Boise-Lowman Loop Road Report 5-12-07

[Spudzuki]

Perfect weather Saturday, headed east to Idaho City around 11 AM. 1st leg perfect, light to moderate traffic, w/ one notable exception: numerous groups of bicycles already returning downhill at that hour of the day. Of course, oncoming cages use your lane to pass, something to be ready for.
 Coming into Idaho City, local sheriff had a group of sportbikes stopped, they do mean 25mph appherently. So remember, kids, to stay out of trouble, ride a cruiser to the biker bar in this fair city, hoist a few, and wobble back the way you came.  
 Just kidding, picked up this observation at the rest stop there in town, good place to meet other sport bikers, cruisers, coffee close by & restrooms, yeah.
 Heading North again, roads in good condition, hairpins before the summit at NE corner of loop and smooth and fairly clean of dust/ sand. Once over the first summit, though, things get slightly more interesting with occasional bits of rock, sand kicked out from the inside of corners, and a couple instances of frost potholes bleeding moisture across the lane.
 Continuing West, mostly smooth surface, this is the point where I usually have the most fun, whether it be from getting more dialed in as the ride progresses, or the corners are more friendly, I don't know. Hope to get some feedback on that one. Strictly from road condition standpoint, though, I started to ease up a bit because of the tractor tire marks on the road, evidence of Spring cleanup by DOT, using backhoes, trucks, and a sweeper to remove runoff debris getting too close to the road. They seem to be doing a pretty good job removing all traces of their work before shutting down for the weekend. No more than a few spots where scattered bits and sand stayed on the road. Traffic was nearly nonexistant between Idaho City and Lowman midday.
 To quote another sportbiker met at rest area, the conditions over the top where " kinda dirty, but mostly clear in the four wheeled tire zones, stay there and you should be OK."
 Personally, didn't seem to me much dirt around, but that advice slowed me down a bit, not a bad idea for the 1st time on the Loop this year. There is a strange brownish-red stain on the pavement throughout the northern leg, I took this to be be de-icing solution stain, sometimes looks like dirt but is too even across the route to be anything else, didn't get down and sniff it. Besides, kinda reminds you of the spots where cattle trailers spill when going around corners...
Went straight thru Lowman, stopped at Pine Flats campground to remove bugs on faceshield, and onward, expecting to see the occasional fist-sized rock as usual between Lowman and Garden Valley, but everything was clean. You can count on this changing every 5 minutes, I have jooked to avoid ones still rolling before.
 -Garden Valley, another speedtrap, best to keep it down. Met a guy back in Idaho City who had been ticketed that morning.
 Garden Valley to Banks, smooth surface, medium traffic.
Not much else to report at that point, joining the line of traffic that extends from McCall to Boise down SH55. RV avoidance mode engaged.
Home again, burger and iced tea, life is good.

[XLR8]

Not sure how long you've been in the area but from Boise to Idaho City is one of the most patrolled places in the state. If you are going to run that section over the 45Mph (lame) speed limit you'll want to get a radar detector which believe it or not will help because the Sheriff usually just drives around all day with his radar blasting away picking off the low hanging fruit - Californians who've moved here and think they are in the boonies and can do whatever they want and nobody will catch them. You also have to watch out for people crossing the centerline so be careful. It's a national sport up there.

And yes, you want to do 25Mph and not a ounce over when going through Idaho City. That goes for all small Idaho towns - Horseshoe Bend too.

Finally the word is that between Lowman and Banks there is now a Sheriff and all he does is patrol the road. There is usually always a State Police hanging around Garden Valley but you'll hardly ever see the law between Idaho City and Lowman - Just deer.  

If you want to get a real ST style ride in, head up through Stanley all the way to Challis and back sometime. It's gorgeous and takes a full day. PM me and I'll go with you sometime.

[Spudzuki]

Been here since '79, but riding Loop for two years now with the Kat. Funny thing is, I've rode Boise to Missoula through Challis on a '76 Honda XL175 three times, put 30K on the poor thing before trading it for a pickup. Only gone once on the Suzuki on my way to Glacier, though, excellent ride. I usually ride alone, but a day trip on a Saturday would be great, just trying to find time can be an issue. I work out of town all week and see the family on weekends, you can see where this is going...will PM well ahead of time when opportunity strikes. Wife likes to see me get out and enjoy myself, just likes a little warning.
 I'm not sure how to safely add a power tap to run a detector, I've seen setups that include a power conditioner for aftermarket computers on gixxers, but assume a detector would be more forgiving. Just a fuse to protect, and maybe a switch to cut off the plug-in socket just in case? I can do all this, but REALLY don't want to fry the bike, worth my time I think to see what other people have done.
 I've had the Garden Valley peacekeeper follow me for 15 miles before getting bored, I know what you mean. One thing I wasn't expecting on Saturday, though,was deer. From my commute to Ketchum I usually only see them at dawn or dusk, but you're right, this is Idaho, everyone knows some one who hit one, at least in a car. Don't want to think about the outcome on a bike.

[XLR8]

My aplogies Spudzuki. From your post it sounded like you were new to the area but I should have known you were just giving us a fresh perspective from a motorcyclists point of view.  

I sometimes hastily assume everyone around here just got here if you know what I mean.   Man this place is changing. But like you reflect on, those roads are still great.

[Air_Bob1]

I'm planning to ride from Banks to Lowman on my way to Redfish Lake Lodge from Seattle. Thanks for the heads-up on the Leo presence. I'll have the RD mounted and the eyes wide open.  

Any other potential danger zones?

To self:

Slow down near Garden Valley, slow down near Garden Valley, slow down near Garden Valley,................

[Spudzuki]

Hmm, sounds like XLR8 has more current info, I know the country, but don't get through it as much as I'd like...My guess is we've covered most of it, the farther you get from Boise and weekend recreational traffic, the better. Love that Redfish Lake! Here I am with some Beamer guys (from SoCal I believe?) Enjoying that route.

[XLR8]

I'm planning to ride from Banks to Lowman on my way to Redfish Lake Lodge from Seattle. Thanks for the heads-up on the Leo presence. I'll have the RD mounted and the eyes wide open.  

Any other potential danger zones?

To self:

Slow down near Garden Valley, slow down near Garden Valley, slow down near Garden Valley,................

The best tip for that stretch. When you get about 20 miles out from Stanley, be very very careful of deer. They migrate through that area and they are always around. I know three riders now that have hit deer in that stretch.  

[Spudzuki]

What time of the day did they hit deer?  I usually expect them at daybreak and dusk, maybe I'm setting myself up for a venison fall...