Top: Though more of a major traffic road, SR-3 offers some thrilling turns up or down, looking here west to the town of Kendrick, Idaho. Below: This young enthusiast, Ethan, here in Elk River for the rubber duck races, passes time carefully catching local croakers. He was kind to them, I made sure. the clouds and their leaden dark bellies. As I turned eastward on the last leg, I caught up with fat, cold drops of rain. SR-8 into Elk River was very wet, and the temperature dropped to the high 40s / lower 50s. I took care on the surprisingly nice pavement, and it seemed that recent road construction had straightened some of the corners, to my dismay. My well-worn Michelin Power RS tires gripped like they had something to prove and lived up to their wet-handling reputation.
Sodden and cold, I holed up in a local diner for cups of hot Joe as I watched the blue and sunny expanse slowly push away the clouds and dry up the grounds. The town’ s inhabitants and many visitors who were observing 9 / 11 Remembrance Day were also waiting
for the annual rubber duck races, usually held in early August but delayed this year. Well then, if I couldn’ t see any elk, I sure wanted to catch some of the hundreds of yellow duckies racing down Elk Creek!
Waiting with a handful of locals at the finish line and chatting with a young amphibian wrangler, I had spent far too much time out of the saddle before I heard the races were not happening for another hour … at least. Sad to miss it, I turned back down SR-8 onto the steadily drying and steaming tarmac glistening in the sun to retrace some very enjoyable miles back to camp, where I would dream of future elk sightings while sipping something edgy on the bank of the Clearwater with my buddy Squatch.
Benjamin“ Ben-WA” Getz is a Washington state native who has been terrorizing the roads, trails, and tracks of the PNW with family and friends since 1976. He supports his motorcycle addiction as a designer and graphic illustrator.
RIDERMAGAZINE. COM / NOVEMBER 2026 / 27