Wacanid. What?

Wacanid, pronounced Waw-Can-Eyed, stands for Washington, Canada and Idaho. It is a six day bicycle tour (with a day off on Day 4, hence I had time to start to write this post!) put together by local Rotary Clubs in Idaho, Washington and British Columbia, together with the International Selkirk Loop, and Stephanie Sims, its Executive Director.

It is not for the faint of heart. It is a total of 395 miles in five days of riding, with over 24,000 feet of climbing, including 102 miles and over 6,000 feet of climbing on Day 1. But it is spectacular country, and the support by the Rotarian volunteers was incredible. They go above and beyond, no matter what the request, and always with an ear-to-ear grin.

My fellow Ripper and I had never spent much time in northern Idaho, where the ride started, Washington State, or the part of British Columbia where the ride took place, and we were blown away by its beauty, and the friendliness of the people we met, both on the ride, and in the communities we visited.

Day 1 was the long one. Neither of us had ridden a century in several years, and this was a doozy. But we both managed, and smiled throughout, boosted by stunning views, well-needed rest stops, and a lunch that made us forget how hard the ride was.

Sprinkled throughout the ride was public artwork in surprising places. Their appearances were welcome interludes to tough periods in our rides, and once again, brought smiles to our faces during dark times.

Nelson, BC was one of our favorite stops along the way. It’s an adorable ski town (Whitewater is the local ski area), and is known as a “foodie” town, with good reason. Our rest day was spent there, so we got to spend a fair amount of time exploring. While having a glass of wine on the terrace of our hotel and seeing this view, I turned to my fellow Ripper and used one of my favorite lines from the end of “Groundhog Day”, when Bill Murray turns to Andie McDowell as they are walking out of their BNB and says, “Let’s live here…”. Not ready to leave Park City, but it sure was tempting while we were there.

Nelson has embraced public murals throughout the town. Around virtually ever corner was another mural depicting aspects of the town and region.

After our well needed day off the bikes, we rode another 72 miles (with 4,700 feet of climbing). It was my favorite day. With the exception of one steep, long climb after a ferry ride across beautiful Kootenay Lake, the rest of the day was a series of rolling hills, short enough that we could see the top of most of them from the bottom, which gave me the confidence to go hard the entire way up. It’s amazing what that does to one’s attitude during a long ride. Most of the ride traced the shore of the lake, and was just spectacular, with water and mountains everywhere. And spaced nicely throughout the route were points of interest worth stopping for, including the broom shop where the brooms for the Harry Potter films were handmade.

The last day was a bit of a slog. My legs were beginning to feel the wear and tear of so many tough miles, and we had to deal with more speeding cars than on most of the other days of the trip. But we wound up riding with some of our new friends met on the tour, and our conversations and camaraderie certainly eased the way.

In fact, one of our favorite aspects of the trip was the people we met and friendships we made. We are sure we will see many of them again. I can’t recommend this ride more highly. I encourage you to learn more about this ride here, and for other options, visit the Adventure Cycling website. And for other suggestions, please feel free to reach out.

Keep moving, stay safe, have fun!