Rebecca's Private Idaho 2018

Rebecca’s Private Idaho is a high point of the year for me. If I had to select one cycling event as my favorite, it would be Rebecca’s. Like the Crusher, RPI continues to grow and evolve with bigger fields, more pros and notables, and a more competitive feel. In the early years of the Crusher and Rebecca’s, participants rode a mix of cyclocross and mountain bikes. The gravel specific bikes that dominate both events now did not even exist then. Gravel racing was not yet on the radar screen of most cyclists. Rebecca and Burke Swindlehurst were either fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time or responsible for creating the hottest format in participatory cycling, probably a little of both.

Fads and crazes have come and gone in cycling. People are always looking for the next new thing and manufacturers depend on selling the next new product. Eventually, gravel racing may peak and decline, but for now, it appears to have staying power.  As a fun and democratic racing format, it is the best idea that cycling has come up with. But I think it bears repeating that fun or not, the Big Potato is still a long tough day on the bike.

Conditions at Rebecca’s have never been better than they were yesterday with mild temperatures and relatively smooth road conditions. Dawn and Sam made a last minute decision to ride the Tater Tot and had outrageous fun. Their only complaint is that it ended too soon.

It has been kind of a tradition for me to comment on something I have eaten at RPI. With mild temperatures this year, I only stopped at two of the six feed zones. Nearing the midway point in Copper Basin I wanted something solid, so I grabbed a Picky Bar, Cookie Douphness, the only flavor available. It was gooier and stickier than actual cookie dough. Based on my first impression, I am not a fan. Stick with the olive oil and rosemary potatoes at Rebecca’s.

We enjoyed a couple of days in Ketchum and Sun Valley, arriving in time for the Wagon Days Parade. I am always fascinated by the cars in Sun Valley. Not the two Rolls Royce I saw yesterday (seriously?) but the classic restorations. Here are our two favorites from RPI 2018:  a 1966 GTO convertible and a 1968 Jaguar E-Type.