Larry’s Private Idaho

Well, the real name is Rebecca’s Private Idaho, a gravel race out of Sun Valley, Idaho, started by and named after Rebecca Rusch, a local described on her website as “Adventure Athlete • 7x World Champion •  Best-selling Author • Keynote Speaker • Activist • Emmy Winner”, who has been known to tackle the Iditarod Sled-Dog Race, in the winter…on a bike!

Rebecca is all about doing good. Her foundation, the Be Good Foundation, was the primary beneficiary of the event, and through the foundation, proceeds were raised to help World Bicycle Relief, People for Bikes, the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, the Idaho Interscholastic Cycling League, and the Mines Advisory Group, the last of which works to find, remove, and destroy landmines, cluster munitions, and unexploded bombs from places affected by conflict.

And while Rebecca never loses sight of the big picture, she keeps her eye on the little things too. By way of a small example of her constant drive to do good, we arrived at the starting area for the race on Sunday morning, and it was 37 F degrees. Neither of us had brought quite enough clothes for temperatures like that, but at least I had long-fingered gloves. Gail did not. As we rode into the gathering spot, I saw Rebecca, and asked her if any of the booths that were selling merchandise at the race expo sold gloves. She didn’t think so, but without hesitating, she reached into her jersey pocket and handed Gail her own gloves and said here, use mine, just return them at the end. I will forever be a believer!

Gail and I tackled (or maybe it tackled us) the race this past weekend. Neither of us had ever been to the Sun Valley area, and we weren’t disappointed. It is gorgeous, and also the final home of Ernest Hemingway. There are signs of him and his family everywhere, and a great audio tour, narrated by Hemingway’s grandaughter, Mariel. It’s worth a visit.

Thanks to a friend, we were able to find a great campsite just 4 miles from the start of the race. While the air quality was up and down throughout the weekend, due to smoke from fires to the west, it held up enough for us not to suffer while we rode.

The race was a tough one. Nine miles of pavement, followed by 38 miles of chunky, washboarded dirt, and ending up with nine more miles of pavement. I was spent by the end, but I made it, and that’s all I was shooting for. I titled this post “Larry’s Private Idaho”, because unlike Rooted Vermont, where I had a companion during the entirety of the race, for this one, I was pretty much solo. My pace didn’t match anyone else’s. Slower than most, faster than a few, so I never rode with anyone for more than a few miles at a time. That was definitely a contributing factor to this being a tougher experience for me.

Gail chose to enter a slightly shorter division, and she crushed it, finishing 19th of 70 women, all age-groups! Way to go Gail!

So, our summer of adventure continues. One more race scheduled for late September, and then it’s time to start thinking snow and skiing!

Keep moving, stay safe, have fun!