The ididaride! A 75-mile Bike Tour of the Adirondack Park
On Sunday, July 31st, 528 cyclists came out to North Creek, NY to take part in the 11th annual ididaride! bike tour. This challenging route is a 75-mile loop that begins at the Ski Bowl at Gore Mountain, heads south to Speculator, west and north to Indian Lake, then back east down the big hill to North Creek. Luckily, the weather on this day remained nice with a mix of some clouds and occasional sun, plus pleasant temperatures in the mid 60s/low 70s.
The original idea for this event was developed by Paul DiCresce and Kim Fisher. Before the riders left the starting line, I had a chance to speak with Paul and he explained how he and Kim had participated in a lot of fitness events themselves and wanted to come up with their own idea for an event that could give back to the Adirondacks. They were inspired, and created the 75-mile course that is the ididaride! today. Over the years, the event has grown in popularity, attracting hundreds of riders from many states and Canada.
The event provides not only a scenic and challenging opportunity for riders, it also raises funds for the Adirondack Mountain Club. Those funds are used for their trail, outdoor education, and summit steward programs. Catherine Forbes, Director of Development, explained how the ididaride! “has positively impacted ADK in so many ways. First of all, it’s a lot of fun. It gets people out into the Adirondack Park in a whole new way and it provides needed resources to protect wild places in the Adirondack Park and all across the state.”
As with most events, the ididaride! wouldn’t be successful without all of their helpful volunteers and some excellent organization. Throughout the day, ADK volunteers helped out with registrations, directing traffic, and handing out water/food at the rest stops. When speaking with Grace Siriani, a 4-year member of ADK, she said her favorite thing about the route how scenic it is. She says that “all the riders are in love with the views.” and that the ride is a great way to take in the surroundings and get to know new people.
While I didn’t personally participate in cycling this loop, I did get the opportunity to partner with Adirondack Mountain Club on behalf of PureADK to capture video and put together an edit highlighting the day. It was fun to work on capturing the perspective of this ride and see lots of smiling faces and waves from the participants. Be sure to check out the video below:
On a side note, I did want to mention that the Adirondack Mountain Club is partnering with another exciting event coming up later this week. The “Peak 2 Brew” running relay experience will begin at the summit of Whiteface Mountain on Friday, August 12th and end at the Saranac Brewery in Utica, NY for an epic finish. For this event, ADK will be sponsoring the “idid-a-lot challenge”. People who completed the ididaride! and run the Peak 2 Brew relay will earn an exclusive idid-a-lot t-shirt!
