Author Archives: Jeff Potter

September 18th & 19th Backcountry Camp

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Muscle Powered, along with Flume Trail Bikes and the Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park Backcountry Patrol, came out this past weekend to assist Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park Ranger Bill Champion in building a portion of the Hobart Link Trail.

Max
Max at the switchback

With 2,000 feet new trail built, including a switchback, the Back Country Trail Work Camp was a big success. We now have a total of 5,030 feet of the Hobart Link Trail completed.

Fiona, Monica, Donna, Susan

I could tell you about our blisters, aching muscles and hangovers from the Trail
Work Camp, but instead I’ll just share the photos from our weekend.

Marlette Overlook Sunday Morning
Morning ride before trail work.

Bill would like to thank everyone who came out to help;
Jay, Wade, Jody, Max Jones, Susan, Fiona, Donna, Oli, Skip, Garret, Jacob, Kevin Joell, Mike, Al, Monica, and Raj.

Sunday's Crew At The End Of The Day. Photo Courtesy of Bill Champion
Photo courtesy of Bill Champion

Thanks to Cliff Bar for donating a case of Cliff Crunch Granola Bars.

end of the day
Bill at the end of the day

September 18th & 19th Backcountry Camp

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Anyone interested in building new trail? 

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On the weekend of September 18th & 19th, Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park Ranger Bill Champion is inviting us to join him in a backcountry trail work camp. Here are a few things Bill requires:

 What you should bring:
 
- work pants – no shorts
- boots or other sturdy footwear
- food/water bottle(s)
- sunblock-insect repellent
- gloves/hat
- all necessary campgear if staying overnite
 
 - I will allow participants to take a vehicle (4WD only) into Marlette Peak Campground and stay Friday and/or Saturday nights at the campground.
 
- If you wish I will allow you to take your vehicle (4WD only) up for the day only to help out – carpooling encouraged.
 
- The campground has water and restroom, plenty of camping room with grills, tables and food lockers – if we get a bunch of folks we can share spaces.

Please respond back and let me know if you will be able to participate either Sat or Sun or both. If only a partial day, morning is preferred to limit traffic on North Canyon and work in the ideal conditions in the morning.

Please do not just show up without notice as I will be supplying tools to cover the expected # of participants.”

Also, it’s not going to be all work. Feel free to bring along your mountain bike, running shoes, or hiking boots for a little post-trail work recreation.  

To register for the backcountry camp or if you have any questions please contact Jeff Potter at: 6dogs@pyramid.net

Thanks!

The Great Tahoe Flume Race

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The Great Tahoe Flume Race will be held on Sunday, September 12 at Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park, Spooner Lake.  The race is a fund raiser for the Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park Backcountry Patrol and is organized and sponsored by the Reno Wheelmen.

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Race T-Shirt from the last time the Flume Race was held.

The original Great Flume Race was first held in the late 1980s, produced and organized by Max Jones and Patty Mc Mullen, owners of Flume Trail Bikes. This race was last held in 1994,  the start/finish line was at Western NV Community College in Carson City;  the “Big Loop” encompassed a climb up Kings Canyon, rolled into Spooner State Park, continued over the FlumeTrail (which at that time had a significant number of portages), and descended back into town via Red House Flume and Lakeview. A record was set for the 40 mile course during the ’94 race by Chris Ryalls with a time of  2:25.  Impressive!

The 2010 edition of the Great Flume Race will go back to its roots with the start/finish in the Spooner State Park.

Organizer Kevin Joell adds:
“We are less than a month out from the Great Tahoe Flume Race on Sunday, September 12th.  It’s time to start lining up the volunteers we will need to make this event run well.  I’m also still in need of a few chairpersons.  Volunteers get a race T-shirt and a lunch if they are at the park on Sunday.”

If you don’t plan on racing but would like be part of this exceptional event for a significant cause, the Wheelmen are in need of volunteers. Please contact Kevin at mtb10@renowheelmen.org with the following info: Name, e-mail, cell phone #, T-shirt size, and preferred position.
Thanks!

August 21st-22nd Back Country Camp

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The backcountry camp this past weekend was a big success. “Bill the Ranger” invited Muscle Powered to help with the construction of the Hobart Link Trail, or “BCT” (Bill Champion Trail), and allowed us vehicle access to the Marlette Peak Campground.

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The BCT will be an important addition to the Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park trail system. Linking Hobart Reservoir to the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT), this new trail will provide a much easier ascent to the TRT by bypassing “Sunflower Hill”.

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Jean B

With 2300ft of trail already completed, Saturday’s trail work focused on finishing touches the new trail needed, e.g., maintaining proper tread out-slope, proper radius to maximize the flow of climbing turns, flattening lumpy sections of trail, and removing overhead snags.

We started off Sunday morning with a little more finish work, moving forward in the late morning to constructing new trail. We then set up a “fire line”, the first person establishes the line removing the organic layer while the next person takes a little more, and so on until the the last person with the tamp completes the line. This method provides a great feeling of satisfaction, both of teamwork and of accomplishment.

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Zuesa at the end of the line.

Cliff Bar added a delightful surprise to the weekend by donating three cases of delicious Cliff Crunch Granola Bars. Thank you Cliff Bar!

Thanks! to the Muscle Powered volunteers who donated 90 hours to this project.

Jason & Natasha Gardner
Oliver Lieder
Amanda Garcia
Toby Welborn
Jean Bondiett

Thanks to Bill Champion for this new trail!
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We have another backcountry camp scheduled for September 18th and 19th. So mark your calendars and come out and join us for a trail building weekend.

Hobart Link Trail

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Anyone interested in building new trail?

hobart link trail.jpg
Photo by Bill C.

Lake Tahoe Nevada State Park Ranger Bill Champion is constructing a new trail at the State Park which will connect Hobart Reservoir to the Tahoe Rim Trail at the Marlette Peak Campground. This link will be a great addition to an already outstanding network of trails that begin at Spooner Lake.

Bypassing “Sunflower Hill”, the new trail will provide a much easier ascent back to Hobart Flat, and will open up the lightly used and very scenic backcountry in the Park.

On the weekend of August 21st & 22nd, Bill is inviting you to join him in a backcountry trail work camp. Here are a few things Bill requires:

“ What you should bring:
 
- work pants – no shorts
- boots or other sturdy footwear
- food/water bottle(s)
- sunblock-insect repellent
- gloves/hat
- all necessary camp gear if staying overnite
 
 - I will allow participants to take a vehicle (4WD only) into Marlette Peak Campground and stay Friday and/or Saturday nights at the campground.
 
- If you wish I will allow you to take your vehicle (4WD only) up for the day only to help out – carpooling encouraged.
 
- The campground has water and restroom, plenty of camping room with grills, tables and food lockers – if we get a bunch of folks we can share spaces.

 - We will have a couple of experienced trail crew leaders to lead the work.

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Please respond back and let me know if you will be able to participate either Sat or Sun or both. If only a partial day, morning is preferred to limit traffic on North Canyon and work in the ideal conditions in the morning.

This can be a camp out or daily trip - either one day or both. 

Please do not just show up without notice as I will be supplying tools to cover the expected # of participants.”

He adds:
 
“This is a great project and the trail building is excellent for beginners as the work terrain is easy to moderate.
We have already completed about 2300 ft of trail and are working just below the campground so access is very easy. The primary users of this beautiful, remote trail will be mtn bikers so please take this opportunity to be a part of this great new addition to our backcountry trail system.
 
Thanks everyone and looking forward to hearing back from you all.”

Also, it’s not going to be all work. Feel free to bring along your mountain bike, running shoes, or hiking boots for a little post-trail work recreation.

To register for the backcountry camp or if you have any questions please contact Bill or me at:
Bill: 775-220-3448 or WChampionof2001@aol.com
Jeff: 6dogs@pyramid.net

Thanks!

Corporate Challenge 2010 Results

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lily
Lily, possibly our youngest corporate challenger

The Bike to Work Week Corporate Challenge results are in, and considering the unseasonably chilly and wet weather we had the numbers are very impressive.  Carson City cyclists completed 987 trips by bike and logged in 3,234.26 miles.

This is the third year that Muscle Powered and Bike Carson have kept track of the Corporate Challenge competition, and we hope that you have as much fun accumulating the miles as we do calculating them.

Percentage of participation category:  The Bike Smith took control of this category early in the week. If 100% participation isn’t impressive enough, the mileage that these five gentlemen put in was quite admirable.

Trips & Mileage categories:  For the first time since we’ve been keeping track of the challenge, one agency has claimed victory in two categories.  NDOT rode away from the competition in the Most Trips category with 177, and dominated the mileage race with 757. What a huge improvement over last year’s performance.

Solo: In the solo category Tammy Steele proved to everyone that you can have a handlebar basket and cup holder and still rack up the mileage. Way to go Tammy!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the challenge and we look forward to seeing you next year.

Bike to Work Week Party
The Bike Smith takes the bragging rights from Red Rock Dental

Top 5

Mileage:
NDOT 757
Bike Smith 356
State Public Works Board 293
DMV-MVIT 253
USGS 239

Trips:
NDOT 177
SPWB 144
DMV 140
Redrock Dental 83
Bike Smith 83

Percentage:
Bike Smith 100
Redrock 70
SPWB 61
DMV 45
Hair Studio & Spear Me 44

Solo:
Tammy Steele 72
John Aragon 44
Kiersten Briggs 33
Brenda Horton 31

For complete results click HERE

Bike To Work Day Coffee Stations

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Friday is Bike To Work Day and below you will find a list of our Bike To Work Day Coffee Stations.

Bike to Work Day
Free Coffee for Bicycle Commuters!

This will be the sixth year that Comma Coffee has participated in Bike Month by offering a free cup of coffee to morning bike commuters on Bike to Work Day! And for the last three years our local Starbucks coffee houses have also joined in to salute bicycle commuters during this important and fun event. Bike commuters can get a free cup of coffee on Friday morning, May 21, at any of the Starbucks stores listed below.

Please visit these fine establishments and thank them for supporting Bike Month in Carson City.

From 7-9 a.m.

Comma Coffee-
312 S. Carson St.

Starbucks-
2320 S. Carson St. #1
1410 E William St.
3228 N. Carson St. #15
3325 Retail Dr. #100