Biking, live music, and food vendors highlighted the return of the Truckee Tahoe Gravel Race & Festival.

The Bike Monkey-organized event sold out with 1,200 participants and featured three distances, taking riders from Truckee Tahoe Airport out toward Stampede Reservoir.

Pro cyclist Caroline Dezendorf posted the top time out of any woman on the 67-mile course, returning to the finish line at that the airport in 3 hours, 13 minutes, 2 seconds.

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“The Northern California cycling community is incredible,” said Dezendorf in a social media post following the race. “After a (two-year) hiatus, being part of (three) different (Bike Monkey) events, including this weekend’s (Truckee Tahoe Gravel) showed me how special this community is. We all participate in events for different reasons. And being surrounded by new and old friends who all are pushing their own limits, puts a huge smile on my face and reminds me why I love bikes.”

Tahoe City’s Clare Walton was just off the lead, finishing with a time of 3:13.07 to win the women’s age 40-and-over category. Another local cyclist, Julie Young, won the women’s age 50-and-over category, posting a time of 3:23:47.

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On the men’s side, local cycling legend Levi Leipheimer took first place with a time of 2:50:48. Triathlete Andrew Talansky won the men’s age 30-and-over race with a time of 2:53:48. Truckee’s Troy Deibert took first place in the 50-and-over age group, finishing with a time of 3:11:33.

Visit Truckee-Tahoe is the sole sponsor of the event and invested $54,000 in the race and festival, according to CEO Colleen Dalton.

LOCAL WINS OLYMPIC VALLEY HALF MARATHON

Tahoe City’s Julia Buford took first place in Sunday’s Olympic Valley Half Marathon, topping a field of roughly 50 women on a course that took runners on an out-and-back route from the Village at Palisades Tahoe along the paved trails that follow the Truckee River.

Buford posted a time of 1:30:32 to win the race organized by Big Blue Adventure. Sunnyvale’s Inge Prasetyo was second with a time of 1:40:20. Oakland’s Vanessa Meyers was third with a time of 1:41:14.

On the men’s side, Las Vegas runner Travis Yost took first overall, finishing the course in 1:25:36. South Tahoe’s Blake Herrmann was second with a time of 1:26:49. Reno’s Ryan Ress finished in third place with a time of 1:27:47.

Big Blue Adventure will continue a race-filled month this weekend with the Lake Tahoe Mountain Bike Race on Saturday. The Burton Creek Trail Run will then take place on Sunday.

For more information or to register for events, visit http://www.bigblueadventure.com.

Justin Scacco is a staff writer with the Sierra Sun. He can be reached at jscacco@sierrasun.com