We awoke on Wednesday morning a little hung over but eager to sample the surrounding area on our bikes. Carole and I had tossed back and forth the idea of riding to Mammoth Lakes and back or doing a circled around Lake Tahoe. The waitress at the brewery the night before, as well as the bartender at the Hard Rock Cafe, had recommended we check out Virginia City, We decided to do a run to Virginia City, up to Reno, and then return via the north end of Lake Tahoe and on down highways 28 and 89 on the western shore of the lake. It looked to be a promising 150 mile leisurely ride with a lot to see. So, a larger circle of Lake Tahoe turned out to be our goal.
We started our morning at Heidi's Pancake House for the best (and priciest) breakfast in South Lake Tahoe. Then we were off the Virginia city via Hwy 50 into Carson City. The ride west on Hwy 50 turned into a fun high-speed sweeper run down the eastern side of the Sierras. About halfway down the heat from the desert floor hit us in the face. Good thing we were wearing our mesh gear. Again I was surprised at how easily Carole was taking to the high speed curves. You may find it hard to believe but even under her full face helmet and armored jacket I could see that she was grinning from ear to ear as she exercised the bike down the highway.
We arrived on the valley floor and had to deal with a surprisingly heavy amount of traffic on Hwy 395 into Carson City. In fact there was a lot of traffic all the way into Virginia City. The climb on highway 342 into Virginia City was steep and twisty, almost frustrating considering we were following cars that were tentative in the climb to say the least. Nonetheless we were patient and enjoyed the technical climb before pulling into the tourist trap.
If you aren't familiar with Virginia City it is quite a treat. The silver that was discovered in the mines below the town essentially financed the Union during the civil war. It was one of the primary stopping points on the road west that helped to develop San Francisco. The music scene in San Francisco was also tied in a unique way to Virginia City. Big Brother and the Holding Company was a small local band that played in the Silver Dollar Saloon in the early sixties. Janice Joplin met up with the band and begin doing nightly gigs with them. Eventually they decided to test their fortunes by heading out to San Francisco to get involved with the music scene there. As they say, the rest is history.
Today Virginia City is simply a town struggling to help separate tourists from their vacation budget. There is little to do there except shop for tourist items and sit in some of the saloons and play the slot machines. It used to be a big stop for the Street Vibrations Rally that happens every fall in Reno. But last year the local sheriff decided that the bikers rolling into town were a nuisance and closed the town down to bikers at 4:30 PM. The local merchants were outraged! Street Vibrations attendees spend a lot of money in Virginia City and the annual event would bring in the cash cow that would hold the local merchants over through the hard, harsh winter months when no one makes it out there. Needless to say the sheriff will be looking for other employment after this fall's election.
All of these facts we learned from a local bartender as we refreshed ourselves at the Bonanza Saloon in Virginia City. (The establishment was named after the Bonanza television series that did a lot to popularize Virginia City with the tourists)
After kicking around town for about an hour and a half we mounted our bikes and headed northward on Hwy 342 toward Reno. This ride was twisty with a lot less traffic than when we came in. The descent back down to the desert floor was incredible with a view of the snow capped Sierra's on the western horizon. I can see why this road has become a biker's dream when attending Street Vibrations.
We caught 395 at the valley floor and rode on into a congested Reno, then headed west on I-80 to Truckee. We didn't bother stopping in Reno, it was just too congested. At Truckee we headed South on Hwy 267 and wound our way back down to Lake Tahoe where we caught Hwy 28 to begin our ride along the lake. This turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable, leisurely ride. It was a two lane hwy with plenty of traffic and towns along the way but the scenery of the lake and the mountains was incredible and made the slow speed enjoyable.
About halfway down the lake traffic thinned out quite a bit and we found ourselves entering a couple of state parks with spectacular scenery. About 3/4 of the way down the lake we came to Emerald Bay and stopped at a view point to take in the scenery. Its amazing how big this lake really is, resting 6,388 above sea level and holding the bluest, cleanest water you'll ever see. Immediately after departing Emerald Bay we crossed a finger of land that separates two bodies of water. It reminded us of the Devil's Backbone in Utah; a thin strip of road curving along with a severe drop on both sides and no guard rails. Anyone who has seen "City of Angels" will recognize the scenery from that movie.
Too soon we found ourselves back at our hotel. I quickly cleaned up both bikes and then we set out again on foot to enjoy another evening of damaging brain cells. We walked over to Harrah's in Nevada and had a cold one. We then hopped to a couple of other casinos to test their carbonated beverages. Carole had suggested we play some black jack while we were in Nevada but I had wanted to avoid that temptation preferring to spend money on tangible things. But eventually we decided to test our luck at a low budget table with a bunch of young tourists that were new to cards. They turned out to be a blast to hang out with. They had a good sense of humor and enjoyed losing at cards just as much as they enjoyed winning. We played for about three hours before heading out and broke dead even. In other words, we had great entertainment for three hours and it didn't cost us a dime.
As we were getting ready to head back to the hotel for the night I asked Carole to let me try one thing. The previous night I had bought a tank top for her at the Hard Rock Cafe. I still can't believe I was willing to pay $30.00 for a tank top. So I asked her to let me play one hand for $30.00 at a black jack table. It was like going double or nothing... if I won her tank top was free. If I lost then we would look at it as a $60.00 tank top. Since it was my birthday she agreed. I sat at a table, put thirty dollars down and played the hand. Hitting a 16 with the dealer showing a face card was a tough thing to do, but I got a 21 to the dealer's 20 and walked away with the $30.00 win. Carole wanted to stick around and play some more but I exclaimed, "We can walk away from Tahoe tonight and know that we have beat this town!" I know, its a small victory but one we both decided to relish as we walked back to our hotel and called it a night.