Rotary bike ride a big
success
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September 14, 2011 |
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Though never
officially named to the post, Ron
Sukenik, in the blue vest to the left,
served as de facto chairman of the 9th
annual Kootenai River Ride Saturday. |
Nearly 200 riders turned out Saturday for the
ninth annual Rotary's Kootenai River Ride, the
most ever in the nine years the Rotary has
hosted the event.
Officially, 191 people rode in the event,
including 40 who faced the challenge of the 100K
course. One couple from Cranbrook had a double
ride, having missed the turn up Katka the first
time around and riding back to town. When told
of the error, they set out to fix it.
Two girls, who decided to try the 100K for the
first time after one had recovered from an
earlier fall from her bike and the other had
quit smoking this spring. When told they were
still eight or nine miles from the turn around
after the tough Katka climb, they let loose a
few expletives, but decided that having come
that far, they weren't turning around.
While no "official" Kootenai River Ride chairman
had been named for this year's event, Rotarian
Ron Sukenik fell into the role and did a superb
job, working with fellow Rotarians and community
volunteers to make a ride to remember.
Two riders, one from Issaquah, Washington, and
the other from Calgary, both said emphatically
that the Kootenai River Ride ranks "right up
there with the best of them."
Every rider, whether on the 100K, the 16K or the
one in between, was appreciative of the food and
drink at stations along the way and the people
who manned them, and they much enjoyed the
picnic back at the fairgrounds after the race,
though one emailed afterwards that he didn't get
enough baked potato. This being his eighth
Kootenai River Ride, he now knows to ask for
more food if he's in the same predicament next
year.
The "Kootenai Crew" from Boundary County Live
was on hand to put together a 10-minute video of
the event, and you can see it by visiting the
Boundary County Live website by
clicking here. |
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