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RPI IS IN 6 DAYS!

In this dispatch: Rider Guide | The final QSR | New Routes next year | The Revivalists at Sun Valley Pavilion | Your Event Schedule
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Your Rider Guide is here!

Read all the racey race details right here in our updated Rider Guide including our schedule of events which has been altered ever so slightly.

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Cooler weather is on the way!

Next week we will see a shift, and the ushering in of some light thunderstorms over central Idaho, and with that our high temps will be topping out in the low 70's. That also means the mornings will be brisk. These showers also mean that there's a high level of anticipation for the appearance of hero dirt, brown pow, and airport-conveyor-belt conditions. So get damn excited. We are!

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This year's QSR will make way for the next RPI...

It’s tempting to romanticize the last Queen’s Stage Race.

We could wax on about how it’s the end of an era, how it marked a turning point in the story of RPI, how the mountains will never be quite the same. But let’s not do that. The Queen’s Stage Race doesn’t need a eulogy. It needs a standing ovation.

Because the truth is, we’re not closing a chapter—we’re flipping the page. And what comes next is going to be wild.

In 2026, RPI shifts. New weekend. New flow. New routes. Same soul. By moving the event to the weekend after Labor Day, we open up the entire experience. Less traffic. Less competition for trail time. Cheaper lodging. More solitude.

The Baked Potato will go further east and higher into the sky than ever before. We’re adding a fourth route—Twice Baked—a 126-mile beast that combines the best of what’s come before with the altitude, attitude, and isolation that defines this place. Make the time cuts, and you’ll have one hell of a story to tell. And we’re shifting the main event to Saturday, which still gives you a day of mindful post-race reflection before packing up and heading home.

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But let’s not get ahead of ourselves!

This coming week—the one we’re all here for—is the result of the same quiet magic that’s always powered this machine. A deeply weird, fiercely loyal, problem-solving crew of professionals, part-timers, and people who somehow still think this is a good way to spend a long weekend.

This crew does not have “gravel event production” on their LinkedIn profiles. They fix medical devices and analyze data and run dispatch for fire departments. And then they come here—on their vacation days—to change your flat, track your progress, hang your course markers, and hold your hand (literally and metaphorically) when things get hairy.

They are amateur radio nerds. Retired medics. Retail clerks. Software developers. Moms. Mechanics. And they are the reason any of this works.

They get 90 seconds of glory—if that—before the sweep truck rolls by and the ribbons get pulled from fenceposts. You don’t see them, but you feel them. They’re the reason you find a bottle of water when you didn’t think you could make it to the next aid. The reason you know where to turn. The reason you come back.

So before we chase podiums or KOMs or completion medals, let’s raise a metaphorical glass (and maybe a literal one later) to the ones behind the curtain. To the ones who make Rebecca’s Private Idaho feel like something bigger than a bike race.

Let’s make this final Queen’s Stage Race the best one yet.

Then next year, we go Twice Baked on September 12th, 2026.

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Schedule

Wednesday

• 4:00 - 4:30 PM - Mandatory QSR Rider Meeting. Also available via RPI's Instagram Live
• 4:30 - 6:30 PM - Packet pick-up at the Limelight Hotel

Thursday

Queen's Stage Race, Stage 1: Harriman Trail

• 7:45 AM - 8:45 AM - Packet pick-up - Baker Creek

• 9:00 AM - Queen's Stage Race Stage 1 begins - Baker Creek

• 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM - QSR Day 1 Awards & Bevies at Rotary Park

• 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM - BE GOOD FILM SCREENING: Don't forget to bring your blankie, a pillow, and a comfortable chair. After our awards presentation, we'll flip on the projector and watch some rad films.
  
  • MEDICINE LAND - 13:10
  • BEYOND THE BINARY - 8:46
  • LUKAS - ADVENTURE FOR ALL - 8:54

Friday

Queen’s Stage Race Stage 2: Dollarhide Summit Time Trial

• 8:30 AM - QSR Stage 2 begins, departing from the Limelight Hotel with an approximately 20-mile neutral rollout
• 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM - Be Good™ Foundation Party at the Zenergy Health Club and Spa.

Saturday

Welcome Party & Expo

• 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM - Be Good - casual no-drop ride for everyone! Park at the Earnest Hemingway STEAM school parking lot (departing from Atkinson Park) at 8:30 AM; we roll out at 9:00 AM!
• 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM - RPI Welcome Party Packet Pick-Up & Expo at Atkinson Park (directions here)
• 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM - Join Rebecca Rusch and compete in the Potato Olympics at RPI, be sure to register before it fills up. Space is limited!
• 1:00 PM  Wagon Days Parade downtown Ketchum (parade details here)
• 2:00 Athlete Concussion Lounge with Dr. Eliza Sampey and Rebecca Rusch

• 3:15 PM Rider meeting - Atkinson Park

• 2:00-4:00 PM - Be Good $5 Happy Hour - Atkinson Park​​
• 5:30-7:00 PM - Lisa Congdon Momentum Art Show at Forest Service Park across from Limelight Hotel - RSVP HERE

Sunday

Baked Potato, French Fry, Tater Tot

All festivities are located in Champion Meadows

• 6:45 AM - Bag drop opens
• 7:00-8:00 AM - Packet pickup
• 7:40 AM - Rider briefing
• 8:00 AM - QSR/Baked Potato rollout
• 8:10 AM - French Fry rollout
• 8:20 AM - Tater Tot rollout
• 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM - Rebecca's Private Idaho Festival Day/Expo at Champion Meadows! OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! We cap off the event with a big party, complete with live music, food, awards, vendors, and games. We’re here to celebrate you and a job well done!
• 3:30 PM - ​Awards ceremony
• 6:00 PM - The Revivalists LIVE at Sun Valley Pavilion

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Oh yeah, the Revivalists, LIVE!

The Revivalists will follow Rebecca's Private Idaho at the Sun Valley Pavilion! They are going to be our official night-cap, post-event hoedown. With such a heavy-hitting band coming to town, why would we do anything other than watch the show?

So if this is news to you, and you haven't done so Buy your lawn tickets and join Rebecca Rusch & co for an unforgetable show right here in beautiful Sun Valley immediately following a day of riding through some of the most beautiful countryside on earth.

See you in a few days!

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Read the rider guide