Some 350 bicyclists are rolling across the Potato State this week as Ride Idaho 2011 explores the scenic byways in the central part of the state.
The cyclists who come from 31 states and Canada departed for Stanley on Friday morning after spending two nights in Hailey and the Wood River Valley.
The Idaho bike tour offered Hailey a lesson in bicycle tourism economics. The Times-News reported that tour organizers bought $12,000 worth of “chamber bucks,” enabling each rider to spend the equivalent of $25 in local stores. Ride Idaho also donated bicycle racks to the rodeo and ice arena and some playground equipment.
And, as it was a layover day on a week of 70-mile rides, some participants took advantage of a local whitewater rafting trip or visited local tourist haunts, such as the Ernest Hemingway Memorial.
These bicycle tourists are far from the agricultural flatlands that give Idaho its nickname.
Mountains
Friday's ride will feature 3,376 feet of climbing over 72 miles. The cyclists will ride on the Sawtooth Scenic Byway and experience views of the Galena Summit of the Sawtooth Mountains and the Salmon River valley.
The ride ends Saturday in Lowman, after a 50-mile ride that includes the Ponderosa Pine Scenic Byway.
As Janelle Brown of Boise told the newspaper, “It's really fun to bike the roads you've driven. You see things you've never seen from a car.”
RAW
Idaho's neighboring state of Washington also hosts a week-long bicycle tour that still has a few openings.
The Cascade Bicycle Club presents Ride Around Washington (RAW) that rolls out Aug. 20-26.
The theme this year is Cranberries to Apples, reflecting the bike tour's route from the Willapa Bay estuary on the coast in Raymond to Leavenworth on the eastern flank of the Cascades.
Along the way, cyclists will follow scenic river valleys before crossing White Pass and Blewett Pass to reach their final destination.
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