Hello all. My friend and I are planing a great ride for Thursday/Friday. I just wanted to let anyone with free time know they are invited. If you need anymore info feel free to contact me at rydassow@hotmail.com. Sorry about the short notice but if we dont get eaten by bears we will be doing this again next year.

Cheers,
Ryan.

This is a repost of an invite my friend John wrote for another forum:

I have planned an epic dual sport ride along the Idaho Montana border, and am inviting anyone who has a STREET LEGAL dirt or dual sport bike with an approximate 125 mile range to come along. I have been planning this ride since last Fall, and I fiinally decided to go for it before school starts up. It's very short notice but I thought I would ask for company here

More info on the area:
http://campspecialties.com/statelinetrail.htm

http://wallace-id.com/skilookout/taft.html

Here's the plan (VERY open to modification, depending on input from other people):

Meet in Spokane somewhere along I-90 (to be determined) EARLY Thursday morning Aug 24, and convoy to Avery via south end of Lake CdA. We could set up a second rendezvous in St Maries if needed for those of you driving down from CdA, or you could just drive the whole way solo via a different route.

Tent camp at one of the primitive NFS camprgrounds along the St Joe River east of Avery, ID, Thursday and Friday nights:

Packsaddle CG
Turner Flat CG
Tincan Flat CG
Nugget Creek CG

Do the big ride Thursday mid-morning (say, about 10:00 to 11:00 am), in a counterclockwise direction. The complete ride as drawn is 108 miles, but there are always interesting detours, so we have to plan on more miles. I and my riding buddy Ryan plan to pack three extra 30 ounce bottles of gas between us.

The route goes up the St Joe River valley from the campground to a side road 3 miles past Nugget Creek CG, then winds to the top of the high ridge overlooking the I-90/ St Regis valley and the St Joe valley, then it cuts north 50 miles along the ridgetops. It's FR 391, AKA "State Line Road". These 50 miles are open to all vehicles. South of the access point, the final 50 miles of the State Line Trail are for non-motorized traffic only ;(

There are half a dozen bail-out points along the ridge heading back down toward the river, but only one, as far as I have determined, north to the Interstate at Saltese (where there is no gas). At the north end of the SLR at St Paul Pass we will intercept the Route of the Hiawatha railtrail. There is the 1.7 mile long VERY neat Taft Tunnel right there at the East Portal Trailhead - if we bring mini flashlights we can hike back far enough to scare ourselves, and get cool and wet. (It might be a good thing to bring a rotor lock or cable lock if your bike doesn't have a fork lock.) From that point it is downhill on twisty, busy gravel roads past a large number of photogenic trestles and tunnels to Avery. Expect regular shuttle (school) bus traffic carrying bicyclists to the top of the trail from near Avery. I am personally familiar with this section of the ride, and it is dusty but fabulous scenery.

At Avery we can gas up if necessary and get a snack. Then back to the campground to complete the ride and relax. As far as I can tell all the roads are easy gravel and dirt (NO PAVEMENT!). We WILL however explore some isolated, possibly washed-out side roads, so it should be interesting.

Terrain on Day 1 will be HIGH windy mountains. We will be around 6000 plus feet for 50 miles or more, continuously. Bring layers, some glove liners and wind protection. And of course lots of water and snacks, and a camera. We will stop often for photo-ops, so the pace will generally be easy (no dirt-tracking the turns).

Group ride discipline will be quite relaxed but will be strictly maintained, with riders spread out as far as needed to avoid dust but grouping momentarily at EVERY major intersection. Everyone rides his own pace - if you are fast you can lead, as long as you have a gps and don't mind waiting at intersections I plan to print out copies of the gps route as well as topo and Forest Service maps for every rider, in the remote case someone gets seprated or bails out via a main road. Anyone bailing out will be escorted to a main road and not just abandoned to his own devices. And of course any mechanical problems will be sorted out using McGiver principles. I carry lots of tools and have a mechanical backgound. Also I have a tow strap.... But please ensure your bike is tuned and reasonably prepped for the back country.

Day 2 is wide open. We plan to explore the Avery area, maybe hit the singletrack for a ways at Moon Pass. Neither me nor Ryan are that interested in singletrack - we just like to explore and cover the miles, and get up high to fire towers and views. But an open trail is an invitation.

We also plan on bringing an excessive number of firearms, and on Day 2 will find a remote place in the forest to lay waste to milk bottles and pop cans. It's definitely going to be a guy type of weekend with no families. Any of the gentle sex is welcome, but be aware that we both don't plan to shave or bath, and we will communicate via grunts and crotch scratching.

Even if you can't or don't want to join us, I welcome any and all suggestions. I plan to lead the ride since I have a gps and came up with the idea, but since I have never even been to the area other than the Route of the Hiawatha, it will be a case of the blind leading the blind.

Travel to Avery - planned route is south on N Pines Rd (Spokane Valley) to Rockwood WA to Plummer ID and St Maries, then NF-50 to Avery. It's 104 miles, about 5 miles shorter than going 1-90 to Wallace and then down through Moon Pass. Any comments on the route? Is it pretty along NF-50?

Campgrounds - which are the best along the river east of Avery?

Lookouts - any really great ones? (The views from SLR will be AWESOME, weather permitting).

Shooting areas - got a favorite plinking spot you can share?

GPS data - if you are interested I can email the data in Garmin gdb format or a universal gpx format for viewing in Google Earth. Let me know here or e-mail me at:

spokanister@yahoo.com

Thanks! I hope for some additional company. Newbies are welcome if you can stay on two wheels.

John Davies
Spokane

_________________
525 EXC Dual Sported