bikes

After 782 miles and eight days of racing, 23 year-old Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) of Etixx – Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team clinched the 2016 Amgen Tour of California championship, becoming the youngest rider to hold that title in the race’s 11 years. U.S. National Road Race Champion Megan Guarnier (Glens Falls, New York) of Boels-Dolmans Cycling Team also celebrated victory in Sacramento as the four-day Amgen Breakaway from Heart Disease™ Women’s Race Empowered with SRAM which concluded along with the men’s event.

Sledders and snowboarders this season were not kind to the new Bijou Bike Park, breaking down banked trails, overturning tables and benches, and leaving the area full of trash.

At Thursday's South Lake Tahoe Parks & Recreation Commission meeting, City staff, commissions and bike enthusiasts discussed how to ensure the damage and some other issues at the park come to an end.

The following is a recap of activity the South Lake Tahoe Police Department responded to 134 calls between March 23 and March 28, 2016.

Calls Resulting in Arrests:

3/23
2:49 a.m.- Liquor Laws in 3300 block of Lake Tahoe Blvd - Officer saw two minors with bikes parked, sitting drinking beers. They said a man went into the Safeway Gas Station and bought it for them. Man providing beer was found, arrested for providing alcohol to a minor, and kids arrested for minors with alcohol.
12:07 p.m. - Battery in 1000 lock of Heavenly Village Way

The South Tahoe High Sober Grad Night Task Force would like to thank the following businesses and individuals who helped make our annual event for the graduating seniors such a success! The kids loved the evening and it couldn't have been made possible if you weren't a part of it.

Thanks to the support of 38 local businesses/organizations, dozens of local vendors and hundreds of weekly attendees, On Course Events produced over 20 community events this summer, including 3 brand new event series’.

“None of these events would be possible without the support we have from our local
community,” states Leslie Schultz of On Course Events. “The best part is we’re able to recycle that support right back into the community and the local non-profit organizations that support it. That’s true Tahoe support!”

It is time once again for traditional South Lake Tahoe kick-off of the holiday season over the last 24 years, the Tahoe Toy Run.

Motorcycles full of toys for local youth in need will make their 25th run down Highway 50, this year from the airport to Sonney's BBQ Shack on October 3 starting at 10 a.m.

Bikers will start lining up the airport, which is located at 1901 Airport Road in South Lake Tahoe, at 10 a.m. for a 12 p.m. departure.

They will then proceed down Highway 50/Emerald Bay Road on the way to the party at Sonney's at 787 Emerald Bay Road.

High above the Lake Tahoe Basin rim, a six-member U.S. Forest Service trail crew has been busy reconstructing the Kingsbury Stinger Trail, located on lower Kingsbury Grade. The upgraded trail will remain open to Off-Highway Vehicles (OHVs) 50-inches wide (or less) including all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles and non-motorized recreation use such as mountain bikes, hikers and equestrians. When completed, the new trail will offer a thrill-seeking OHV experience, while reducing erosion and impacts to forest resources.

Events include Sample the Sierra, The Sternwheeler Races, The +Ironman Triathlon in Lake Tahoe, The Reebook Spartan World championships, +TrailsAndVistas concert and hiking experience, and Oktoberfest 2015.

Notable Concerts
Skid Row and Sammy Hagar #LaborDay weekend in #LakeTahoe, plus Eric Burdon and the Animals, George Thorogood and the Destroyers, Andre Nikatina and Rappin 4Tay with The iinTerCepTerz and DeeDay the Scorpion, plus two big festivals in the area:

Our transportation systems are entering a period of accelerated change unlike anything we've seen since the invention of the internal combustion engine more than a century ago. We are in the early stages of a sweeping transformation in how we travel that is driven by the ongoing convergence of transportation and information technologies.

Most kids and parents have a mixture of excitement and nervousness about starting a new school year. This is normal. However, parents can help ease the transition from summer vacation to the school routine. Here are some tips to prepare you and your student for the upcoming academic year.

The 3rd Annual Meyers Mountain Bike Festival is going on Saturday and Sunday, August 8th and 9th in the parking lot of Divided Sky It brings together the biking community, especially those that enjoy bicycles on dirt in beautiful Lake Tahoe.

It is full of events from rides and demos of equipment to a BBQ and Beer Garden.

SATURDAY - AUGUST 8

Sign Ups @ Dirt Lot - Corral Trailhead bottom - 8 a.m.
Demos/Shuttle - 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
After Party @ The Divided Sky

SUNDAY - AUGUST 9

July 17-Aug 23 Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival: "Romeo and Juliet" @ Sand Harbor
July 29-Aug 02 Shayla Rivera / Pete Banachowski @ Improv at Harvey's
July 31-Aug 16 Lake Tahoe Summerfest classical music series @ Sierra Nevada College
July 31-Aug 01 Lisa Marie Johnston @ Moodys Bistro
Coburn Station @ Bar of America
August 01 Three Dog Night @ Montbleu
Robert Cray @ Harrah's
Forget the Roses @ Hard Rock Hotel
Drought Relief @ Heavenly Village
DJ Rick Gee / DJ Rockwell @ Peek Tahoe
Daze on the Green @ Cabo Wabo
JKC Band @ Steamers
Darren Senn @ 968 Park Hotel

Are you a youth in South Lake Tahoe that needs a bike this summer? The South Lake Tahoe Police Activities League (PAL) is working in cooperation with the South Lake Tahoe Police Department to provide bicycles for local youth to use this summer.

There are a few requirements to be eligible:

- Youth must have shown increased effort with their academics and school attendance
- Write an essay why they need a bike for the summer
- Agree to use a helmet
- Maintain the bike
- Use a bike lock
- Sign a PAL Pledge committing to staying drug-free

The 2nd annual Cycle Celebration will culminate the Tahoe Bike Challenge where 315 riders made 2,706 trips and covered 17,299 miles in the Lake Tahoe area on their bikes between June 1 and 14. All of those miles saved participants $3,845 in gasoline.

Bellamy Court at the back of Heavenly Village (by the parking garage) will be closed off for the celebration on Saturday, June 20 for a plethora of activities to celebrate biking in Lake Tahoe from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

We face some big, daunting environmental restoration challenges here at Lake Tahoe. But helping our environment every day can be as simple as riding a bike, walking, or taking transit. And the hundreds of people who participated in the Tahoe Bike Challenge this June, including many of our employees at the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, are showing how big of an impact our individual actions can have.

Join us as we celebrate the Tahoe Bike Challenge with a community BIKE PATH CLEANUP event on Saturday, June 13th from 10am-noon.

Volunteers can meet at one of four locations throughout South Tahoe to pick up litter from the areas around our bike paths. Then we’ll meet up at the League to Save Lake Tahoe office (2608 Lake Tahoe Blvd.) for a free lunch, raffle and celebration after 12pm. All ages are welcome and all supplies will be provided!

RSVP here: Clean-Tahoe.org

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.

If you've ever driven by South Tahoe Middle School just as the kids get to school, or as they depart, you know what an unsafe area it can be for students on bikes and on foot. Because of this, the Lake Tahoe Unified School District secured a $154,000 grant from the TRPA On Our Way program to work with the Lake Tahoe Sustainability Collaborative to conduct outreach and develop a connectivity and mobility plan for the area.

Cyclists of all ages and levels are invited to take part in Ride 2 Recovery's Tahoe Honor Ride on Friday, May 8 as part of the Amgen Tour of California.

The Honor Ride Lake Tahoe is a 19-mile route that departs from Heavenly Mountain Resort’s California Base Lodge and takes participants along Pioneer Trail toward Meyers before returning to Heavenly. Post-event celebrations will include the Amgen Tour of California festivities with vendors, food, drinks, DJs, and cheering on the professional athletes as they complete Stage 1.

While the summertime tourist to South Lake Tahoe should only be slightly affected, business owners along Highway 89 are worried about their livelihood with overnight road construction and blocked driveways.

During Thursday evening's Caltrans informational meeting at South Tahoe High, several owners of lodging properties, restaurants, sports and retail stores spoke about their concerns during the project which will last from mid-April to mid-October in 2015 and could even extend into the 2017 building season.

The most innovative South Shore businesses will exhibit at the 2015 Business EXPO: Innovation in the Basin on Friday, March 27. The largest business and networking event of the year, Tahoe Chamber’s Business EXPO includes 100 local businesses ranging from restaurants and resorts to recreation providers to retailers. The event includes food and drink tastings, giveaways and a new networking lounge sponsored by the City of South Lake Tahoe, Winters Construction Group and Red Carpet Events and Design.

It took several more months than planned, but Soup Tahoe is now open on the South Shore.

In September, South Tahoe Now announced that SUP Tahoe would be converted into Soup Tahoe during the non-summer months where stand up paddling isn't as popular.

"There were many more regulations than we first figured into our business plan," said owner Eddie Smith of the delay in opening. Smith and his wife, Kimberly, got the doors opened to Soup Tahoe last week.

When reflecting over the past year it's hard to remember all that happened in one's life, unless you're good at keeping a journal and you have time to re-read it.

As I look back at what happened in South Lake Tahoe over the last 365 days, a lot happened, but what may seem to be a top story to me may not seem as important to a reader.

I reviewed our analytics, the numbers that are kept to show how many people read South Tahoe Now stories at any given point, and drew from those numbers to come up with the "South Lake Tahoe's Top Stories of 2014."

For his "State of the City" address, South Lake Tahoe Mayor Hal Cole took everyone on a trip through the city, celebrating the successes of the last year and creating an anticipation for a future seen with new investments, an improved economy, more businesses and a community that will continue to thrive.