The fifth annual Le Tour de Koocanusa that benefits the David Thompson Search and Rescue was held Saturday, August 8. The event coordinator, Dejon Raines said it was their biggest year yet.

“We had 141 registered riders,” she said. “We had a guy from Germany that participated. We also had several riders from California, Oregon and Utah. It was by far our biggest year. It’s grown each year and that’s great to see. It’s big for our community to have people come and see our beautiful town.”

Raines said that they received a number of compliments from the riders that participated in the 83-mile bike ride.

“It went very smooth,” Raines said. “We got a lot of great feedback from the riders. They told us that they had a wonderful time. They enjoyed the beautiful scenery. They said it was well organized. It was just a great day. It was a little cool in the morning, but didn’t take long to warm up.”

The first riders crossed the finish line around noon and the last riders came in after 6 p.m.

“We had our first rider finish at 12 p.m. and our last riders finished up around 6:15 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.”

After the long ride the participants had an opportunity to check out the Riverfront Blues Festival.

“They each got a ticket to the event,” she said. “There were quite a few people sporting their shirts that they received for taking part in the event. It was just a great day to be in Libby.”

Rains said she wouldn’t start planning for next year’s event for a while.

“I always take a little time afterwards,” she said. “The planning for next year’s event will start in January and I’m looking forward to seeing the event grow even more next year.”