THE CHaFE 150 ROUTE

The CHaFE 150 route begins in Sandpoint and inscribes a grand loop around the Cabinet Mountains -- a frontal range of the Rocky Mountains of Idaho and Montana -- following gorgeous lake and river valleys. Although the route's 150 miles is a challenging distance, it has no mountain passes or long sustained climbs, encompassing one upriver leg, two downriver legs and one huge lake.

NEW in 2010! This year the CHaFE 150 rides the loop in a clockwise direction, and includes a couple other minor route changes to provide an optimum ride.

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The ride embarks from the Best Western Edgewater Resort, right on the lake at downtown Sandpoint's City Beach (click for map to staging point). After a police escort through town, riders head north on state Highway 95/Hwy 2 towards Bonners Ferry. This valley is what geologists call the Purcell Trench, carved out by ancient glaciers during the Ice Age that ended about 12,0000 years ago. It's also the path once blazed by Canadian explorer David Thompson of the Hudson Bay Co. Although this segment of the route is along the highway, the shoulders are spacious and the early hour will keep the traffic minimal.

At Three Mile Junction just north of Bonners Ferry, riders will turn east on Highway 2, following the scenic Kootenai River into Montana and descending down the Yaak River hill into Troy. Just past Troy, the half-way point break stop at 75 miles, riders of the 1/2 CHaFE will join the ride. Riders will pedal south to join Montana Highway 56 for a moderate uphill leg to Bull Lake, then downstream along the Bull River. This route follows a verdant corridor through the Cabinet Mountains wilderness, chock full of high alpine vistas, lush meadows and babbling brooks. Riders continue south to the junction with Highway 200, where they turn west to ride along the Clark Fork River and back into Idaho.

Riding alongside the Clark Fork -- named for the explorer of Lewis and Clark fame -- bikers travel along a route scoured by the great Ice Age Floods, the cataclysmic floods unleashed 10,000 to 20,000 years ago when glaciers damming ancient Great Lake Missoula broke and freed the lake waters in the largest floods in world history.

On this last leg riders enjoy breathtaking views along the northern shoreline of Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced ponderay) the West's fifth largest natural lake. The ride concludes back at Sandpoint's City Beach with a warm finish line welcome.

Support and Aid Group (SAG): Full food support and SAG will be provided. A lead vehicle and sweep wagon, staffed by a driver, nurse and mechanic will be patrolling on the route. Five full break stops will be prepared, at approximate 30-mile intervals, stocked with timely foods, portable bathrooms and staffed with volunteers and mechanics with work stands. Bus services are scheduled to provide mass assistance should weather or forest fire force the ride director to choose such a drastic support.