TR - Bones to Blue 2025

Tahoe is one of my favorite places to ride. So the Bones to Blue bikepacking race has been on my bucket list ever since I first read about it almost 10 yrs ago. I've never been able to make the timing work out, so hitting it up was a no brainer after I had some days come free in my schedule a couple weeks ago.

Made it to the Friday evening pre-race dinner/meetup and got to meet a bunch of other riders. Usually there are a few others you've raced with before. This time just a couple names I'd read before. All good though, it was a friendly group as always.

For anyone not familiar, B2B is a figure 8 starting with a 60-mile loop from Truckee to and then a bigger loop around Lake Tahoe, ending back in Truckee.


Race time was 6am Saturday. I had stayed and would leave my truck at Blake's which was a 45min pedal away. A nice warmup, but required an extra early wakeup for an already early (for me) start time.


If I recall, Forest said there were almost 60 people signed up.

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6am sharp we got going with a neutral rollout a few blocks through town and the first singletrack

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Dust glowing golden in the sun's rays as we climbed

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I fell behind to my usual spot at the back and could rely on the dust cloud and tire tracks for navigation rather than checking the GPS

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I really liked the trails heading out of Truckee. There was some bike path and moto trail but lots of nice, flowing singletrack.

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Looking back at Prosser Reservoir

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A benefit of being towards the back. I picked up 3 bars within the first couple hours. Call me garbage bear haha

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Yes I stopped and lopped a few branches.

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We climbed up to the top of Tahoe Donner where we got onto the Donner Lake Rim Trail just in time for a rad descent. Everything up to this point was new trail for me. I have ridden DLRT before.

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Awesome views as well

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DLRT becomes tougher after that descent, navigating over and around some rocky slopes. There were a number of big downed trees as well.

Forest had made the call a few days before to remove Hole in the Ground from the route - too much snow and deadfall. This would make Day 1 much easier.

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Stopped in for drinks and snacks at the Soda Springs General store at Donner Pass. Then continued pedaling. The ride was a mix of pavement, dirt road and nice singletrack for a bit.

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As we climbed higher, the views did not suck

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I rode with Rob and Jonah for a couple hours from Rowton Peak across to Sugar Bowl and through the old train tunnels back to Truckee where many of us headed to McDs.

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The train tunnels were kinda cool

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But filled with water and touron hikers, the novelty soon wore off. They were pretty slow going.

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I had ordered some extra cheeseburgers for my resupply and then continued climbing up the Sawtooth trails south of Truckee towards the Tahoe Rim trail.

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Sawtooth trails are a mix of rocky and buff smooth singletrack. And pretty mellow climbing for the most part.

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It is also a camping restricted zone, so I'd have to get pretty high up before I could camp. That was no problem as I planned to keep going for a while anyways. About half way up the trail network we turned off onto forest roads for a while where the singletrack gets steeper. Aside from some steep pitches the roads were pretty nice, too.

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I began hitting a wall on the push up OTB trail. It was mostly too steep for me to ride at this point in the day. Unfortunately I wasn't finding any flat places along the trail to sleep. Until I got to the top, which is where I pulled the plug for the night.

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Stats (including commute from Blakes): 75mi, +7,700/-6,300ft

I had not been riding much the couple months leading up to this so I had planned on a 4 day finish, maybe 5. It would depend how the elevation hit. So far so good, and the Hole in the ground removal definitely helped!

Nice work and great thread!


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Day 2

Slept ok-ish but it was a lot warmer out than the low 40s forecasted. At the same time I couldnt really unzip the sleeping bag due to mosquitoes. Head net helped a little but they would still attack skin that touched the net.

Got up not long after 4:30 and after re-packing stuff a bit, was rolling by about 5:15.


The campsite

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Some nice riding to start off the day

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Missed sunrise over the lake but this view was pretty good. Ran into some other riders who had camped a few miles past me and were just getting ready to roll.

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We had a bit of a climb up to Watson Lake

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Stopped to filter water at a stream as I thought I was almost out. Bugs were terrible there and my katadyn filter was acting up, flowing super slow. Fortunately I discovered the hose had popped out of my reservoir and that I still had enough water to get to Incline Village, so no more filtering for now.


Nice riding near the lake.

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Awful nice of the tree to not block the trail

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The ride into Incline Village was not the quick rip it seemed like it should be. First was a 700ft climb up the TRT east of Hwy 267, then a bunch of traversing and more climbing to get past Kings Beach. 2,800ft of climbing total haha. Got into Incline in time for lunch rather than breakfast and had a burrito at Ts Rotisserie before getting some drinks at 7-11.

Snow plant

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Then it was some hot pavement climbing up to Incline Flume. A cold drink part way up helped, and I was going from shady spot to shady spot with lots of breaks. Once up on the Incline flume all was good.

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Incline Flume isnt as iconic as Marlette flume which is closed through 2026 for dam repairs, but it was nice enough to bring the stoke.

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This years route climbs up TRT to avoid the closure. No big deal, as this section of TRT is excellent.

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Marlette Lake looking kinda pitiful after being partially drained.

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We would drop down a new to me trail, Capital to Tahoe. Its the only legal way for bikes to get to Spooner until the closure ends.

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Race organizer Forest caught up to me near the top and we rallied the whole trail together.

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Its a blast to ride with fast flowy singletrack, about 10 miles total

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It dropped us onto the Ash Canyon to Kings Canyon Trail above Carson City for a couple miles, which was equally fun.

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The downside of this re-route was having to climb back up Kings Canyon Road to Spooner Summit. Fortunately this was only 1200ft of gain in 7-8 miles, not terrible.

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Some great views down at the valleys below

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Temps would have been an issue mid afternoon but we got there during golden hour and it was merely warm, with a decent breeze blowing. The climb took longer than we thought so we finished in the dark after stopping to filter water.

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As part of the ride Forest had given the option for riders to camp at pre-established spots each night based on a 4-day schedule. Spooner summit was the spot for night 2. I opted to join them although in reality it wasnt a social thing since everyone there was already asleep. And we would be shortly as well!

Stats for Day 2 - 61mi, +7,000/-7,800ft

Day 3

Despite a slightly different sleep strategy I didn't slept great again. It was too warm for my sleeping bag so I wore pants and puffy jacket and slept in my emergency bivy. The sleeping bag became my pillow. I was fine temperature wise but the mosquitoes were brutal all night. Even with a head net on over by puffys hood they were getting to me, or at least buzzing me.

Being close to Spooner Lake and a stream may have been the problem. I had considered riding up the trail a ways which would have gotten me away from the road noise and hopefully a nice breeze, but had opted not to. Another rider had done just that and had a great sleep with no noise, no bugs. Lesson learned!


Up and riding at sunrise

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Nice flowers on the climb. This pic does not do it justice

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Levi up at the Kingsbury bench

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Jonah and Rob caught us at the top

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One of my favorite sections of TRT down into Kingsbury

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It is rocky and flowy, very engaging trail to ride

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Almost down to the highway

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Everyone stopped at the Tramway Market for lunch and resupply

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The climb up to Star lake is tough. Lots of stair-step rock sections that require hike a bike. Views are great though!

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Top of the climb...almost

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I love these trees

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Finally made it to Star lake. Thankfully there were no bugs so I went for a swim and had some food.

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Climbing up to Freel Pass we heard a few claps of thunder behind us

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And found only snow patch that was actually on trail

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The others took a break at the pass, I kept going.

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There is a stout climb beyond Armstrong pass that I wanted to get over while I was feeling good.

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Nice view looking south

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Dropping down the fast lower part of TRT in golden hour

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After a tough climb up TRT on the other side of the highway I was rewarded with getting to watch this cinnamon colored bear tear into the log for a minute before he realized I was there.

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Christmas Valley is normally a trail I look forward to but not on a loaded bike 50 miles into the day. Its a tough one.

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Made it to the bottom right at sunset and did some math. It was a 20min ride into Mayers and everything would be closing in 30min. I called ahead to the pizza place to ask how late I could stop in and order. They took my order over the phone and said it would be ready in 20. Perfect!

Id have lots of slices to bring with me too. Pedaled over to the gas station after eating and got some drinks.

Time to push on to Angorra ridge! The next group camp was on the far side at Fallen Leaf Lake, should I decide to stop there and sleep.

Looks awesome

It really was. Probably the best, and definitely the most scenic route I have done yet.

One of the principles I follow in bikepacking races is if you are feeling good, keep going no matter what time it is. Same if you are not feeling good - you probably need to stop and rest or take in some calories.

It was 10pm as I left Meyers and I was feeling good. Things can change and cold is one of my kryptonites, especially late at night.

The route to Fallen Leaf Lake was a bit convoluted through a maze of twisty singletrack and old forest roads. A couple segments made me doublecheck that I was on route with deep ruts and a stream running down the trail. I could only hop from one side to the other and try to stay dry.

Then the route climbed up the Mule Deer trail the back way to Angora Ridge. It was a long series of switchbacks that was a bit sandy and with steep climbing turns. I could only ride parts of it and progress slowed. Ive ridden Angora Ridge before and knew what to expect. Despite going downhill, my pace did not pick up much as I pinballed down the rocky ridgeline.

It was 1am when I got to the bottom and I was no longer feeling great. Is it worth stopping to sleep? After a bit more singletrack the route would follow Hwy 89 and some bike paths for 20 miles from Emerald Bay up to Homewood. I really wanted to bust that out now while there would be no traffic on the road. I had a couple slices of pizza and that picked me up.

Onward!


You might recognize this spot in daytime. That pure darkness is because there is nothing there but a steep drop off on both sides. Its the top of the highway 89 switchbacks on the ridge high above Emerald Bay.

Need to come back some time and do this ride on a full moon!

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It was 5am by the time I finished the road pedal. It went well for a couple hours but as the highway drops down to lake level the temperature plummeted, and with higher speeds on the descents I got chilled and had to stop to add layers. Eyes were hurting too.

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I pedaled up the trail a mile or so and then stopped to try and take a nap. I couldnt get warm and barely nodded off. Gave up after 45min and started pedaling again. The climb up Stanford Rock should warm me up. Even stopping for a bit helped and I felt ok, though I was definitely walking more than normal.

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Stopped and had a couple more pizza slices half way up. Got passed by a guy on an ebike blasting up the trail in turbo mode wearing bluejeans.

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Pace slowed up top as the trail gets more rocky and temps were warming up. Made it to the top just after 10am. Views of the Granite Chief Wilderness did not suck.

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I was not doing great on the descent down TRT. There were a few big trees to hop over. The descent has a series of rocky switchbacks and numerous large water bars that are not fun on a loaded bike. I was tired.

Stopped at the bottom to filter water. My filter had slowed to a dribble and it took almost 15min for the first liter. I needed 2. I kept dozing off while sitting there trying to squeeze the filter.

Finally finished and tried to take another nap but the mosquitoes were back and wouldnt let me. Gave up pretty quick again.


Levi caught me on the next section over to Alpine Meadows. The remainder of the ride would be all new dirt for me.

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He mentioned stopping at the 7/11 by Squaw Valley. Somehow I did not have that in my resupply notes, so I was stoked. A cold drink is a great pick me up, and it was hot out. Got passed by Noelle and Ryan on the way over.

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There was concern as the forecast showed chance of thunderstorm after 2pm and we had one more climb to Billys Peak that would take us back above 8,000ft. It was now 3:30 and the skies were very dark to the SW of us.

The first few miles were up graded dirt road, then we turned past a gate and the road soon got nice and primitive. Side benefit to the storm coming it, temps cooled way off.

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Billy caught me and pulled away when it got steeper. Then Teddie caught me and I was able to keep up as my hike a bike skills kicked in.

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As we crested the first of two high points we heard thunder and it started to rain. We could see the storm dumping just to the south and it looked like it could overtake us.

The route would dip down into a valley before climbing back up and we didnt know if there would be any tree cover. So we found cover and waited a few minutes to see if it would get closer or move away. Thankfully it passed to the west so we kept going.

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Climbing out the other ridge. This alpine riding was totally unexpected and a highlight of the route.

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The jeep road kept going for quite a while, finally dropping down

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We eventually got on some singletrack that dropped us down towards the end of Day 1s loop.

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Just one creek crossing until we were back on familiar ground. Feet did not stay dry. Not far to go now....

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Lights had to go on a couple miles before the end. The finish line is at the Donner Memorial. Forest plus a bunch of other riders had waited for us with beer and pizza. What an awesome end to an awesome day!

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Totals for the final "day" were 132mi, +15,900/-17,350ft, 39 hours.

It can be a wash if riding though the night like this helps or hinders in the long run. All the riders who stopped to sleep at Fallen Leaf caught up to me eventually. I could have stopped there but still struggled on the highway or climbs and and finished hours later. You never know, thats why you keep going when you feel good.

Final thoughts on the route - wow! I definitely cursed Forests name a few times but this is one of the best bikepacking routes Ive done. The Bones loop from Truckee would make for a pretty epic day ride on its own. The loop around Tahoe was absolutely spectacular. This will not be the last time I do it, for sure.

That's awesome - nice work! That last "day" sounds brutal. Some sweet looking trail in there.

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What a ride!


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by toast2266

Thats awesome - nice work! That last "day" sounds brutal. Some sweet looking trail in there. Sent from my SM-S931U1 using Tapatalk

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Haha, thanks! Last day definitely had its moments but it wasnt brutal at all. I felt pretty good most of the day, which is why I put in the comments about moving forward. Keeping up on hydration and calorie intake plays a big part in being able to do that.

Forgot to add comments on gear/sleep setup. One of the reasons I carried on through the final night is I hadnt been sleeping that well. My sleeping bag was too warm and I didnt have the best setup to deal with the bugs. Forecasts for around 7000ft+ had shown overnight temps down to the low 40s for the weekend of the race. It turned out to be much warmer than that. Like 15-20* warmer. So I was sweating balls if I had the sleeping bag all zipped up. But couldnt really unzip it or take my puffy off because of the bugs. On night 2 I ditched the sleeping bag and just slept in the e bivy with pants and puffy jacket on. This worked well temperature wise but the mozzies were still getting to my face, even with a head net on.

Continuing up onto the ridge on night 2 would have helped but hindsight is 20/20 and all that. Had I slept on night 3 I was going to try wearing my helmet to sleep with bug net over it to see if that would help keep the net off my face. I would have been better off bringing my tent minus the fly, or my regular bivy on this trip which has a single pole and bug screen. Either would have kept bugs away and still been pretty light. Im leery to bring too little sleep kit as I cant sleep well if Im cold. And I do normally sleep during these events. Bugs werent really on my radar because they usually arent an issue. But I may need to reconsider for clear weather summer events because having mosquitoes buzzing your face all night is much worse for sleep than shivering a bit.

More to come, Ive got another full week of killer rides on the way up and home that I will post.

Really cool ride and photos! Thx for me ride it vicariously because I sure as hell ain’t signing up for that multi day pain train lol. I had never considered back packing in Tahoe but an overnight sounds plausible lol