18th annual Tahoe Bike Month draws record participants

LAKE TAHOE, Nev./Calif – There was a record number of participants during this year's 18th annual Tahoe Bike Challenge - more people than ever out of their cars to help improve Lake Tahoe’s environment and communities, according to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) and the Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition. The two of them once again teamed up to organize the basin-wide celebration through the month of June.

Additional bike, pedestrian, and transit improvements in the Tahoe Region come forward every year to help reduce reliance on the private automobile, increase safety, and improve Lake Tahoe’s air and water quality. Bike Month encourages more people to take advantage of the improvements and builds support for transportation and maintenance projects. Participants also track their rides, which creates a fun competition to see which individuals and teams can record the most rides.

Here is the recap:

A record 450 Tahoe residents and visitors signed up online, and even more people participated in bike-friendly events throughout the month. Tahoe Bike Month participants made a combined 7,109 bike trips, racking up 52,789 miles and 3,749,683 vertical feet of elevation.

South Lake Tahoe kicked off Bike Month with the annual bike path cleanup organized by the League to Save Lake Tahoe and Clean Tahoe. The beginning of June also marked the return of Bike & Walk to School days with more than 400 North and South Shore students riding bikes or walking to school.

Participants logged their trips and miles at tahoebikemonth.org during the month-long competition and were entered in weekly raffles for prizes donated by local businesses around the lake. Participants also competed for prizes, and glory, by recording the most rides, miles, elevation gain, biggest ride, and for riding every day in June, according to the organizers. Leaderboards can be viewed at tahoebike.org/bike-month-leaderboard.

TRPA and the Tahoe Bike Coalition are also recognizing a handful of individuals who encouraged others by leading the pack:

Number of Rides – Tojo Moco (150 rides)

Elevation Gain – Jake Mann (73,648 vertical feet)

Distance – Jake Mann (1,221 miles)

Biggest Ride – Jess Latta (120 miles + 10,367 vertical feet)

Consecutive Days (all 30 days of June) – Tojo Moco, Miles Schulman, Daniel Bergman, Nick Speal, Jessica Wackenhut Lomeli, Rebecca Cremeen, John Hitchcock, Rose Hoffmann, Topher Lauria, Cormic Brennan, Natasha Buffo, Blair Davidson, Jason Ishii, Reeve Dunne, Druin Roberts, Michelle Glickert, Mason Bindl, Jeremy Benson, Harvey Mushman 95, Andrew Yeh, Katy Waldie, and Bye Tahoe.

Team Category – “Wheelie Wheelie Ridiculously Good Looking” won the challenge by earning 146 points over the course of the month.

“Bike month is such a fun and fulfilling way to start the summer and it inspired our team to bike instead of drive almost every day!” said Rose Hoffman, a team member with Wheelie Wheelie Ridiculously Good Looking. “The Tahoe bike paths are beautiful, but we experienced firsthand the need for safer bike infrastructure when one of our team members was the victim of a hit and run on Pioneer. We’re grateful to TRPA and the Tahoe Bike Coalition for sponsoring such an awesome event and hope it brings awareness and action for more bike-friendly development throughout the basin.”

In addition to the competition, residents and visitors gathered for over 20 bike-friendly events throughout June:

Over 80 Tahoe residents stopped by “bike kitchen” pop-ups to learn how to fix up and tune their bikes. The Bike Coalition and El Dorado County Library hosted the popups around the basin every Friday in June.

The Truckee community encouraged volunteers to bike for the 19th annual Truckee Day Cleanup event.

The 30th annual America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride around the lake returned.
Over 70 commuters stopped by Bicycle Coalition booths for donuts on their way to work.

Lake Tahoe Pride hosted the second annual Pride Bike Ride.

Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association again hosted the annual Mountain Bike Festival in Meyers.

The Lake Tahoe Bicycle Coalition closed the month-long challenge with its Bike Month Celebration Ride.

The 18th annual Tahoe Bike Challenge was made possible by sponsors from Heavenly Epic Promise, the Tahoe Fund, Bike the West, Stio, Tahoe Gear Exchange, Shoreline Bikes, Fast Print, Empanash, Blue Granite Climbing Gym, Bare Roots Coffee Roasting Co., Shedcat Distillery, Tahoe Bear Tea House, Pine Nut Cycle Café, South Shore Bikes, Rose Street Studio, Beach Hut Deli, Clyde’s Coffee Roasting Company, Luna Lending, Gear Lab, Keep Tahoe Blue, the Hangar, Alibi Ale Works, the Town of Truckee, and the City of South Lake Tahoe.

Bike Month organizers say they hope to see people continue to bike, walk, and ride transit this summer. TRPA and its partners maintain a website dedicated to information about getting around Tahoe without driving at LinkingTahoe.com. An interactive bike map can be found at map.tahoebike.org and paper maps are available at bike shops and visitor centers throughout Tahoe and Truckee.

The Tahoe Bike Challenge will return in June 2024.