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| The Tour of Idaho Challenge "This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no foolin around." by Martin Hackworth Photos: Martin Hackworth, Dan Colvin Note: The T1 challenge points for 2012 are not ready yet. Please check back. |
 Mile Marker 0. Photo: Dan
Colvin
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The Tour of Idaho Challenge is our response to the oft-posed question
"What, exactly, constitutes the Tour of Idaho?" Though we think our
basic description - start in Jenkins Hollow and ride 1300 miles north
to Upper Priest Lake along the route or variants we describe -
is
pretty clear, there is evidently some confusion about exactly what the
Tour is as evidenced by the discussions on blogs
(other than
our
own) frequented by Tour aspirants. The Tour Challenge is our
attempt to shed some light on this curiously enigmatic topic by way
of the most unambiguous means of communication known
to
man - mathematics. Although we are very reluctant to question the skill or integrity of any of our wonderful and enthusiastic motobrothers and sisters, years of bitter experience have made us less bashful about questioning their math. We wonder, for instance, how dual sport partisans manage to cipher 80% of a ride that appears to be 60% of the Tour of Idaho that we know about to 95% of the whole darned thing. It's evidently a matter of perspective. Though the immortal bard Shakespeare might have intoned of the various "Tour Lite" renditions "a rose by any other name...," the more succinct Sir Issac Newton would have said "screw that, you are off by two standard deviations." |
 Oxford Basin. Photo: Martin Hackworth |
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So there you have it. Since even the most lucid explanation
of
what the Tour is supposed to be about seems a little esoteric for some
we've devised a scoring system that reduces all of the subjective yack
yack to objective statistics which tend to be a wee bit more
difficult to
misinterpret. Here's how it works. We've established "challenge points" each day for locations that require some commitment to get to (or in some cases are just especially cool). The scoring system is simple: each challenge point counts as one, points indicated with an asterisk* are optional and count as a bonus, points indicated with double asterisks** are along variants that may be substituted for points along preferred route (but no double counting). You must acquire the points in the order they would be encountered by through riders. Take a photograph of each challenge point or log it with your SPOT beacon. Once you tally your daily points for the entire Tour there is a style modification system that may add to or subtract from your total. In the end you can see how your adventure ranks when compared to that of others who've completed the Tour. |
 Chinese Peak. Photo: Martin Hackworth |
Day 1
contains
the most overall technical difficulty and merits the greatest number of
challenge points at 13. About 1/3 of the 125 mile distance is
designated red or
yellow. Fortunately the riding is as spectacular as it is
challenging.
|
 Storm in Rockland Valley. Photo: Martin Hackworth |
Day 2
starts out
technical then mellows - for a bit. After American Falls things
become
exciting (and commiting) with 30 miles of dunes, deep sand and sand
whoops. After that it's all great
fun. There are 9 challenge points. The day is 250+
miles.
|
 Fall Creek, Sublett Range. Photo: Martin Hackworth |
Day 3
contains
many Tour highlights in terms of both technical riding and
scenery. There are a total of 13 (11 + 2 alternative) challenge points
available on different variants but the maximum
number one may accumulate for day 3 is 11. By the recommend route the
day is about 220 miles.
|
 Approaching Big Southern Butte. Photo: Martin Hackworth |
Day 4
is one of
the longest days in terms of miles (280+) but one of the easiest in
terms of technical challenges. There are 8 challenge points.
|
 Beverland Pass. Photo: Martin Hackworth |
Day 5,
the Elk
City to Wallace section of the Tour, if ridden in one day, is the
longest. There are 12 challenge points and they
add the same if this section is done in either one day or
two. The mileage from Elk City to Wallace is 290+.
|
 Massacre Mountain and Castle Peak. Photo: Martin Hackworth |
Day 6
is the
easiest in terms of technical challenges and at a "mere" 200
miles
is relatively short. The reason that this day seems to kind of
disappear
into the cracks for a large number of Tour riders is flat out fatigue.
There are 9 possible challenge points in acknowledgment of the fact
that
convincing yourself to keep going north here one more day takes some
gumption.
Salude!
|
 Twin Peaks Lookout. Photo: Martin Hackworth |
| The
maximum possible number
of challenge
points from the daily tallies is 62. Next are style point modifications. The Tour of Idaho involves more than just following a red line on a map. It's also about the spirit in which the event is undertaken. The following point modifiers are meant to reflect this.
|
 Bald Mountain Creek, Lolo Motorway. Photo: Martin Hackworth |
Finally
-
here's your Tour of Idaho Score:
Tour of Idaho Tour of Idaho Manifesto Tour of Idaho Route Description Challenge Points .gpx file Challenge Points .tpo Reader Forum |
 Quartz Creek from Fly Hill. Photo: Martin Hackworth |
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