4 wheels exchanged for 2 in bike challenge

Thousands of miles were logged in this year’s Tahoe Bike Challenge. Each year, for the first two weeks of June, hundreds of Tahoe residents and visitors participate in the Tahoe Bike Challenge in teams or as individuals to see who can replace the most car trips with trips by bicycle.

Staff with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the League to Save Lake Tahoe took the top prizes in the event.

Students from North Tahoe School in Tahoe City and South Tahoe’s Bijou Community School, Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School, Sierra House Elementary, Tahoe Valley Elementary School, and South Tahoe Middle School participated. More than 430 students rode their bikes, completing 837 bicycle trips. Bijou Community School took the lead with the most trips.

Here are the school rankings:

  • Bijou Community School: 326 trips
  • South Tahoe Middle School: 189 trips
  • Magnet School: 180 trips
  • Sierra House Elementary: 87 trips
  • North Tahoe School: 58 trips.

For the team prizes, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency dominated the long game to handily win the 2017 prize for most total trips, with 545 bicycle trips and a 1,476 collective miles, while staff from the League to Save Lake Tahoe edged out a tight competition for the prize for most trips per employee, at 13.7 trips per staff member.

Top five teams for each category:

Most total trips:

  • Tahoe Regional Planning Agency – 545 trips
  • League to Save Lake Tahoe – 233 trips
  • South Tahoe Refuse – 182 trips.

Most trips per employee:

  • League to Save Lake Tahoe – 13.7 trips per employee
  • Tieslau Civil Engineering – 13.5 trips per employee
  • Environmental Incentives – 9.3 trips per employee.

Winners for individual categories:

Most total trips:

  • Amy Fish: 54 trips
  • Larry Green: 50 trips
  • Scott Cecchi: 44 trips
  • Jason Briedis: 42 trips
  • Steve Froyum: 40 trips.

Most total miles biked:

  • Gianna Leavers: 311 miles
  • Jennifer Capistran: 214 miles
  • Patrick Johnson: 187 miles
  • Sally Loomis: 180 miles
  • Mike Niccoli: 160 miles

Most elevation gain:

  • James Kayser: 23,820 feet
  • Gianna Leavers: 20,201 feet
  • Jim Marino: 19,064 feet
  • Mark Frisina: 18,690 feet
  • Bob Albrecht: 15,004 feet.