Monday, August 9, 2010

Tour of the Tater

Tour of the Tater, that's what we're calling it, is based loosely on the Tour of Idaho with Ryan acting again as the Route Master. He's been planning and refining the route for months now and I can't imagine the number of hours he has spent. Last year will be hard to top but I can't wait to see what he's put together. The pictures I've seen look awesome (follow the Tour of Idaho link)!

We're doing alot of things different this year. Not that last year wasn't fun but we're just taking a different approach. We'll have a Chase Truck this year. The truck will meet us at every overnight stop and we will have some communication with the truck from the trail. Lloyd Horton has volunteered to be our driver. He hurt his leg in March and it's been slow to heal. I hate that Lloyd can't ride with us but I'm thrilled to have him along. I just hope he doesn't regret his decision.

The bikes will be sent out in two trucks towing trailers by 2-person driving teams. The rest are flying. I've got to admit that my least favorite thing about last year was the drive there and back. Even more than I hated being stuck on the trail! People romanticize driving across the country but I-40 just can't be the same route they took. I was willing to pay whoever would take my bike whatever they wanted to do it. I'm so thankful that some people stepped up to drive.

My trip this year starts with a flight to Salt Lake City, Utah and then a shuttle bus ride to Pocatello, Idaho where I'll meet up with the gang and the bikes. From there we'll ride together for 8 days in Idaho and Montana. Here is a short description of the days with the anticipated mileage:

Day 1: Sunday August 22 Pocatello, Idaho to Arco, Idaho - 205 miles
Day 2: Monday August 23 Arco, Idaho to Challis, Idaho - 135 miles
Day 3: Tuesday August 24 Challis, Idaho to Elk City, Idaho - 250 miles
Day 4: Wednesday August 25 Elk City, Idaho to Lola, Idaho - 160 miles
Day 5: Thursday August 26 Lola, Idaho to Anaconda, Montana - 235 miles
Day 6: Friday August 27 Anaconda, Montana to Salmon, Idaho - 210 miles
Day 7: Saturday August 28 Salmon, Idaho to Arco, Idaho - 220 miles
Day 8: Sunday August 29 Arco, Idaho to Pocatello, Idaho - 205 miles

There are additional loops off the main route and I'm sure we'll get lost a few times so mileage will be greater. Fuel is pretty scarce in this area and I don't have much fuel range so we'll see how much I can do. I'll be tracking the route using my SPOT as I did last year. Hopefully the results are as good. I'll put that link up closer to the ride.

No comments:

Post a Comment