Steve's Mountain Bike Page
Turlock, California

"The Punisher"
Tahoe Rim Trail: Kingsbury Grade down Mr. Toads Wild Ride
Lake Tahoe CA/NV, August 11, 2006

Impy was passing through Tahoe this week so I suggested we ride "The Punisher", the Tahoe Rim Trail from Heavenly ski area down Mr. Toads Wild Ride. With over 5,000 ft. of climbing, all between 7,500 and 10,000 ft., and culminating in Toads, this is a pretty tough ride. Impy invited me on my first mtbr ride, she has introduced me to dozens of cool riders, and we have ridden together many times. She is sort of my mountain biking mentor. Although a great rider, she is very patient and she provides lots of encouragement and riding tips. Mostly due to a new bike and a "rediscovery" of clipless pedals I've become a much better rider in the past few months and I did quite well on my last Punisher ride. I hadn't ridden with Impy since last fall so I was really looking forward to the ride and perhaps keeping up with her a little better.

Todd, who is also a great rider, joined us on a perfect summer day in Tahoe, clear blue skies and very comfortable temperatures. We moved along fairly well and made it to Star Lake and then the high point, Freel Pass at 9,750 in pretty good time. I was still behind most of the time but they occasionally stopped and waited for me. The three plus mile descent from Freel Pass was great and then we started climbing back up to 9,500 ft. on our way to Armstrong Pass. As we neared the high point I began to feel dizzy and for lack of a better word, yucky. These symptoms hit me quite a bit the rest of the ride and I had to stop all too often, really slowing us down. Fortunately, it was mostly downhill the rest of the way.

As I approached the first big drop on Toads my front wheel felt wobbly and I looked down to see my quick release nearly wide open! I tightened it down but a little while later it became loose again. So for the rest of Toads I was extremely paranoid about it, so much so that it affected my riding. But Impy and Todd, who had never ridden Toads before, did quite well. They even tried and made some of the really gnarly upper rock gardens. Impy had quite a spectacular endo and landed on a big rock, cutting her chin slightly.

I was not at my best on the middle sections of Toads with all the rocky drops and stairs, so I was happy to get to the smooth, fast, flowing, swoopy stuff toward the bottom. But near the end we went up a bit of a uphill and the dizziness and yucky feelings came back. Fortunately we were almost done so I told them to continue on and I took it easy the rest of the way. But it was still a great ride and I thank both Impy and Todd for their patience. Here is the elevation profile.

Click on an image to enlarge it

Impy lubing up	Impy and Todd	Todd above Carson Valley	Impy above Carson Valley	Impy hike-a-bike
Impy falls	Todd on the trail	Impy on the trail	Near Star Lake	Todd above Star lake
Jobs Sister 10,823 ft.	Impy on the trail	Glacial features	Lake Tahoe below	Impy and Todd
Impy, top of Toads	Nearing 9,750 ft.	9,750 ft.	Impy down rock stairs	Impy, top of Toads
Todd, top of Toads	Top of  Toads	Todd, top of Toads	Impy minor fall on Toads	Well done!

Glacial cirque and tarn
Vertical pano, click on it for larger image

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