The first day of the trip:

After a couple of close calls with flight connections we arrived in Bosie on time. Our luck began to change, first for $5 we were able to upgrade our rental from a taurus to a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Then our luggage actually made it, to our complete surprise since we literally walked off the plane into salt lake, across the concourse and were the last ones on to the flight to Boise. The bikes were waiting for us here in Sun Valley and all in good shape. They went together well and we hit the trail a little after 6pm for a quick leg stretch. The trail head was about 3 miles north of where we are staying. The ride started out along a really pretty stream, not too difficult, but a little loose in places with some short steep climbs. Once we left the stream, we started a reasonably graded climb with some switch backs. The pictures are near the top of that climb. The decent that follows was pure sweetness. Just enough exposed rock, twists, and dips to keep it VERY interesting but not enough to slow you down too much. The third part of the ride was similar to the previous, a reasonable (although at altitude) climb with an amazing decent. only about and hour and 45 minutes, but a great evening stretch. The evening is concluding with some fine micro brews from Bend OR actually and some fine local pizza. The discussion is now about what we are going to ride tomorrow

Day two

Well the day started out with a quick trip into town to pick up a few things and check out the bike shops. What a town Ketchum is, there seems to be a bike shop/ outdoor store on every block. and this is not a big town. After a quick carb loading of leftover pizza, we headed to the greenhorn gulch trail head. Absolutely beautiful clear blue skys. It started out quite civilized, a nice gradual climb up some nice hard packed single track. That changed after about 20 minutes or so. We took one of the outer loops in this system and that's where it began to get soft and loose. Some of the climbing after that became hike-a-bike due to it being too loose to ride. We were rewarded with a sweet single track decent, but it was over way too soon. Then some more climbing. At one point we did take an out and back detour to a really nice look-out spot. We figured after that last climb that it had to be all down hill to the trail head, and we were wrong. The route we took, took us down into another gulch which we then had to climb out of, but oh my, was it fun going down. We made it back to the Jeep after about 4 hours in the high 80's to 90 degree heat, but with no humidity, it really didn't seem to bad. Steve's bike computer had us climbing close to 3000 feet in about 17 miles, but it may not have recorded all the hike a bike miles. There was also a nice breeze to both cool us down and to blow some of the dust away that was perpetually kicked up by the guy in front of you. All in all, another day in mountain bike paradise. now to figure out what to do for dinner and when to hit the grocery to get tonights selection of beer

Day Three

Well last evening finished off with amazing burritos from KB's here in Ketchum. The stop at the local grocery yeilded another great beer selection, Moose Drool, a fine brown ale from Big Sky Brewing Co.

Travis made it in late last night and was up and ready to punish us this morning. Steve, who will make somebody a fine wife someday made a nice scrambled egg and bacon breakfast for us. We registered our first flat, as Travis was riding around the condo parking lot and picked up a nail, even trashed the tire.

Once that was changed, we were off to the Galena lodge trails. Theres a series of nice, well signed loops leaving from this lodge's parking area. The first loop we did, the Galena loop, started off on a gradual climb up a fire road. Howie, Steve, and I all realized this may be a long week as none of us felt very good to start. The guy at the little shop there at the lodge told us which direction to run the loop and mentioned that there was a section that was a little steep, maybe even that it kinda sucked. Well the gravel road ended and we headed up the single track. It quickly became too steep for any of us mere mortals to ride and Travis even had to walk a little bit of it. We all thought this must be the "sucky" section, and we were all wrong. It did finally end as we crossed over the wash area and head up the other side of the gulch or whatever you want to call it, but this time at a much more reasonable grade. The rest of that loop was a mix of nice descents, some rolling single track, and only a couple more small sections of hike a bike. We got back to the vehicle in about 2 hours and 2000 feet of climbing. The next adventure was the "old toll road" trail. This followed the original road, for the most part, up to the galena pass. There were some absolutely beautiful exposed vistas. The route was 6 miles up, 1400 feet, then turn around and have a blast coming down. The whole trail was basically a single track in the middle of a jeep trail size bench cut. It was truely the best of both worlds, single track on the side of a mountain, without the worry of falling to your death if you screw up at all. The ride was topped of by a fine dining experience at the galena lodge. The plan for tonight is to get uptown and hit the ice cream store.

Day Four

We're all still smiling from today's ride...she was a beauty! This morning we were a little skeptical about the 50 mile drive to the trailhead, but at 5:07 PM back here in the condo, we have no regrets! Upon arriving at the parking area we met a new friend, Helen...a bit of an earthtone from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. She was also planning on riding the Williams Creek/Fisher Creek loop, and due to the irresistable nature of these Pennsylvania boys, she agreed to join us. It all started with an easy spin up route 75 to Fisher Creek Road. From here it was a 9 mile climb up a well-graded dirt road along the creek through open meadows and quiet pine forests. The climb pitched a little steeper for the final mile up to the singletrack. Helen was the second one up the climb with the other boys conveniently close behind. From here it was beautiful, buff, twisty singletrack all the way back down to the car...9 miles with lots of smiles! These long, fast down hills are why we come out west; you just can't find this kind of stuff on the east coast...definitely a treat, but I will always prefer our rocky, technical stuff. We're all still terrified by the tight bench cuts with death looming just off the trail...the crazy part is that all of the loose, sketchy stuff collects on the bench cuts...just waiting, hoping to throw an unsuspecting rider spiraling to his death. Fortunately we all escaped unscathed...Steve collected a little dirt on his jersey and a small nick on his chin after being ejected from his bike during the descent, but no major damage, to bike or body. Two-thirds of the way down the singletrack, we were confronted by a pack of two-stokes coming up the trail, but they were friendly and we enjoyed all the banked turns, so we let them live. All in all it was a beautiful day and a spectacular trail...we all agreed that we'd do it again, and maybe when the Pontzer boys roll into town, we will.

-Travis

Day 5 - The best ride yet. The ride was in the stanley basin, about an hour north of where we are staying. The ride started up a nice dirt road, very slight grade for about 8 miles. Beautiful views and nice and hard packed. Other than a swarm of some type of crickets attacking us, that part of the ride was pretty mellow. The dirt road turned to single track and was a nice gentle climb for a bit, then it got steep. Even Travis had to walk a bit of it. Once we hit the top, there was a nice singletrack down through the woods till it hit a beautiful meadow. The single track continued along the edge of the meadow, then crossed it and went down the other side. The single track then started to follow a creek gultch / canyon. This was the single most amazing piece of single track I have ever ridden. It went down two different creeks for a total of about 6 miles of heaven. If your familiar with the greenwood side of Rothrock, its kinda like the top of Lingle Valley meets the Lewiston connection with some rocky technical sections in it along with about 6 shallow creek crossings. Just amazing. That section was followed by a similar single track but up another creek, still not bad at all. The rest was a dirt road climb followed by a technical jeep trail decent back to the vehicle. Just an amazing ride. Dave Pontzer made it in late afternoon and Aaron should be tonight about 10. Tonight's beer selection is another fine brew from Deschutes Brewery, Mirror Pond Pale Ale. The big question now is if Howie, Steve, and I take tomorrow off or not. Stay tuned

Day 6, well even the Tour takes a rest day, right? The Pontzers both made it in yesterday. Dave had a few issues with getting his bike back together but all is well. Aaron's bike didnt arrive untill they were literally walking out the door to head for their ride, so he borrowed mine. Dave, Aaron, and Travis went to do the same basic loop that Howie, Steve, and myself did on Day 2. Currently they are MIA in Ketchum, but did make it back from the ride, so I dont have a critique from them yet. Howie, Steve, and I went over to Craters of the Moon National Monument, about an hour and half drive from where we are staying. Quite an interesting place, basically you are driving along through high desert scrub when all of a sudden you're in what looks like a hawaii lava flow bed. A few miles down the road you get to the visitor's center and a 7 mile driving loop through the ancient lava fields. Quite an amazing site for the middle of Idaho. After a few short hikes, at least one of which Steve skirted out of, we headed out to find the back way to Sun Valley / Ketchum. After a quick stop at a sort of dinner thing for burgers and chocolate shakes for Howie and Steve, we headed up the road to try and find the correct left that would take us up and through the mountains back to Sun Valley. Luckily, Howie chose the correct turn for us and took a beautiful drive, mostly on gravel road, in to town. Before heading to the condo, we stopped at, at least from what I can tell so far, the best bike shop in town, The Elephant's Perch. After a chat with a most helpful sales guy about trails, we purchased another map and have what should be a great ride in mind. I also got a really cool hat there.

Well the boys have made it back with tails of mechanicals, altitude acclimation issues, and missed turns, but all are healthy (with the exception of Dave's bike).

A quick follow up to day six. The evening started with the final selection from the Deschutes Brewery, a very fine ESB, Bachelor ESB. Ketchum continues to amaze us as to the coolness of the town. As we were heading back to the condo we saw /heard a band playing. Reports from the wondering 3 were that there was some sort of music deal going on just down the street. It ended up that there were multiple bands on a stage in this couple long block parklet sort of place just a couple blocks from the condo. It seemed like eveyone in town was there, including little kids and every type of dog imaginable. The cheap beer on sale for $1 was Hamm's. I personally went for the somewhat more expensive local porter. The review on the food was mixed. By all accounts the Buffalo burgers were very good (but we're still not sure if they were buffalo meat or what the deal was) but the chinese chicken salad was panned by a few but found to be original and edible by a couple as well. The trip contiues to be an awsome experience that should be had by every serious mountain biker.

Day 7 - Back in the saddle again. The whole group of 6 was out today. The day started out with a bit of a hitch, we found that the Jeep had a flat rear tire. According to Juan at the auto shop, we musta hit a sharp rock on our little short cut back to town yesterday. He also said the Jeep tires are junk, but I digress. Breakfast was a very fine bagel sandwich, at what has become our favorite bagel place, The Bagel Place. The ride started at the same trail head that we used on Friday when we had arrived. The ride started out down the same trail but we took a bit of a different track to the outter loop that we didnt do on Friday. This is called the Oregon Gultch. The initial climb up to get into the gultch was quite civilized, not one bit of hike a bike. The ride up the gultch was amazing, starting out in a rather wide meadow, quite green. The really sweet single track started up the gultch at not much more than a slight upward grade, all middle ring stuff with a few really short climbing pieces. We ran into a group of equestrians, but got off the trail and they were quite cool. As the gultch started to narrow, the single track started to get a bit steeper, but still all quite ridable. We finally crossed the creek and started up the other side. Thats where the riding got a little tough. Well, thats an understatement. Of course Travis was so far out in front that we couldnt tell what he might of had to walk, but the rest of definitely did some. About 2 miles later, we reached the summit. There were a few amazing open vistas including the one in the picture. After a brief rest, we headed down. A really sweet single track was our reward for all that climbing. We did have an opportunity to add another 8 miles instead of the 3 miles straighter back. Since there were lack of water issues we decided to take the "easy" way back. Seems that the climb involved had been ereased from our memories of Friday. It really wasnt too bad, just a bit unexpected at that late in the ride. The final decent had the sign in the picture at the top and the other picture is of Steve heading down.

Back in town I picked up the fixed flat tire and then we headed to KB's for Burritios. just as fine as the first time. Aaron and Dave stopped in town to check out the potential of renting fishing equipment and getting licenses. It wasnt too bad so they went for it. With great expectations they headed out to the river, promising us fresh fish for breakfast. Well, That didnt quite happen, but theres always tomorrow.

Travis headed out this evening, enroute to L.A. to pick up a buddy and continue on his own western adventure.

The question now is whether we go on the advice of the guy at the bike shop and try a ride that is not in any of the guide books or on the ride map.

Day 8 - The Epic.

The story of today's ride really started a couple days ago at Elephant's Perch Bike shop. One of the helpful guys told us of a fabled ride and showed it to us on a map that hasnt been updated in 20 years. This ride is not on "the mt biking map" nor in any of the guide books. So we did the smart thing, trusted this guy, took the map and went for it. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous heading into this one. We parked where the ride would end and headed up the paved road in search of the elusive unnamed gravel road to start the actual ride. After finding a no trespassing sign just up the road that we were sure had to be the road, we continued down the paved road. We tried the next and luckily found what we were looking for, the Boundary Creek sign. Another 1/4 mile up that road and we found the actual single track trail head, complete with map on the sign board. It even had the trails we planned to take on it, so I was feeling much better about our chances of survival at this point. Then the climb. A climb to beat all climbs. 3800 feet of vertical in about 5 miles. It tooks us close to 3 hours. It varied between granny gear climbing and pushing our bikes. There were some really nice views and we did manage to spot a bear about 100 yards from us. But boy did that climb suck. We finally started down the other side and it was really rather technical. We got to a decision point, cut the ride a bit short or keep with the original plan. Even though a few of us were already starting to run low on water, we kept with the plan. The guy at the bike shop did mention that this next trail was going to be rather technical. And even from an east coast, rock loving guy, it was technical. Not too technical, just a lot of fun. This is the point were Dave Pontzer's GPS unit with downloaded maps came in real handy. Dave's eagle eyes also saved us from some serious back tracking when he spoted a right turn that the rest of us had missed. No good epic is complete with out a few mechanicals, so Dave also obliged us with a flat, and I had my rear derailer cable freeze up on me. That basically turned my bike into a three speed, I had to leave the chain on one cog in back and just use the 3 chain rings in front. We made it down the technical trail and across warm springs creek (which was darn cold and up to our shorts). At this point we were starting to get a little worried about finishing before dark and with any water left. The ride took us up a very nice trail, beautiful and not very steep (an important thing at this point). This took us to an amazingly large flat green meadow. We managed to negotiate a few intersections, but a new adventure was brewing, a thunderstorm on the ridge. Our first concern was to get outta the exposed meadow ASAP. There was plenty of thunder and lightning for the next half hour but no real rain. That changed once we hit our final turn and headed up and then down Williams Creek trail, the same trail that we had come down earlier in the week with Helen. It stated raining, pretty darn hard. Luckily it didnt turn very cold and it did keep the dust down. over 7 and half hours later we made it back to the vehicles. We made it to the Smiley Lodge, about 15 minutes or so down the road, about a half hour before the restaurant closed. Everyone but Howie had the Hawaiian Ham special. As fast as we inhaled it, we're still not sure how good it was, but boy did it hit the spot. Back in Ketchum / Sun Valley it never even rained.

Day 9 - another adventure

Well the plan today was to take an easier ride and see some nice scenery. The beginning of the adventure was a really long gravel road car ride to get to the trail head. We figured we might have some issues as we saw a vehicle with a motorcycle and ATV pull in right behind us. Turns out the trail description we had, all single track, was definitely up for interpretation. Turns out this is one of the few trail in the national forest that is open to ATV's. Basically the trail was either a wide single track or a narrow double track depending on your interpretation. But it was still all good. We hit the trail head, to use a Bill McFadden term, like a herd of turtles. The seven and half hours yesterday definitely took its toll on us. The first few miles today were a nice gentle grade, but still felt tough. After a little mechanical issue with Dave's chain, we made it up to the steep section. Again, it wasnt too bad, all ridable, but definitely steep. At the top of the climb, we hit the first of four lakes, Round lake. A truely amazing sight, a clear blue lake up in the middle of these steep brown mountains. After some time taking pictures, we headed up the trail to the next lake, Long lake. We took a run up the side of the lake and saw where the water and the fish enter the lake, really cool. On to Rough lake. Not sure if the name came from the "rough" edge to the lake or the rough trail that shoots off the main loop up to it. There were a bunch of people camping there and a couple kids swimming in it when we pulled up. The trail it this point was quite the technical ATV trail for sure. Lots of short steep climbs and plenty of rocks to keep your attention. I think it would be fun on a motorcycle but way too much work on an ATV, but thats just me. We made our way on to the turn out to Big Lake. We passed a smaller lake then to Big Lake, quite a beautiful sight. The normal route for the ATV's and frankly everyone is an out and back from the main trail to Big Lake. Well, we had Dave Pontzer and his amazing GPS. We had no actual map of the area, just the guide book to direct us. WELL, Dave's GPS and downloaded maps showed a trail that cut from where we were, down to where we wanted to go, rather than back track on the ATV trail. As anyone familiar with USGS maps knows, lots of things are on the maps that existed at one point but are not necessarily real clear at the present. Well this trail started as a somewhat "defined path" but quickly became less and less defined. We continued to find some markers for the old trail occasionally as we started down, but it was a struggle. The GPS showed us being on the "trail" give or take, for most of our trip, but by the end there was no semblance of trail. To Dave's credit, he read the GPS correctly and we did end up on the ATV trail once again. But I have to admit, I was a bit nervous at a few points. Once back on the real trail and nervousness subsided, we headed back to the trail head. The scenery basically behind us, we were just having fun with the trail. Steve described this part of the ride as like riding a BMX race, albeit a little more rocky. Even me, who is not a big fan of taking air, caught some pretty cool air. The only issue we ran into were cows on the trail. We saw a few on the way up, but holy cow, literally, the trail and area around it was just littered with them. We even had one, standing just off the trail that we stopped for, rub his back foot on the ground, like the bulls towards the matadors in Spain. There was also one cow that defecated right on the trail, right in front of us. At least it made us realize things can smell worse than our condo in the morning.

Day 10

Howie and I started the day out with a trip to Starbucks since The Bagel Place wasnt open. We then headed over to catch the 8:30 service at the local Presbyterian church. The plan was to take an easy flat spin since our legs were pretty much all wet noodles. Dave was also having issues with his hinny being sore, so he decided to bail and go fishing. We headed out to a loop above Stanley, about an hour and half from the condo. There was quite the haze along the mountains and we werent sure what the deal was but were afraid it may be due to wildfires. The temperature was beautiful, never getting above 80 for the whole ride. The trail started out flat, and stayed that way for about the next 5 miles. We covered that in less than a half hour as it was another ATV type track, quite the contrast to the close to 3 hours five miles took us two days before. At the first intersection, we checked out the map and saw that this particular trail to our right, Prospect Creek, seemed to go out for a good distance and looked to be really nice single track. Since it seemed that if we stayed the course on the ATV trail, we'd be done in about two hours total, we decided to go explore this Prospect creek. It was quite a nice singletrack, some of the short uphill's were pretty chewed up from motorcycles, but all in all a lot of fun. We went out a couple miles when Aaron broke a spoke. After some trueing, he got it so it at least wouldn't hit the frame or brakes. We kept up Prospect for another mile or so when Aaron had some more issues so after an adjustment, we decided to head back. Once back on our original course, we continued around the loop. After a bit of pretty easy climbing, we hit Knapp creek trail and took that down to the gravel road, about 5 miles. Our nickname for it was the race course, as it was really fast, but still challenging enough to keep you on your toes. I had a pretty close call with some loose trail on a slight turn at a pretty good rate of speed. Luckily I was able to get the front wheel turned to over correct for the slide and slowed down enough to do a running bailout. The bike went down but I didnt and the bike was OK. Once we were on the gravel road, Steve decided he still had some leg left so he was sort of "challenging" us to race. Howie and I took turns running him down but I finally shot my load and had to let them go to fight it out to the next turn, a couple miles down the road. Eagle Eye Aaron spotted an Elk off the trail on the next section of road, and after watching it for a few minutes, we saw a second one. Their size is quite impressive.

Dinner was on the deck of the Brew and Burger place in Lower Stanley. (BTW, Stanley had a population of 100, so you can imagine how big Lower Stanley is). Excellent burgers and we were literally sitting right about the Salmon river. We also had an interesting conversation with the lady at the next table, I believe she is living in Boise. She and her hubby were in the area camping with 100 of their closest friends. After dinner we could only make it about 15 - 20 minutes down the road before we stopped for shakes at the same place we had dinner after our Epic ride two days before. Speaking of the epic, Howie did find mention of the ride in our main guide book today, on the page marked multiday and adventure rides. Dave claims to have caught the biggest trout of his life today, but no fish, no pictures, and no witnesses, so you be the judge.

Final day, day 11

As our legs had seen better days at this point, we were looking for a memorable but rather easy ride. Since the Pontzer cousins hadn't gotten to ride the Little Basin to Basin single track, my vote for the best 6 miles of single track ever, we decided to head back there, minus the gravel road stuff we had done previously. The haze along the mountains was much more pronounced today, and we had learned via some TV and internet that there were some major fires north and east of this area and the weather pattern was blowing it our way. Aaron picked up a new knickname early in the ride, "shotgun" Pontzer. Dave, Steve and myself had gotten a bit out in front and heard a gun shot. We were all a little worried but continued on up the mountain. We stopped to wait for Aaron and Howie and after a few minutes started to get a bit worried so we headed back. We ran into them a short ways back down. Seems that the gun shot we heard was actually Aaron's tire blowing out. Note to self, bring two way radios next trip. We finally all made it to the top and started the trip down a little piece of Heaven. Aaron and Dave were dually impressed with the track. After a stop waiting on Aaron, we all headed back again to see what was up. Another flat, this time much quieter though. Back on the trail again, through a few beautiful and uneventful stream crossings until one caught dave's bike and he took a bit of a swim. A right on Kelly's creek trail started us up and out. Our last piece of single track in Idaho. A final push up a forest service road, including a couple little "races" initiated and won by Steve and we were back at the vehicles. Once back at the condo, we started the somber process of packing the bikes up for their UPS ride back home. A fine dinner at Smokey Mountain Pizza and Pasta topped of the night. 5am is going to come way too soon to start our journey back home.