Cyclists laud ride's beautiful route, organizatio

SANDPOINT — Perfect weather, enthusiastic riders and an outpouring of volunteer and community support made the second annual CHaFE 150 charity bike ride on Saturday a big success, organizers said.

Ridership in the long-distance bike event almost doubled this year, as word of the outstanding route and great rider support has percolated among biking enthusiasts in the region. Compared to the 68 cyclists who made the inaugural ride last year, the 2009 CHaFE attracted 131 registrants, of which 116 were on the road for the 6:32 a.m. start.

The CHaFE ride raises money for the Ready! For Kindergarten early childhood education program of the Panhandle Alliance for Education.

With some changes to the route this year, the CHaFE started at Trinity at City Beach in Sandpoint, with bagpipers playing and a police escort through town as cyclists headed toward Hope, Clark Fork and Montana. Riders then proceeded north up the Bull River valley to Troy, east to Bonners Ferry and back to City Beach. The full ride distance measures a little more than 158 miles, but 44 riders elected to do the 1/2 CHaFE that ended in Troy at a distance of 82 miles.

Riders heaped compliments on the ride for its beautiful route and organization.

“It was perfect,” said Buck Levy of Sun Valley, at age 77 the oldest rider. Levy, who started distance riding just a few years ago, rode the 1/2 CHaFE. He said he had ridden mostly on bike paths and done little road riding and was concerned about cars. He appreciated the largely rural route with little traffic. “It turned out it was no problem.”

Another 1/2 CHaFE rider, Michael Church, 36, of Sandpoint said what attracted him originally was the charity it supports — “the cause really piqued my interest” — but that the ride was beautiful. “I can’t say enough about the ride; it is first class.”

Among men, the first returned in a pack of six riders at 3:42 p.m. They were Rusty Dodge of Eagle; Paul Nowak of Mead, Wash.; Dean Kyriakos of Sandpoint; Charles Weber of Spokane; Steve Meyer of Sandpoint; and Wayne Pignolte of Sagle.

But the CHaFE is a ride, not a race, and most of the full CHaFE riders came in between 5 and 6 p.m., with the last arriving at 8:45 p.m. At 77, Levy was the oldest rider; youngest was 14-year-old Brynn Williams of Sandpoint.

There was one crash that left two riders injured, and underscored that the ride does bring an element of risk. It occurred near Clark Fork when one cyclist in a pack of about 14 riders swerved and set off a collision that upended several riders. A Sandpoint woman suffered a broken jaw, while a rider from Issaquah broke his collar bone. Help arrived quickly from the CHaFE support volunteers.

Ride director Geraldine Lewis of PAFE said the volunteer support throughout the event was exceptional. She noted there were 36 volunteers who staged the start/finish amenities at City Beach, and another 49 who manned breakstops and support positions around the route.

“The volunteers really went above and beyond,” she said. “The weather was beautiful. The riders were the best. The word is out about ChaFE and we are along for the ride!”

Brad Williams, chair of the PAFE committee that organizes the ride, also said the volunteer effort was incredible. But Williams, who rode the route tandem with his daughter, added that just matched the rest of the day.

“From my perspective as a rider, and from talking to other riders, the ride was near perfect,” he said.

See a video of the ride and a collection photos, all by volunteer photographers, at www.chafe150.org.

Major event sponsorship was provided by Sandpoint Byway builders, Parsons Corp., Pacific Pile & Marine and Peak Sand & Gravel.