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Boise bike riders get grueling taste of alternative transportation

A dozen bicycle riders who share a transportation bond in their professional lives assembled at Highlands Elementary School in Boise July 28 on a ride that serpentined up Bogus Basin road to the ski resort at the top. They no doubt enthusiastically agreed with a sign they passed along the long uphill climb: Think Snow. The high in Boise that day -- the first full day of the 2012 Olympics -- was 97. It was just another day in a seemingly endless string of 95-plus degree temperatures.

Riders who assemble for the annual fun ride spend their work days at ITD, the Federal Highway Administration, Ada County Highway District, the Local Highway Technical Assistance Council. Family members joined the ride on an eclectic mix of bicycles. The route from Boise to Bogus is nearly 15 miles and rises more than 3,400 feet in elevation. Olympic Gold Medallist Kristin Armstrong often used the lower part of the route for training.

Published 8-10-2012