Deliverance in Idaho
It was the most bizarre thing; I'm on Route 21 heading north and pulling into the next town. There's motocross bikes cruising the main drag, toy haulers and trailers parked randomly in basically any vacant spot available along the road, mountainous piles of assorted junk in EVERY local's yard. I was arriving in Idaho City, ID, population 458, for the Boise Ridge Riders annual ISDE 2-Day Qualifier and the event had taken over the town… not that it was exactly a huge town to take over.
Idaho City is the type of town that visitors would associate with the movie Deliverance,  and promptly turn themselves from visitors to “passers-by”,
real quick. I'd call the place unique and was glad to be there because, for years, I'd heard about The Legend that this race had become amongst off-road folk throughout this great nation. Tim from Fun Mart Cycles raves about the race, and the Garrahan bro's, who are virtual family up there, and treated like royalty, would leave the race each year with the most classic stories, many instigated by themselves! Injuries and race conflicts had prevented me from making the pilgrimage west any time in the past, so by the end of 2005 I'd had enough and decided that '06 was going to be the year that I'd make it there and finally face the “mountain wine” monster.
Conditions weren't looking so great; 200 miles of dry and dusty trails wasn't something to get real excited about, but by late Friday arvo the traction gods had moved in and proceeded to dump the good stuff all night, clearing up just before day break. This was going to be EPIC! I bounced out of bed, well okay, gingerly rolled out as best as this old body of mine can, but I tell you my mind was pinging. Those trails, with their decomposed granite soil, were moist and loamy and waiting. These conditions are what we often refer to as “stupid dirt” because of the amazing traction it offers and the stupid, gravity defying feats you can pull in it with a motorcycle. Anyways, all day we rode a combination of the most bitchin' single track, flowing old logging trails, and open high country fire roads. All of the special tests were world class, but more importantly a total blast to roost on.
Read here to see what result I got on my 200XC at high elevation.
On the Monday and Tuesday following the race we went trailriding, deeper into the mountains. We had an even better time there than we did at the race, if that's possible. We got some great stories out of the rides that I actually wrote a story for our friends at Trail Rider magazine (www.trailrider.com), an East Coast based publication, for those of you who haven't heard of it before. It's actually a neat little mag that focuses strictly on Offroad.
Those next few days I just stayed down in Boise in the driveway of my new mate's house, Brian Caldwell. He's a decent rider and a great guy to let me park 70 feet of rig at his place, especially seeing I had never met him before. Thanks also to Boise Bob and Idaho Joe from the local KTM shop for arranging this.
Saturday saw me jump on the bird and head off to Kentucky for the weekend to do the next round of the GNCC's. How's this; it rained again. That's nine mud races in a row now on nine consecutive weekends (okay, Idaho wasn't muddy, but it did rain a lot there!) You should have seen how slippery it was there!
Here's where you read about it.
Monday had me back in Boise for a week of being sick and feeling pretty crappy. I just spent all week trying to catch up on paperwork, working on my practice bikes, and resting.
The girls flew back in early on Friday morning and they were sicker than what I was. We made a great family; all coughing and hacking in unison. I really like Boise so we spent some of the day just driving around showing Carrie some of the sights. That night Brian had some people over for a Barbie so we got to hang out and listen to the Claw tell his funny stories. Boise is definitely the type of place that I could move to in the future.
Finally I had a weekend off from racing so on Saturday we packed up and moved on through Idaho, this time to Sun Valley where we were going to spend a few days to enjoy the mountains and beautiful scenery around this ski resort. Bring your money and a lot of it if you want to buy a house here because it's way expensive. One of the things that we love about Idaho is that there is such a diversity, and huge amount of outdoor activities right at your doorstep. For example, there are miles and miles of bicycle trails, which makes you want to go out pedaling and really enjoy your surroundings. That reminds me; I've been a slacker with my training lately so it's time for me to pull my finger and to get back into an intense program so as to make sure I'm ready to put the hammer down for the remaining races of the year. This week marks a new beginning for me to get fit!
Link of the Week!
For those of you who ride a lot, you know how much being in shape can make or break a day on the trails. Pedaling is a great way to get your heart, lungs and legs ready for the dirtbike...so here is a site dedicated strictly to finding great mountain biking wherever you might be! And if you're single, don't forget to check out the "Hotties" link to hook up with other single, outdoor minded individuals.
My Favorite Snap...
After the race in Idaho, a few of us stayed in the area to ride, and boy what a ride we had!
This is just one small showing of the great adventure ride that I had with Pat Garrahan and Mike Demaree (photographer from Topspeed Productions).
Idaho is one killer place...it has it all: Desert, mountains, snow, and lots of trees!
And the winnder is…
Stanley Zavatski
 Check out M2R's website to take a look at your prize...but if you want the Shane Watts Replica...you'll have to wait a little bit longer!
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