BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Smoke and Fire is a bikepacking adventure that takes riders on a 425-mile route through some of the most rugged landscapes in Idaho.
Idaho News 6 was there when the riders left on Thursday morning, and during the ride they encountered extreme weather, wildlife encounters, and dying batteries, all while climbing 50,000 feet of elevation.
WATCH | Check out some of the terrain and challenges the riders faced on this epic adventure—
"The Idaho Smoke and Fire was amazing," said Matthew Fairbrother, who is from New Zealand. "It is so stunning out there, the mountains and such unique landscapes. I’ve never seen anything like that before in my life."
Fairbrother was the first to finish the Idaho Smoke and Fire, and he did it in one day and 18 hours, coming back to Hyde Park around midnight. He was surprised to find people waiting for him at the finish line.
"I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here, but there was a bunch of people, and they cheered me on," said Fairbrother. "That was quite a special moment, and I was happy to be done."
Fairbrother told Neighborhood Reporter Steve Dent that it started raining around 2:30 a.m. on their first night out there. He took cover in a pit toilet for a little bit before continuing, and he wasn't the only one who did that either. Page Kyle and the rider that he was with hunkered down in an outhouse near Stanley Lake.
"I took the men’s, and he took the women's," laughed Kyle. "We just laid out our sleeping pads and slept great. It was really loud with thunder and lightning and tons of rain, but it didn’t matter for us."
This marked the second year that Kyle has completed the Idaho Smoke and Fire. He got delayed on the home stretch because all his devices, headlamps, and everything he had ran out of batteries, and he took a wrong turn.
"I only lost about an hour and a half off my time," said Kyle. "Small mistakes up in the mountains on that ride can add way more than an hour and a half to your time, and I was happy to finish during the day with my family and friends here."
Fairbrother also had some run-ins with wildlife out on the course that takes people from Boise to Sun Valley up to Stanley over to Deadwood Reservoir and the back way to Boise through Bogus Basin on a course that features trails, dirt roads, and pavement.
"I spooked a deer which was in a ditch, and it just jumped out at me and knocked me off my bike," said Fairbrother. "Other than that, there weren't any other close calls, but I saw deer, elk, wolves, and a few hallucinations of some things out there too."
Fairbrother came across the finish line at midnight, and he called it a special moment to see people show up to cheer him on as he finished the Idaho Smoke and Fire.
