Idaho Backroads Two

Carey, Idaho is home to Picabo Street, Olympic gold medalist. She was named after an even smaller town… Picabo, Idaho. There is even fewer cars on this route as it connects the towns of Bellevue, Gannet, Picabo, and Carey. You can continue on to Craters of the Moon National Park… 25 miles from Carey. I hope to do that next week. My buddy Marty just dug his 25 year old Rodriguez out of his Seattle garage, we put new rubber on it, I’ll work a bit on the chain, etc. and I’ll get him out on that ride. He also does the mountain biking excursions with me around here (we share side-by-side townhouses in Ketchum… he was the architect on the project).

So...the ride.

The first 7 miles is absolutely straight. You pass thru well groomed farm land and slowing work downhill to more desert like sage and scrub. You pass by the world famous flyfishing area called Silver Creek.

It is owned and managed by a private wildlike conservation group. I’ve fished there. We floated down the windy creek in belly-boats thru tall grass and fished for Brown trout. It is all catch-and-release. I caught a few, but my fishing partner Jack got skunked.

Anyway… then you pass thru the lovely town of Picabo (3 buildings).

There is one pretty good climb for about 1.5 miles but then you descend into another valley and enter Carey. Population 532.

This is the home of Blaine County Fairgrounds. It is a bit unusual as this is a very RED state. Blaine County is very BLUE, and hardly considered part of Idaho. Blaine county includes all those Hollywood liberals, not to mention John Kerry/Teresa Heinz. But the town of Carey is back in the RED, so I doubt many Ketchumites come to the fair. I remember Carey fondly as the first place I saw Wylie and the Wild West. They played for a barn dance we went to (went out and bought straw cowboy hats after that for the next dance… yea hah). I have since seen him perform many times. He always plays the Fish Festival in Seattle and just recorded a live CD at the Tractor Tavern. Wylie (Gustafson) is best known as the yowdler for the Yahoo theme.

Back on the road… and that climb back up the hill. Better going this way as it is downwind.

Great downhill on the other side. I learned a valuable lesson. KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT when going fast downhill. I was going so fast a bug flew in my mouth and shot out my butt. The other lesson is to sew a small flap in the back of your shorts to allow for the bug to make a clean getaway. However, I was thrilled to make a new speed record for myself. 47mph on that downhill. WHEEEE. Then on back to Bellevue. Total of 50 miles.

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Oct 10

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