Bike - Stanford Rock

After climbing 1000’, the trees begin to open up a little.

For Labor Day, we decided to labor up Stanford Rock to access the last section of the Tahoe Rim Trail that we hadn't ridden. Stanford Rock is a 15-mile loop with a 2200' climb up an overgrown old road. From the top, you make a short descent to intersect the TRT, just before it reaches Twin Peaks.

The trail climbs at a moderate pitch, so you can ride it the whole way except for three nasty pitches near the top that only the strongest riders can clear.

Checking out the view of Ward Canyon.

I stopped part way up to wait for Nancy and make sure she hadn’t exploded. She was excited at how well she was doing and was looking for the summit around every corner, until I pointed to the altimeter and said, “Uh, we’re not quite halfway there.” End of excitement.

There is a view of Blackwood Canyon at the two-thirds point in the trail, but otherwise you are enclosed by trees until the trail tops out. From the top you get excellent views of Twin Peaks and Ward Canyon.

Get used to seeing this.

Bikers normally ride up the Stanford Rock trail and come down the TRT, because the middle part of the TRT has a zillion rock steps and water bars that are hard enough to ride down, never mind coming up. The steps wouldn’t be so bad, except they’re also surrounded with loose rock.

Riding through the Mule’s Ears on the Tahoe Rim Trail, with Twin Peaks in the background.

Yeah! After three summers, we finally finished riding the TRT! (By comparison, an ultra-marathoner just ran the whole thing—172 miles—in 45 hours.)

So we’re not core, at least by local standards. However, while you often see men in the 40s and 50s biking these trails, I’ve yet to see a woman our age out here riding.

Call us quarter-core . . . maybe even half.