Slow Rollers Poker Run 2007

Sunday was the 3rd Annual Slow Rollers Poker Run up at Lake Tahoe. Once again, the ride started at the Horizon Casino in Nevada, but quickly crossed into California, following the South Shore bike path.

The first stop on the route was the Tahoe Hemp Company, or THC. Kind of clever if you ask me... They had some cool hemp clothing and accessories, and I'd like to go back for a second look when I have more time and money. I'd like to replace my leather wallet with a hemp wallet.

The second stop was the Turn 3 Peanut Bar. The bar has a NASCAR theme with more TVs than you could possibly look at, all with live NASCAR coverage. Not my thing, but they had a great beer selection. We had the Mirror Pond Pale Ale from the Deschutes Brewery, and the new offering from New Belguim Brewing Company, Mothership Wit, an Organic Wheat beer.

As we were preparing to depart the Turn 3, we noticed that a fire was breaking out to the south of us. The otherwise sunny day was quickly turning dark. By now, the news of this fire is national. The fire has spread and destroyed over 200 homes. Many homes in this area are valued at over $1M dollars.

Stop number three was at the Tudor Pub. This was my favorite stop along the way. The pub was off the main road a bit, and had a bit more class to it. The lawn had plenty of great outdoor seating to enjoy our brews. We even had umbrellas to keep most of the ash out of our beer. The $3 Fat Tire line was frozen apparently, so the special was transferred to the Mirror Pond Pale Ale. That was fine with me...I've been on a Pale Ale kick lately.

The fourth stop was the Hot Gossip Espresso Bar and Lounge. They had great coffee (welcome after two bars), and plenty of free cakes and cookies.

We sat inside during this stop. The smoke was starting to block out the sun at this point, and it was actually starting to get chilly out. Firetrucks and police cars were pouring in from neighboring cities to help with the fire. It's time like this that it feels good to be on a bicycle, and not trapped in the car traffic.

We ended up back where we started, the Horizon Casino. Following a BBQ, a cruiser bike was awarded to the highest poker hand, 3 Queens. Beat my pair of 3's. They also raffled off a beautiful New Belgium Cruiser. No luck on that one either. They were having a hard time giving away the other raffle prizes, since many people weren't present at this time. They decided to give away the final prize with a Slow Drag...last one across the finish line wins.

I had already loaded my bike, so someone told me to jump on Sandie's Hello Kitty cruiser and enter the contest. So I did. I was on the outside lane and not very aware of how the rest of the field was doing. At one point, Sandie told me that I'd better slow down, so I started track standing for a while. The next thing I know, somebody told me I won! I got a cool set of Dyno Cruiser tires with flame tread. I never win anything, so this was pretty cool. Apparently the guy that should've won, Dan the LBS owner, thought he had won and just rode across the finish line!

The full photo collection of the event can be found on our Flickr Page. Sandie and Brent covered the ride on their blog too.