News flash: Tahoe has no snow. As much as I want snow, and as weird as it feels to be riding dirt (dust, in fact!) in January, at least I have this as an option. And at least the sun is shining. The east shore of Lake Tahoe is truly one of the jewels of the earth. Viewed from the Flume Trail, Lake Tahoe sparkles serenely below you. There are no boats or anything to disrupt the stillness of the big blue. It is a view seldom seen, and I tried to take a picture in my head, since I attempted to take a picture of my friend Bonnie as she biked by me and realized that my IPhone was set to video. Trust me, its a soul-restoring site, worth the 2.5 miles of uphill sand to get there.

There are some sections of ice that will flatten you if you aren't careful upon approach. This is something that I can attribute to the strange winter that we are having; the winter that I navigated ice while mountain biking. It happened too fast for me to capture the image, but my friend Meave went down so fast on an icy downhill corner, that it took her a few seconds to realize that she was down. We were the only people on the trail, which is rare if you are familar with the Flume Trail. It was cold, but with enough wool, the ride was downright enjoyable.  We rode to Marlette Lake and observed the gorgous, glassy ice extending to the granite walls. Both tire tracks and ice skate marks scuffed up the surface. I have heard of people mountain biking with ice skates to Marlette, finishing their bike ride, and paddle boarding after to complete a Tahoe trifecta. It's not a bad place to live!

This will forever be the winter that I remember as "the mountainbiking winter"; that, and ice skating.

I still pray for snow.