LET IT RIDE
While bicycle outings are plentiful this time of year, September is ride month

This first week of August is not a day too soon for bicyclists to gear up for September.
Although major cycling events are scattered through the year, September has become the month of the bike throughout the Inland Northwest as charities and bicycling advocates spin the attributes of pedal power.
From one-mile loops through Riverfront Park to a lung- and thigh-busting tour de pain crisscrossing the Cascades, cyclists of all abilities can find a ride worth joining for food, prizes, exercise and two-wheel camaraderie.
While some of the rides have been on cyclists’ calendars for years, two rides will make their debut next month, SpokeFest, a fun-for-the-family-style event starting in Riverfront Park, and CHaFE 150, a 150-mile one-day ride around Cabinet Mountains based out of Sandpoint.
Looking to attract a different demographic than the long rides, SpokeFest organizers are offering routes ranging from 21 miles from downtown into Riverside State Park and back to 1-mile loops kids can enjoy complete with route-side entertainment on the paved paths in Riverfront Park.
“Bloomsday is such a wonderful event that inspires people to wellness, we thought it was time to have something like that for bikes,” said Bill Bender, a Spokane physician and member of the city Bicycle Advisory Board.
CHaFE (an acronym for Cycle Hard for Education based on the perspective of a long-distance cyclist) is a fund-raiser type ride in which participants are asked to raise donations prior to the event. This event is being staged by the Panhandle Alliance For Education to raise money for Ready! For Kindergarten, an early childhood literacy program to help new parents and disadvantaged kids, said spokeswoman Geraldine Lewis.
Details of notable September rides in the region follow. Some of the rides require advance registration and limit the number of riders. So check out this lineup of top attractions and plan ahead.