June, 2009
By John Evanoff
Number eight of my top ten-list of favorite treks
around the Truckee Meadows, takes in a bike ride. You don’t
need an especially expensive bicycle, but it should be between a
tour or road bike and a hybrid mountain bike. A regular mountain
bike is just too heavy for this long neighborhood boulevard route
around Reno.
First, take your bike, a bunch of water and fruit
or snacks, a camera, a comfortable helmet and call up a couple good
bike friends to come along, although I’ve made this tour plenty
of times alone.
The ride starts at Rancho San Rafael Regional
Park. You can get there by going north on Sierra Street to San Rafael
Drive or going north on Washington Street into the park. You can
park anywhere for the day and I find it comforting to know my vehicle
will be safe with the constant patrol of police and park personnel.
Pack up and saddle your ride to head east out of the park to Sierra
Street and then to North McCarran Blvd and westward. This first
part of the ride will definitely warm your legs up, but once you
get past Kings Row, it is downhill for a couple miles.
There are two rides I’ll discuss that come
with this trek because as any cycle enthusiast knows, you always
have more than one trip or route in mind when you go for a ride
because of traffic. The first is heading west from North McCarran
Blvd at Mae Ann Avenue which will take you under Interstate 80 and
down to West 4th Street via Mesa Park Road. Head east on West 4th
Street till you take a right and head south on Mayberry Drive over
the Truckee River. Then take Mayberry Drive all the way to Hunter
Lake Road and take a right. Heading south on Hunter Lake to Plumb
Lane, then head east till you reach Lakeside Drive and then head
south again. You’ll stay close along Virginia Lake on either
the west or east side which meets again at the end and progresses
south past Moana Lane all the way to Bartley Ranch Road and Bartley
Ranch Regional Park on your left just before Windy Hill. Take a
rest at Bartley Ranch, catch your breath and get a bite to eat at
this spot. The view from Windy Hill is great in the morning, but
the traffic is sometimes tough because the road is narrow, so I
like to kick back and enjoy the park to relax for a bit. A few minutes
later, you’re back on the bike heading north on Lakeside to
Ridgeview Drive where you take a left and go west to Plumas Street.
Take Plumas Street past South McCarran back to West Moana Lane and
head west to Skyline Blvd. This hill will test your thighs again
until you reach South McCarran Blvd. There are a couple of parks
along the way to rest including Horseman’s Park and Gojack
Park. Once you are on South McCarran Blvd, the loop takes you all
the way back to where you started at Rancho San Rafael.
The second ride is a bit more exercise, longer,
but includes the entire McCarran Blvd loop, which is a great ride
on an early Sunday morning. For those of you who enjoy a good workout,
but at an occasional casual stop and go pace, this is the ride for
you. Along the loop, there are a number of parks to stop and relax
at including Mira Loma Park in East Reno and Shelly Park in Sparks
at the Baring Blvd intersection. McCarran Blvd took a couple decades
to complete. In the many years between, I found it relaxing to watch
its progress and developed a fondness for the variations in neighborhoods
along its path. Summertime is the best time to ride the McCarran
Loop and if you take the time to enjoy the individual neighborhoods
by riding through them on occasion, you will be enchanted with their
friendly nature.
In the past, around Reno and along the Truckee
River, there were but a few roads to get around on a bike. McCarran
has made it a possibility to get almost anywhere to any neighborhood
in the Truckee Meadows without too much vehicle conflict. The McCarran
loop to west Reno is most enjoyable early in the morning on any
Sunday, but any day is ok, as long as you take it on in the early
morning. Many riders like to take the loop in groups which allows
for a comradeship to form involving everyone in the pack to enjoy
the event as more than an exercise. I find it beneficial both ways.
From the time I first rode my three speed Schwinn bike in 1956 from
West Seventh Street to Virginia City to Stead Air Force Base and
to Verdi, I’ve always enjoyed riding in and around the Truckee
Meadows. Although I’ve had some near brushes with car fenders
over those many years and with many bikes, I’ve never been
afraid to take on the McCarran Loop nor the Lakeside, Moana, Plumas
and Skyline routes, simply because the neighborhoods have a lot
of bike riders within them and the roads are made for us. The nice
thing about the loop road is the ample areas for stops at parks
and picnicking. Aside from the traffic lights, a common disappointment
when you are getting a good rhythm going, the ride is great and
close to home. Other rides, like around Washoe Lake and the Franktown
road; the North Virginia Street ride to Hallelujah Junction; and
the ride to Verdi and back are nice rides but intimidating on occasion
because of traffic, mainly in the form of semi-trucks.
Reno has always had many bike groups including
the more than a century old Reno Wheelmen who started their organization
in 1896 on a bet. Because of its elevation and well ridden bike
paths, much can be said for the city to become more involved in
attracting this element to its streets. June’s multi-day Tour
de Nez held in Reno is an event that grows in popularity each year
and with it brings riders who immediately fall in love with the
region. The mountains and high desert stretches of roads offer the
enthusiast a chance to hone their strength and endurance. Several
famous bicyclists made the area their home training ground including
the LeMond family whose son Greg won the 1990 Tour de France, a
first for the United States, and without winning a single individual
stage. Inga Thompson was the most notable woman cyclist from the
area recording more than thirty 1st place finishes in some of the
toughest women’s road races around the world from 1986 to
1992. The history of bicycling in the region is more than noteworthy
and when you test your stamina on its many well ridden roads, the
Truckee Meadows becomes more than a diversion and much more like
a dream for those in need of a two wheel treat. The inclination
around Reno is to take more rides and then the hunt is on for the
next ride that raises your level of enthusiasm for even more.
Take a camera to shoot your friends and the occasional
landscape or city/county park stop. You will always enjoy the ride
with others and showing them your pictures will remind you of this
favorite trek, my eighth favorite of my top ten list.
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