Riding a Spyder in Idaho

Fueling up on the way out

I was out in Boise, Idaho, the last couple of days on a work deal but that doesn't mean that you can't ride.  Luckily, I was able to hang out with my friend Phillip who rides a Suzuki V Strom 650 and we did some cruising.  Phillip hooked me up with Birds of Prey Motorsports in Caldwell, just outside Boise, where they rented me a Can Am Spyder RT for only $129 a day.  Since I was not going to be in Boise long, I only got the one day rental but Phillip and I made good use of the time I had.

Phillip on his V Strom

On the evening of July 1st, we took a long ride out east of the city.  I'm not quite sure of the route as Phillip was leading and I was just trying to get used to piloting the Spyder.  (Addendum 06 July from my friend Phillip - "from SE Boise, east on e. Warm springs ave, s on hwy 21, s. Federal way, crossing I-84, s. Eiseman, west on gowen (south of BOI and air guard base), s on pleasant valley road past the quarry and two state prisons, east on kuna mora rd, which turns into black creek.  Blacks creek terminates at gravel road, which is called foothills...so we covered all of blacks creek road!")  This Spyder was the automatic model, without a clutch and with a thumb shifter, which took a little while to get used to but that I enjoyed none the less.  I figured the eventually we ended up on East Black Creek Road for quite a while.  This road links up with the Oregon Trail and runs part of the trail.  Whatever the route, the ride was very enjoyable with enough twists and hills to make it entertaining.  The terrain was very western high desert and we saw some rabbits and quail along the way.  On the way back we ended up on I-84 for a little while and I tried to push the Spyder to break the ton but I was only able to reach 91 mph as we approached our off ramp rather quickly.  We clocked a little over 60 miles on this run.

Me on the Spyder RT

The following morning we rode out towards Idaho City via Route 21 (Ponderosa Pine Scenic Route).  This is a really great ride rising from the high desert towards alpine meadows and mountains.  Roble's Creek runs along this route and there are several dam lakes and very scenic areas through out.  At about less than 10 miles from Idaho City we ran into road work and we turned around there because we were on a tight schedule.  We headed by to Boise and probably clocked a little over 40 miles on that run.

Phillip was nice enough to offer me a ride on his V Strom before we headed out to return the Spyder.  The V Strom is a really sweet ride, I did not go very far on it, just a little down the road in his neighborhood but I can tell there is a lot of pep in that bike.

On the way to Idaho City

On the way to Idaho City

I followed Phillip back out to Caldwell to return the bike but that ride was mostly done on I-84 so not much that another 40 miles on freeway conditions.  On the way to the airport we stopped at a Cycle Gear store in Meridian where I bought a UClear HBC 100 plus dual pack communicators.  When I test them out I will review them here.

The Old Toll Road

The Old Toll Road