Vacation Riding–August 22nd to 29th

Well, vacation is over… After a whirlwind end to the month of August, I will be back with my nose to the proverbial grindstone tomorrow. I haven’t ridden my commuting trails since the 11th of August, so I hope they’re all still intact with no trees blocking my way…
We spent the first week heading to Saskatchewan. I did bring the bike, but on the way there (while it was on the rack on the back of the truck), I noticed I had ANOTHER broken spoke!!! In the fast trip we were taking through the prairies, I never had a chance to get to a bike shop so I didn’t get a single day of riding in that first week… We got back home for three days, so I took it into Taboo again and had them replace every spoke that seemed “suspect” this time (turned out to be 8 in the end!).
The trip down to Yellowstone was a great trip. We stayed at the Farragut State Park about 20 minutes north of Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. It was truly one of the best campsites where we’ve ever been camping. In the morning, I managed to get a decent little 30 minute ride in on some trails that left straight from the campsite, and rode some great single and double track through the woods and along the lake shore. It was pretty easy riding for the most part, but just great to get back on the bike after a week off. I did notice that my heart rate was higher than I think it should’ve been, so the week off was not great… Here are some pictures I took of the lake and trails.

A cool shot of the lake with the morning sun rising over the Eastern shoreline.

Had to put these shots of the bike on the dock! They were kind of neat I thought…

This was named the “Lynx Trail”, a bit of fun, rolling single-track I found on my way back to the campsite.

Once we got to where we were staying (the Moose Meadow cabin we rented from Outback Vacation Rentals in Island Park, Idaho), Corrie, Rob, Jeff and Leanne and I all got to get some riding in at various times of the week. Tuesday morning Rob, Corrie and I went out and discovered some quad and snowmobile trails. We managed about an hour long ride, getting in close to 10 kilometres, which was VERY cold (it was near freezing that morning). The trails went every direction, but we managed to get a good, fun ride in. Unfortunately, I forgot to take ANY pictures… The trails were mostly flat, with some smaller sized hills. However, being Quad trails, they were pretty good, rolling and fun. No bears or anything! The next morning we had a lot more time to spend, and Corrie let Jeff borrow her bike to come with Rob and I. This time, we managed a 24 kilometre ride over about 2-1/2 hours. I did remember to snap a few pictures this time…

Jeff and Rob hanging out at the Big Springs Loop road, at the Henry Outlet bridge.

Rob getting a bit of air at a sweet little Quad “park” we found, with banks, drops and jumps. AWESOME fun!

Jeff attempting some air time as well…

And my attempt… No air…

I tried 3 times, NO AIR TIME!!! How did Rob do it? Must be the 20lbs less he has on me… Or the bike setup and geometry… Right???

Check out the amazingly clear water at Big Springs… Wow!

Jeff Contemplating a swim maybe? We did actually come back later with the families and swam further downstream, but it was FREEZING… Like, can’t breathe kind of cold… UFF DA…

After that ride, we didn’t get much else in for the rest of the week. Corrie, Leanne and I managed a quick 30 minute ride down the Big Springs Loop road which was fun. But other than that, we had so much else planned that we just didn’t manage another ride. Oh well, it was a great vacation! And back to the trails again in the morning… I hope I haven’t fallen too out of shape!