WaCanId Ride could attact hundreds

SANDPOINT — Eight small towns in North Idaho, eastern Washington and the southern reaches of British Columbia are linked together on a scenic necklace that goes by the name of the International Selkirk Loop.

The loop itself is a ribbon of roadway that straddles the U.S./Canadian border. Strung like beads along its course are colorful communities such as Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry and Oldtown in Idaho, as well as Nelson, Castlegar, Fruitvale and Creston north of the border.

From Oct. 1-5, nine different Rotary International clubs on the route will team up with the International Selkirk Loop Association to sponsor the first annual WaCanId Bike Ride. The long-distance ride takes in 340 miles of the overall Selkirk Loop — approximately 75 percent of an international scenic byway that runs 450 miles in length.

The event, geared toward recreational riders and touring cyclists more inclined to pleasure than pain, gives participants the choice of stopping and starting at any of eight towns on the Loop.

“It’s not hard core, by any means,” said Lisa Gerber, a board member of the International Selkirk Loop Association. “It’s an interesting way to take a vacation. To be able to ride through two states, two different countries and start or stop at any point is completely unique, as far as I’m aware.

“And just by the nature of the event, it raises awareness of the Loop,” she added.

At the national level, the scenic route has begun to garner quite a bit of attention. The U.S. Department of Transportation has named it among the “Top 10 Scenic Destinations in the Northern Rockies” and Sunset Magazine held it up as “The West’s Best Scenic Drive.” Just this year, Rand McNally updated its road atlas with a special feature that includes the Loop as one of only five routes earning its “Best of the Roads” recognition.

But according to Carol Graham, executive director for the International Selkirk Loop Association, local and regional awareness has been harder to come by.

“Sometimes the traveler knows more about our area than the local folks do,” she said. “It’s an education process on our part.”

Graham last week attended a four-day conference in Denver, where she was joined by other representatives of the 126 scenic byways spanning the U.S.

“When you get to a conference like this, you realize that you are unique,” the executive director said. “The Selkirk Loop is one of only 17 multi-state scenic byways — and we’re the only international byway in North America.

“We’re also doing things that are unique,” she added. “For us, one of those things is that we have 400 member businesses and Chambers of Commerce that help fund about 20 percent of our budget.”

The WaCanId Ride is designed to direct business back to those members, Gerber noted, by recommending them to the riders and their families who take part in the event.

“The whole purpose of the Selkirk Loop is to bring economic development to the rural towns along the route,” she said. “The idea is to show off these small communities. When riders and their families come through here, we think they’ll be enticed to come back.”

The ride was the brainchild of Newport/Oldtown Rotary member Dean Cummings, who saw the Loop as a strong resource for promoting tourism and recreation in the region, not to mention acting as a catalyst for revenue.

“By holding the ride in the shoulder season, we’re bringing merchants along the Loop some business that wouldn’t have been there otherwise,” said Newport/Oldtown Rotary member Ken Schueman.

The Rotary clubs will earn a portion of the ride registration fees, he explained, with a larger percentage going to the host club when a rider registers and starts in that community.

“So each individual club is very motivated to have people start and end in their hometown,” Gerber said.

The clubs are allowed to use those proceeds as they choose, Schueman said, but 20 percent will go directly to the Selkirk Loop to promote next year’s ride.

“This is going to be an annual event and we’re hoping that, in the future, we’ll have a substantial turnout,” he said.

The goal for October’s event is about 500 riders, according to Gerber, whose estimate includes both individual and team participants. Rotary volunteers from clubs on the route will patrol the roadways, staff the check-in stations and coordinate rest stops every 10 to 25 miles, depending on the terrain. Rotarians also will transport the riders’ luggage and have it waiting for them at their chosen locations at the end of each riding day.

Although WaCanId still is accepting registration for additional riders, the emphasis has shifted to encouraging businesses in affected cities to soak up the tourism dollars as they pass through town by offering live music, family activities and special promotions during the five-day event.

Businesses that already are members of the International Selkirk Loop Association might fare even better, because the association’s promotional guide, map and Web site highlight them as recommended stops.

“I received a call the other day from a traveler who found my number on the Web site complaining that all the RV parks listed in the guide were full and that we should list everyone for the traveler,” Gerber said. “It was a valid complaint, but I picked up on a more important point — the parks that were not listed, the ones that weren’t members, were not full.”

“We’ve seen very good results from it,” said Steve Meyer, an International Selkirk Loop Association board member who, along with his wife and fellow board member, Julie, operates the Pend d’Oreille Winery in downtown Sandpoint. “People come in with the map in hand and say that they’re in town because they’re driving the Loop. It’s pretty much a year-round thing any more.”

The Loop itself skirts the edges of an historic path that has been used by Native American tribes, explorers and trappers for centuries — the rivers and lakes of the Inland Northwest. Mel Dick, a Sandpoint Rotarian who last year completed a 10,000-mile, cross country bike ride — a fundraiser for the Panhandle Alliance for Education that took him from the westernmost tip of Washington State to the southernmost point in the Continental U.S. at Key West, Fla. — ranks the Selkirk Loop at the top when compared with other terrain he encountered on his five-month trek.

“This really is one of the best bike rides anywhere in the country,” he said. “You won’t find more beautiful scenery anywhere.”

At least two of the Rotary clubs involved plan to use future proceeds from the event to expand existing bike trail networks as a way to connect the communities they serve with adjacent towns. It’s just one more way of thinking and living green, according to Graham, who views the WaCanId Ride as an environmentally friendly way to support economic development.

“We’re always striving for more public awareness and more diverse ways to travel our scenic byway,” she said. “Cycling in an event like this is a way to provide a byway experience that is also a green experience.”

For more information on the Selkirk Loop and the WaCanId Ride, visit: www.selkirkloop.org or www.wacanid.org or call toll-free at 1-866-732-1194.