Sign Up & Planning

If you have any questions that aren’t covered below, please post them in the Facebook group.

Group Start = Start with other riders on the designated day/time, follow the race rules, and compare how long it took to finish the route.

Duo = A team of two people who must ride and finish together. They follow all of the same race rules, however, they can share resources and draft off of each other.

Individual Time Trial (ITT) = You pick a different day/time to start your ride, follow the race rules, and track how long it took to finish the route.

Sign Up

Here are the steps for signing up for the Group Start, Duo, Forlorn 4-Day or an Individual Time Trial (ITT).

  1. Join the general Facebook group
  2. Register and provide your contact info on this registration form. Registered riders are invited to a private Facebook group where they will receive important information and updates.
  3. Optional – Register on Trackleaders to be tracked on the live map (bring your own device or rent one)
  4. Decide where to leave your car (more info)
  5. Know the race rules
  6. When you finish, take a selfie and post in the general Facebook group with your finish time

Planning

Getting to Truckee

  • Drive: If you are coming from Sacramento or the Bay Area, try to drive on Saturday to avoid bad traffic. Traffic heading to Lake Tahoe on Friday afternoon/evening is notoriously bad.
  • Amtrak: Read about Allen Ho’s great experience taking Amtrak buses from Oceanside to Truckee. Once a day, there is a train that starts in Emeryville and stops in Truckee. Amtrak has reportedly become much more bike friendly, but I haven’t ridden it with a bike myself, so be sure to check out the details at amtrak.com. I’ve heard that they don’t “officially” let you book a bike to Truckee. The issue is that they don’t have access to the car that holds your bike when they stop in Truckee. However, if you talk to a conductor when you get on the train, they can move your bike to a luggage closet. That way, when they stop in Truckee they can get your bike off the train.
  • Bus: Greyhound and Amtrak are your bus options.
  • Fly: Reno is the closest airport (~45 min drive) and an Uber to Truckee from RNO is about $65. After that, Sacramento is your next closest option (~90 min drive).

Staying in Truckee

  • Rent a house: There are lot of homes for rent in Truckee and the Tahoe Donner neighborhood. You can often get a 3 bedroom home for around $200/night through AirBnB or VRBO.
  • Hotel or hostel: There are a few hotels in Truckee and one hostel (~$50 for a bed in a bunk room).
  • Warmshowers.org: A great community of cyclists who host traveling cyclists. There are about 10 hosts in Truckee. The spirit of the site is that they host cyclists when they are actually on a trip, but some hosts might be willing to let you stay a night and leave your car parked in front of their house while you do Bones to Blue.
  • Camping: There are several campgrounds in/near Truckee. Donner State Park is the most convenient (closest to start/finish). After that, your options are Tahoe Donner’s Campground , Granite Flat Campground, or Lakeside Campground.

Supplies

  • Groceries: Truckee has a Safeway, Save Mart, Grocery Outlet, Raley’s, and New Moon (a natural foods market)
  • Bike shop: Truckee has a few bike shops, but we’d recommend Start Haus and Paco’s
  • Outdoor equipment: The Ace Hardware has lots of outdoor equipment and there several other shops too

Where to leave your car

  • Officially, there is no long-term parking in Truckee. All public roads have a 72-hour limit and, around the historic downtown, it’s more restrictive with meters. In the summer, outside of the historic downtown, the police don’t normally enforce the 72-hour limit, so you can likely leave your car for 5-7 days before you’d risk getting a ticket. Just don’t park in a business parking lot or block a driveway. If someone reports your car abandoned, then the 72-hour clock starts ticking.
  • Your best bet is to ask a warmshowers.org host in Truckee if you can leave you car at their house.
  • If you stay in a hotel, ask if you can leave your car on their property.
  • Lastly, post in the Facebook group and a local can help you find a place to leave your car.

Gear List

Go to RevoPath for recommendations on Bike and Tires and a Gear List.