Lou Duzac

The Ride and Romance weekend over Aug. 13-15 was a small Lodge event, with only 9 people signed up for the weekend and 3 for the mountain bike riding. We had a good mix of fun people though, and it made for an enjoyable weekend.

Those who didn’t go mountain biking on Saturday strapped on their hiking boots to enjoy the beautiful weather. Afternoon thunderstorms threatened, but never broke through. Our three mountain bikers picked up the Flume Trail shuttle at Spooner Lake at 9:30am. We were very lucky to take advantage of three reservations that cancelled. Our $15 ride took us to the Tahoe Rim trailhead at Mt. Rose.

Trail condition was dusty in exposed areas, but the variety of terrain kept the conditions near optimum. The Rim trail crosses over to the Flume trail after about 9 miles, and our group was treated to some spectacular views of the lake. Other than Lou taking a spill down a staircase carved in the granite, it was a pretty safe ride. It had a moderate technical challenge, and a very comfortable difficulty level. The ride lasted three hours with several breaks, including one to take a dip in Spooner Lake.

Shakespeare on the Lake treated us to “Much Ado About Nothing.” We had a little trouble coordinating our entrance to the event and ended up with our group separated by a row of people. They realized their error in not respecting our attempt to save some places, as we kindly asked them to pass glasses of wine and picnic items to our group behind them, over and over again. Coordinating dinner inside the amphitheatre was a challenge, but it seemed well worth the effort. The troupe’s performance was brilliant. The production changed the setting to a post civil war era, but kept the dialogue as Shakespeare had written it. The disgruntled brother’s attempt to seek revenge by making everyone believe his brother’s daughter was not true before her wedding was unraveled by her feigned death and the confessions of his alliances. Typical for Shakespeare, there are several side stories going on at the same time.

Groups set off the next morning for hiking, kayaking, and biking – although there was only one mountain biker, Greg. There are a great number of rides in the area, and the lodge has a binder showing locations, elevation profiles, and short descriptions of trails. Everyone said they enjoyed the weekend, as did the host who believes he will do it again next year.