Days 7 and 8:
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed about having to pull off the route early--we'd come all this way! But I was needed at home. The silver lining is the route home from Missoula didn't suck. At all! Lolo Pass--99 curvy miles of Hwy 12 following the Lochsa River into Kooskia, Idaho is a bucket list ride. This was my third time and it doesn't get old. From Kooskia, we rode Hwy 13 into Grangeville, then followed Hwy 95 all the way into Ontario, OR with a brief detour to Whitebird Pass, a little bypass right off Hwy 95 full of fun switchbacks before reconnecting with the main highway a few miles later.
It was getting warmer, the further south we went and we slogged through a pretty hot afternoon through Burns, OR before ending the day in Lakeview with a steak dinner and a local motel.
Sunday, we got a pre-dawn start down 395 and passed through Lassen en route to Chico for brunch.
From Chico, we followed Hwy 45 and a number of smaller backroads into Colusa and eventually Rio Vista, avoiding I-5 and I-80, while still getting home mid-day. So there it is...we left the rest of Section 5 through 8 on the table for a future trip, I guess. In 2024, we left the northern sections of the Idaho BDR, above Avery, on the table as well. I guess we could string the two together one of these and finish off both routes. Either way, I got to spend a week out on the bike riding amazing backroads and seeing amazing country, so it's a net win in my book. Thanks for following along!
