Ride Idaho 2007

7 days, 430 miles, all on a bicycle… That’s the quick recap for Ride Idaho 2007. Ride Idaho is Idaho’s annual state bicycle tour that provides a great opportunity to cycle through some wonderful parts of the state, get a chance to meet a variety of very interesting people, and to completely check out from your normal life for a full week. This was the third year for Ride Idaho and I can attest that the event keeps getting better and better. We did a big clockwise loop starting and ending in Coeur D’Alene. Along the way we visited and camped in wonderful hamlets including Wallace, St. Maries, Deary, Lewiston (Hells Gate State Park), Moscow, and Heyburn State Park (on the banks of lake Coeur D’Alene). Many of us took advantage of an extra 34-mile loop out and back to Elk River – where tasty huckleberry ice cream and milkshakes awaited us.

Most of the roads were smaller with limited traffic – though there were a fair number of logging trucks demonstrating that logging and millwork is alive and well in northern Idaho. One of the most enjoyable stretches was the North Idaho Centennial Trail that runs from Coeur D’Alene to the Idaho/Montana border. It’s a reclaimed railroad line that is smooth as silk and runs through some beautiful country. Equally nice was the portion that we rode from Plummer to Heyburn State Park and along Lake Coeur D’Alene, and the Bill Chipman Palouse Trail from Pullman to Moscow. The ride took us through beautiful northern Idaho forests and rivers, as well as incredible rolling golden fields in eastern Washington and northwest Idaho. I saw deer, moose, wild turkeys, hawks, osprey, and a variety of smaller critters. Terrain was pretty roly-poly with a couple of memorable climbs including a 6-mile one as we left eastern Washington. Good news was that for every uphill, you got to enjoy a really nice downhill.

The ride also provided a wonderful stage to show those from outside the state just how beautiful our state is and our warm and friendly Idahoans are. Special credit goes out to the cities of St. Maries and Moscow that came out in force to make our visit memorable. Almost half of the 170 riders came from out-of-state – many that had done the ride previously and appreciated the smaller event and chance to see more of Idaho. All of the volunteers along the way made sure that we were well fed and motivated to take on what was around the next bend.

This year’s event was capped at 170 riders making the food and port-a-potty lines short, and providing a good chance to meet and get to know some very interesting people. Next years’ ride will no doubt fill up fast and rumor has it that the route will start in the southeastern part of the state and take us north to the Yellowstone and Teton area. If you are interested, I’d suggest keeping a close eye on the Ride Idaho website (www.rideidaho.org) for information. Also, if you haven’t done a weeklong ride like this before, don’t fret. Several of the riders this year hadn’t ridden much more than their own neighborhoods before the beginning of the year. With the help of the Community Bicycle Rides organization (www.communitybicyclerides.org), they received training throughout the spring and summer on recreational riding allowing them to complete the weeklong trek comfortably.

Finally, big thanks go out to each of the host communities, to the Ride Idaho organizing team, Treasure Valley YMCA, sponsors, and to all of the terrific volunteers that made it all happen.