What a delightful weekend! Rather spontaneously, Matt and I decided we'd had enough of riding our trail bikes on 3 feet of hard packed snow (blog about snow biking coming soon) and it was high time we put some dirt under our knobbies. So we loaded up, grabbed the dogs, and went west until the snow melted away and we could feel the warmth of the sun on our exposed arms again.
  | Saturday: the goal was to ride from morning until sun down. This was very nearly accomplished by Matt, and almost accomplished by myself except for a 60 minute gap in the middle of the day when I realized that while on call, its a good idea to have your cell phone with you. We rode in the Kokpelli area, Rustler's, Horsethief, Mary's and Steve's Loops, all of which were in superb, hero dirt condition. We tried to ride Moore fun, one of our favs, but were turned around by some locals with tidings of "soul sucking" mud. Overall, the conditions were perfect. Not the typical crowds you can see on a weekend in Fruita, blue skies and 50 degrees. After putting in 20+ miles we were ready for some Hot Tomato (best pizza pies on the western slope) and tasty brews. |
Matt rolling up to the Toilet Bowl. Yes, his bike is "Intense-ly orange" Sunday: we woke up and, after some discussion, decided not to head out to Western Rim, (one of the best view trails in the Grand Valley). Instead we elected to stay close to town and explore a trail Matt had not ridden before, the Ribbon. I had only done the Ribbon once before, as part of an epic, massive, group ride last year. I was a little worried about route finding, so we decided to ride it as an out and back. The Ribbon descends about 1500 feet over the course of 3 miles on the edge of Colorado National Monument. The views are glorious and the descent is fast. I noticed that Sarah Landis had the fastest women's descent of the Ribbon on Strava, which was right around the 17 minute mark. I would not be putting down any Strava records. The climb was a little bit brutal and involved more than a few H-A-B (hike a bike) sections. The dogs enjoyed each and every one. The descent was fast, but was sprinkled with numerous photos stops.
It's rad how easy it is to escape to a drier, lower elevation area with such quality singletrack. I can't say thanks enough to the Martins' for housing us and to my best friend Matt for being willing to ride bikes in January. The silly smile is gonna be stuck to my face for awhile.
It's rad how easy it is to escape to a drier, lower elevation area with such quality singletrack. I can't say thanks enough to the Martins' for housing us and to my best friend Matt for being willing to ride bikes in January. The silly smile is gonna be stuck to my face for awhile.
