It's Tuesday at 4:30 a.m. and I'm wiping the crust out of my eyes. For a moment it doesn't seem real: Today I'm skateboarding 72 miles around Lake Tahoe.

I've got five other guys who will be knocking on my door any minute. Ernie Alvarado, Dave Brumm, Dane Leonard, Joe Bak and Trevor Kekke will be experiencing the ultimate in calf pain as they join me on this journey of skateboarding heaven and hell.

The reason for the journey was to promote this year's “Skate The Lake” on Saturday, Aug. 29 and to spread the word about the “Boarding For Breast Cancer” organization. We figured we could get a lot more people to participate in our annual event. If we could skate 72 miles, certainly others could come out and skate 27 miles, which is the length of the “Skate The Lake.”

Skate The Lake Registration for Skate The Lake will be held Aug. 28 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Heritage Plaza in Tahoe City. Go to Boarding For Breast Cancer's website at b4bc.org or skatethelake.com for more info.

The roots

I've been wanting to skateboard around all of Lake Tahoe since the beginning. When my mom got breast cancer I wanted to do something good for her. So the idea of longboarding all the way around the lake was born. I mean, I started Tahoe Longboards, it's part of my life. I have to do this. It was meant to be.

They would not give me the permits to have a legitimate skateboard event around the lake. That's when I was told by a girl name Leah that her boyfriend, Curt Sterner, could help me with this idea. So happens that Curt's mom had also suffered through Breast Cancer. I had thrown an event before for Adaptive Ski School, but nothing like on this scale. But Curt was very involved with event planning and organization, and it was a match made in heaven. We decided to break the event down to 27 miles following bike paths along the west shore, and thus “Skate The Lake” was born.

But, deep down inside, I still wanted to skate around the whole lake.

Day 1

So I hear the cars pull up and the boys are here. It's time. I open the door and half asleep, Dane says, “I cant believe you talked me into this.

I am wide awake and excited at this point as the rest of the boys stroll in with yawns.

So we mount up at my house up on Speckled Avenue in Kings Beach, still dark out, and head down to 7-Eleven for coffee — six friends on a mission. We had backpacks, lots of water and cameras to document.

After coffee we start up the hill towards the Crystal Bay Club. We pass it and a hint of daybreak comes over the lake. Wow. We are really doing this. With only a car or two on the road, it was a very quiet and peaceful moment.

Our first official stop and picture break will be at Lone Eagle Grill.

After the Lone Eagle we make it to Highway 28. So Cool! There's still no traffic, it is very quiet and the sunrise is awesome. We skate down the freshly paved road with fat grins, as we know that we are well on our way and there is no turning back. We are excited to reach Highway 50 and that killer downhill to Cave Rock, so we push up and down the rollercoaster along the east shore with no complaints.

We arrive at Highway 50, stop for some photos and drop in. It's everything I thought — long, smooth and fast.

The boys started carving it up. I decided to option out and go for the tuck. It's not as fast as everyone thinks. With a top speed of 40 mph, it's just enough, and with the two lanes the cars were not a problem as they all moved over to give us room.

Cave Rock and skating through the tunnel into Zephyr Cove was totally rad. We finally started feeling some heat as the day warmed up. The stretch between Zephyr and South Lake has some painful uphills, and the term “calf heat” started coming into play. We made it to the Hardrock Cafe in South Lake in about 5 1/2 hours.

The Hardrock Cafe was our sponsor and graciously opened the doors early for us for a well-deserved bear and killer grub. Natalie Yanish, manager of the Hardrock, is awesome. We handed out stickers to everyone at Harvey's and talked to as many people we could about our cause. With full bellies and a great sense of accomplishment, we headed out. Camp Richardson is our final destination for the day.

Dave Brumm and I had taken his truck down the day before with all the camping supplies and dropped it off at the campground, which is exactly 36 miles, or halfway around Tahoe.

We made it to Camp Richardson in 7 hours.

Immediately the beers were cracked and Advil sent around. We set up our tents real quickly and headed straight to the beach, where all of us jumped in the lake.

Skating through South Lake after Hard Rock was brutal. We were overheated and dehydrated by the time we got to jump in the lake. There are no sidewalks and the road is like pea gravel. There was an old lady who yelled, “You guys are just stupid, just stupid I tell You!” from the trolley car.

So we settled into Camp Richardson and had a killer night of talking to people and hanging out. We were dreading going to bed because we knew we were all going to wake up stiff. Trevor was funny and slept in the dirt with only a paper towel for a blanket. I had no tent either but remembered my sleeping bag. Joe Bak and Dave Brumm's girlfriends came to camp as well to give us support.

Day 2

Everyone is moaning and groaning as we try to stand up. Ernie immediately hits me up for Advil and I'm already shoving a handful in my mouth. Dane and I limp to the truck and go to 7-Eleven to get coffees for everyone. After coffee, Advil and a small breakfast we struggle to get back on our boards and continue on — facing the switchbacks of Emerald Bay to start the day.

This is where the animal in Dave Brumm would come out. I've never seen anyone push like him. He pushed straight up all the switchbacks like he was on steroids — it's part of what earned him the nickname “Brumstrong.” My calves were still on fire and just starting to loosen up. Dane, Ernie and I struggled behind on this part while Joe Bak, Trevor and Brumm pushed like champion thoroughbreds.

After taking a nice break at Emerald Bay, we came sweeping down into Eagle Falls with joy and happiness. The downhill was seriously fast. But once at the bottom, that joy and happiness soon turned to horror as we stared at the uphill around the other side of Emerald Bay. Good times don't last in this journey.

We make it to D.L. Bliss and my legs are tortured twigs of heat. But D.L. Bliss has one of the best downhills on the trip — changing pain back to joy and happiness. After team photos we dropped in to the killer, winding, fast turns through the trees.

Next stop was Sugar Pine Point State Park and the beginning of the bike path on the west shore. We were excited to reach familiar terrain.

We strolled through Tahoma with a new vigor as we felt like we were really getting there, oblivious to the pain of the upcoming stretch from Tahoe City to Kings Beach. We stopped at PDQ Market and refreshed with some Red Bulls and stories of leg trauma.

What a relief it was to get to Granlibakken and bomb down the hill into Tahoe City. So close.

We stopped at the Damn and Fanny Bridge for another well-deserved break. Even though we were only 9 miles from Kings Beach and being done we knew this last part would be the most brutal. Up Dollar Hill was going to suck. We head to Syds cafe to re-energize with some ice coffee and snacks.

“Here we go, last stretch of pain,” I said.

Trevor says , “Yeah, can't wait for shots and cold beers at the beach,” Trevor says.

Immediately everyone perked up and Joe Bak said, “Let's do this.”

We got to the top of Dollar Hill in painful fashion and bombed down the other side right into the construction and flagger with the sign flipped to stop. Perfect, 30 mph right into a backup. Dragonfoot was applied and everyone survived. Next thing we knew we were at Garwoods in Carnelian Bay with only 5 miles to go. At this point the pushing became slow and torturous — except for “Brumstrong,” who kept up stamina like a gazelle on the African planes.

Down the stretch of Tahoe Vista, I could sense victory. Even though I could only push at less than 1 mph, I'd never felt better in my life. We knew the end was near.

The Kings Beach sign had never looked so good. We pulled into Steamers and practically collapsed on the beach. We did it! We skated around the whole lake, and not many people can say that.

Next year we are going to do it again, and hopefully with a bigger posse.

Hopefully we will see you at Skate The Lake on Friday.



— Chuck Buckley is the owner of Tahoe Longboards and the organizer of the annual “Skate The Lake” fundraiser for breast cancer.