Tuesday July 3rd started normally enough. It soon changed for the better. I was contacted by Scott Benson (Alchemy) and he wanted to know about riding from Canada for a B2B insanity. We discussed it and it sort-of turned into an Idaho Saddle Sore. Scott arrived safely the afternoon of the fourth. We prepared our gear and set about tweaking our route. I dont run aux. fuel as Scott does so consequently I had to plan in fuel stops to our route. This turned out to be a good thing in the event.
Thursday morning of the fifth we were able to start the clock in Bonners Ferry ID. and head South down ID 95. Our turn around point would be Mountain Home ID. The day started chilly at 44 degrees but by the time we hit Mountain Home the thermometer on the FJR read 95! The heat was taking it's toll, but we worked hard to stay hydrated. The only real issue with was the HORRIFIC holiday traffic in McCall ID. It was like Jackson WY!! Crazy idiot tourons. At one point I was following a string of traffic in a 60 mph zone at 20 mph!! It was killing our moving average. Due to this traffic issue we made a tactical decision in Mountain Home to return by way of Hwy 95 the whole way instead of Hwy 55. This turned out to be a wonderful idea. Hwy 95 from Fruitland ID to New Meadow is a fantastic road. It was virtually empty and roamed through farmland over hills. It was a winding ribbon of sweepers all the way North. What fun! I had a huge grin on my face and it was the best part of the ride.
Later that evening the temps started to drop again. I was getting chilly after suffering through the high heat. It finally settled out at around 55 degrees. So we had a 50 degree temp swing that day. We arrived safely back at our starting point and stopped the clock at around 19 hours. We were hoping to finish in under 18 hours, but the traffic slowed us down. All in all it was a terrific and uneventful ride. Scott was a terrific riding companion and proved once again that Darksiders fear no curves. We might have to get that B2B insanity cert here soon. We both have it on our "To Do" list.
Thursday morning of the fifth we were able to start the clock in Bonners Ferry ID. and head South down ID 95. Our turn around point would be Mountain Home ID. The day started chilly at 44 degrees but by the time we hit Mountain Home the thermometer on the FJR read 95! The heat was taking it's toll, but we worked hard to stay hydrated. The only real issue with was the HORRIFIC holiday traffic in McCall ID. It was like Jackson WY!! Crazy idiot tourons. At one point I was following a string of traffic in a 60 mph zone at 20 mph!! It was killing our moving average. Due to this traffic issue we made a tactical decision in Mountain Home to return by way of Hwy 95 the whole way instead of Hwy 55. This turned out to be a wonderful idea. Hwy 95 from Fruitland ID to New Meadow is a fantastic road. It was virtually empty and roamed through farmland over hills. It was a winding ribbon of sweepers all the way North. What fun! I had a huge grin on my face and it was the best part of the ride.
Later that evening the temps started to drop again. I was getting chilly after suffering through the high heat. It finally settled out at around 55 degrees. So we had a 50 degree temp swing that day. We arrived safely back at our starting point and stopped the clock at around 19 hours. We were hoping to finish in under 18 hours, but the traffic slowed us down. All in all it was a terrific and uneventful ride. Scott was a terrific riding companion and proved once again that Darksiders fear no curves. We might have to get that B2B insanity cert here soon. We both have it on our "To Do" list.
