Idaho ?

[adampaiva]

Hi,
I'm planning a trip to a friend's cabin for the end of August (coming from nyc). He's in West Yellowstone and we'll have enough activities during that long weekend that I won't have time to do any riding. But I'm thinking about bringing my bike along and tacking on a little 2.5 day mini tour. Flights are pretty reasonable if I fly home from Idaho falls which is about 110 miles away as the crow flies. Looking at the map I could ride through Targhee/Gallatin National Forest and probably camp there. Not sure what a good routing would be from there to Idaho Falls. Is this an interesting landscape riding through or kind of boring farmscape ? I am thinking hugging the ID/WY border would provide for the most interesting riding. Here's a route I blindly mapped in 2 minutes.


http://ridewithgps.com/routes/8709228

(check out that 35 mile downhill !)

I know Yellowstone and Tetons are right there but don't know if I will have time to cycle that route and prefer the nat'l forests to nat'l parks so that I don't have to plan ahead quite as much and camp at a campground. One night camping and one night motel would be an option too, or even both nights motel, and would allow me to pack really minimally.

Any locals or others with experience with recs? I only want to do this if it's going to be some pretty great riding as my vacation days off are limited. I've been to the general vicinity twice before, and the friend's cabin once and went through that Natl Forest area but flew through the rest of Idaho on a motorcycle at 100 mph coming from the moon (craters of).

thanks in advance for any info !

[adampaiva]

PS - other airports nearby within 2 days riding that have reasonable flights to NYC could be an option too.

[gdw]

What kind of bike will you be riding? If it is a MTB you can knock off part of the Tour Divide route. Follow it east, southeast around Jackson Lake to Moran and then ride pavement to Idaho Springs. You can use this link to zoom into the area and see if it looks feasible.
http://trackleaders.com/tourdivide15

[adampaiva]

It would be an all road road / touring bike. Probably not fully loaded but just a saddle bag and bar bag.
This guy. I could put on something like a 40c cx tire if warranted, but usually would travel with my 32 c paselas mounted.
http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=145178

So some gravel and rough roads are welcome but real mtb trails would not be desirable.

[jackattack]

Highway 26 from Swan Valley to IF would not be too enjoyable. It's a major highway from I-15 to Swan Valley, Star Valley, Jackson that is regularly used by big rigs. I think the speed limit is 65, but 75 is common. I would probably look at taking dirt roads from the south bank of the river over the hills back to town. NF-077 to Kepps Crossing Road looks promising.



My wife is from Idaho Falls and we'll be there for the 4th. I'll see if I can do any recon. My brother in law has a cabin up there on the south bank of the snake between swan valley and palisades res.

40c tires would probably be nice, but Ira Ryan did the Oregon Outback on 32 paselas IIRC. You should be fine either way.

As long as it's clear, you should have great views of the Tetons from Ashton to Victor.

[HenryA]

I would also think about flying out of Jackson. Its a bit shorter ride but you might be able to increase that distance by choice of route.

[adampaiva]

little bump. booked my flights (surprisingly not too bad $ too !) into West Yellowstone and out of Idaho Falls. Just in case anyone else has some advice before I fully map out a route. Will be riding 8/23 - 8/25.

also if anyone is from Idaho Falls perchance, have a recommendation for a friendly bike shop? I'm going to ship my s&s case from West Yellowstone to Idaho falls to pick it up when I arrive, pack up my bike, and cab to the airport. So looking for a shop that might allow me to do so, or maybe have it shipped to a fedex store.

& thanks for the advice on hwy 26 jackattack. Will make sure to keep my route clear of it.

[c-record]

Dave's Bike Shop in IF.

[adampaiva]

did the trip last week, it was awesome. Tough, but awesome. Short, 2.5 days riding but action packed.

a wordy writeup: http://curvesandcorners.tumblr.com/p...hile-since-ive

the route: http://ridewithgps.com/trips/6332402

some pics:

[adampaiva]

it was fun.

[p nut]

Awesome! I'm going to head up there this fall. Will definitely bring my bike along

[adampaiva]

little bump to this. I'm going back.

This time I'm flying into Boise on 8/18 and cycle-touring around the National Forest areas north of Boise until 8/29, returning back to Boise. Route and trip planning will start in earnest in a few days, with the major intentions being :
a) set myself right smack on the path of totality for the eclipse on morning of 8/21
b) try to soak in lots of hot springs
c) hopefully fit my travel fly rod setup onto the bike and catch some fish

Then I'm renting an adventure van and picking up my gf at the Boise airport and we are spending a week driving around and doing more camping/adventure, spending the weekend in West Yellowstone MT for a wedding, and back to Boise to fly home on 9/4.

The bike I will be riding will be the same one pictured above, but with a bit more tread on the tires this time.

If anyone has recommendations for that part of the state that fit with this type of trip, please share. Or if anyone actually lives out there and wants to meet up for any riding of the sort I'm intending on, give me a shout too.

[livingminimal]

I love Idaho. Spent my summers in the Twin Falls/Jerome area as a kid. Miss it. Need to head back and ride bikes.