Ooooooweee, hot damn!
The trail was awesome, the weather beautiful and our spirits were unwavering. I will have pictures posted soon; it's a bit difficult to do, seeing as though I don't have a cpu at home.
We arrived in Homewood - a small Tahoe town, which is the end of the Rubicon on Saturday evening and camped there. In the morning we left the truck and rode through South Tahoe, stopping for breakfast (horrible food) and then rode on Hwy 50 for about 20 miles and then turned onto IceHouse road. The ride to Loon Lake (the beginning of the trail) is quite a fantastic ride. It consists of a climb, from 3,500 feet to 7,000, many tight switchbacks winding through the High Sierra Alpine Forest for about 32 miles. Upon our arrival, we immediately took to the granite field with huge smiles. It was great to experience the ride with a close friend.
The duration of our trail ride, through all 14 miles was only 5 hours and 15 minutes, with about 4-5 breaks - the longest about a half of an hour. Pretty darn quick, considering the previous ride, two years ago took 9.5 hours! I nearly finished the whole trail without a tip-over, until riding on a ledge and the rear tire caught a bit of sand on the granite...good thing it was only 3 feet!
The only bummer...and major challenge was one that I failed this time around....Cadillac Hill. Due to time constraints and fatigue we accepted a helping hand, erm - winch from some fellows with their Rubicon Jeep. Worked like a charm; we looped a strap behind the forks and each held a side and slowly walked the bike (individually) up the final, steep, rocky "jump-like" hump at the top of the hill - mountain. I conquered that hill two years ago, with only 300 miles on TW
