Participants in the Tahoe Bike Challenge, which runs from June 1 to June 14, track their miles and join the friendly competition for fun prizes and bragging rights.

“What makes this year’s bike challenge so exciting are the community events,” said Karen Houser, co-chair for the Tahoe Bike Challenge and board member of the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition. “On both the north shore and south shore, and in the Truckee area, there will be bike-themed movie nights, group rides, yoga for cyclists, and plenty of other fun events for Tahoe families to check out.”

Information on the Tahoe Bike Challenge can be found at tahoebikechallenge.org, including a calendar of events and details on how to register and log miles ridden during the Challenge.

“We encourage everyone to challenge themselves to make a difference by registering and recording their bicycle trips with our online system,” said Joe Marzocco, co-chair for the Tahoe Bike Challenge and program manager assistant for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. “People can participate as individuals, join a team, or gather their friends, family, or co-workers and create a team.”

Bike Challenge organizers invite the community to a kickoff celebration on May 30, at Moe’s Original Bar B Que in Tahoe City, featuring group rides, live music, a bike tire changing contest, and bicycle decorating competition. At the kick-off, and all of the other events during the challenge that you attend, you will be able to enter into a drawing to win a cruiser bike. The drawing will take place at the Cycle Celebration on June 20 at Heavenly Village in South Lake Tahoe.

Here are some tips that will help you enjoy riding your bicycle during the Bike Challenge:

- Keep your bike well maintained. Make sure your brakes and gears work properly and your tires are inflated. Bring your bike into one of Tahoe’s many fantastic bike shops for more help.
- Wear a helmet.
- Use proper hand signals when turning, stopping, or changing lanes.
- You and the bicycle are a vehicle with the same rights and responsibilities as an automobile.
- Ride on the right side of the road in the same direction as traffic flow.
- Obey all traffic laws.
- Stop at all stop signs and red traffic lights.
- Ride in a straight line and in a single file.
- When overtaking a pedestrian or another cyclist on a bike path, pass them on their left, just as you would when driving a car.
- Use lights (white in front and red in back), reflectors, and reflective clothing during darkness. Be seen and be safe.

Led by the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the Tahoe Metropolitan Planning Organization, this year’s Tahoe Bike Challenge enjoys vital support from sponsors including the Nevada Department of Transportation, Tahoe Forest Health System, Tahoe Center for Orthopedics Barton Health, Heavenly Lake Tahoe, South Tahoe Refuse & Recycling Services, Tahoe Daily Tribune, Northstar California, Lumos & Associates, Bike the West, and Kirkwood.

Partners who are making the Tahoe Bike Challenge possible include North Tahoe Public Utility District, Truckee North Tahoe Transportation Management Association, Tahoe City Public Utility District, the Community Mobility Group of the Lake Tahoe Sustainability Collaborative, Sierra Nevada Alliance, the League to Save Lake Tahoe, California Tahoe Conservancy, Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association, 101.5 FM Truckee Tahoe Radio, K-Tahoe, KRLT, and Lake Tahoe TV.