From Pollock Pines/Placerville/Tahoe, there are countless rides that require NO driving. I have been living in Pollock for exactly one year. I've made a great friend who i ride together with often and it is rare we don't hit a new road on each and every ride...and we've been on more than 50 rides together. The geography/topography is incredibly diverse....from the foothills with the vineyards and apple orchards of Camino, to the high Sierra climbs that I described earlier. I understand the appeal of Boulder, but it's mostly because of the culture/yuppy appeal that it brings. For outdoor activities, it doesn't compare to El Dorado county. Whitewater on the American/Truckee and the countless steep creeks; climbing at Lovers Leap/Tuolome/June Lake, Bishop, etc; off roading on the Rubicon/Barrett, etc; the Western States 100 Trail Run is less than 30 miles away; the Death Ride is in our back yard, the John Muir Trail and Pacific Crest Trail are ridiculous for backpacking; snowboarding/skiing is less than 30 minutes away at places like Kirkwood/Heavenly/Northstar/Sierra at Tahoe, etc.

And, for the road cyclist, this says it all....I can ride from my house in Pollock Pines to Lake Tahoe in about 70 miles with 10k feet of elevation gain and see less than 50 cars along the way. I don't understand why our population is less than 5000 people....it's the best kept secret in the US.

bikeman71,

Can you please map out, or at least spell out some of these roads? How would you ride to Lake Tahoe? I presume Rte. 50 is NOT one of those roads with almost no traffic. Also are you on the eastern edge of Pollock Pines, as Google maps shows about 46 miles from Pollock Pines to South Tahoe (the closest part of Lake Tahoe).

Your area sounds appealing if you can pick the time of year (e.g. summer/late spring/early fall), as the O.P. plans., but not necessarily so great for road cycling during the wintry months (extending well into the Spring at higher altitudes, but not at lower altitudes). My California cycling familiarity is with the San Francisco Peninsula/Santa Cruz Mountains/Mt. Hamilton/East Bay area., which allows for climbing all through the winter except for a small number of days (plus rainy days).

Since that town is in a country setting there is really not much around you but hills and back country.

I'm talking about living in a larger city setting that you can bike to the surrounding hills and not drive there.

_________________
I never took drugs to improve my performance at any time. I will be willing to stick my finger into a polygraph test if anyone with big media pull wants to take issue. If you buy a signed poster now it will not be tarnished later. --Graeme Obree

If you can afford it, you can live in Silicon Valley California near the base of the Santa Cruz mountains and hop on your bike and be climbing within minutes. Such towns as Redwood City, Woodside, Portola Valley, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, and others provide you such an opportunity. Yet, you are right there in or at the edge of civilization. But you will see motor vehicles, except for the more obscure roads.

Really, you can bike from anywhere in Silicon Valley, or even the whole San Francisco peninsula, and be climbing within not that long, but some places require longer rides through heavily trafficked roads than others.

Definitely not Route 50. The ride to Tahoe goes like this. Sly Park Road to Mormon Emigrant Trail to Hwy 88 over Carson Pass to Hwy 89 to Tahoe. I believe it is exactly 72 miles from my house.

The beauty of the area during the winter is we can leave from the house and go down first. Camino, Georgetown, Jackson, Placerville, El Dorado Hills, etc are all places we ride to/around. Pollock is right on the snow line so from time-to-time I do get stuck. We rarely get rain from April-Oct ( maybe three times.)

As another posted, if you are interested in big city living while riding, PP is not for you....but we did just get a Starbucks

Bikeman71, Let me know if and when you are near Tahoe. I will show you around! Unbelievable riding around here.

I would recommend West Lake Village, California. Its in a great location and there are a ton of great climbs right around the area. You can go right down to the SR1 which is right on the ocean and then you just take any turn and you will head up into the hills on some really cool climbs like Latigo. Or you can head west out of West lake and hit a ton of really cool country side as well. The town is close to the Burbank airport (30-45 mins) and there are a ton of hotels and one that has suites which are the best for cycling; price is better than the surrounding area but it is still pretty steep. There is also a four seasons if you're feeling special, my dad stayed there to go riding and said it was amazing.

_________________
"But when you hit that asphalt down below nothing else matters, your pulse is skyrocketing toward 200"
Speed Concept
Colnago Mapei
S-5 VWD

I agree. Climbs are nice around that area, including North Carolina, but doesn't come close to what is out west.

_________________
TIME RXR

West Coast, Best Coast.

_________________
Exp001

Totally agree
Also quoting Jim Morrison
"the west is the best"

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk 2

The bottom line is... the US is a pretty great place to ride and climb. I personally like Oregon! with CA as the #2 position

_________________
Let's finish the ride with a 20% grade.
2011 Scott Addict R1 Matt black
2012 Cannondale EVO "Storm Trooper" white and black

If you can make it to Hawaii sometime... goto Maui and hit up Haleakala sea level to 10023 feet over 57km.... a long and steady grind...
If you are on the big island of Hawaii you can also climb up Mauna Kea... I think its paved to 9200, and then gravel up past 13000???

What kind of temperatures (and dewpoints) are there at 10023 feet? How about wind? I suppose the temperature is quite a bit lower up top than at sea level.

Is there any place to get water on the way up or at the top? Rest room or other facilities at the top?

Get here, and we'll do the rest ...

http://www.northeastcycling.com/six_gaps.html

I dare you

_________________
WW Velocipedist Gargantuan