I planned my next stop on the way to Seattle to be Fruita, CO. It took about 3 hours to get there from Gunnison. The mountain overpasses and headwinds made it horrible to drive the Jeep again.
I reserved 2 nights at James M Robb Colorado River State Park in Fruita so I could go ride some of the trails there. I got there in the afternoon, checked in, went to McDonald’s for food and Wifi, then came back to setup camp and go to sleep. One of my tent poles splintered…nothing a little duct tape couldn’t fix!
I thought maybe I’d check out The Edge Loop since it is an IMBA epic. It was recommended (by several people) to go to Over The Edge bike shop in Fruita and ask about trails. Some people said The Edge Loop isn’t very good anymore, and the guys at OTE bike shop told me to go ride Kokopelli Trail. They had a nice small printed map that was laminated, and listed all the loops with mileage and difficulty. The map said “Moderate skill level riders will have a great time if they don’t mind walking just a little bit”. I told the guys at OTE I was riding a hard-tail 29er, just did a race, and didn’t want anything too extreme. They recommended I ride Mary’s, Horsethief, Steve’s, and maybe Lions. Sounded pretty good.
I didn’t check out my bike after the race in Gunnison, or before riding Kokopelli. You know what that means.
So I drive down the frontage road to get to the parking lot at one of the trailheads and I’m the only one there. Trailhead was very easy to get to (right off of I70) and was well marked. It’s early Monday morning, so figured there wouldn’t be hardly anyone there. I’m starting to think that some rednecks are gonna come down that gravel road in their pickup and rob me (or worse). Sure enough, here comes 3 dudes in a pickup, but they had bikes in the back. They said they just got done riding and I would probably have the trail to myself. Cool…no robbery today.
I brought my Wingnut pack with 100oz bladder, plus 2 water bottles. I knew it would be hot…temps forecasted to be mid-90′s and sunny. I load up with tools and spare parts…don’t want to be left stranded and have to walk back a long way, especially if no one else is around.
As I get going onto the trail, I see a couple people but that’s it. I start on Mary’s loop which is a nice climb. Up top the scenery is amazing. Can’t beat being on a ridge, seeing the Colorado River down below, and mountains all around. Trail isn’t too bad, but was rocky. It was getting hot though, even before 9am.
I get to Horsethief, and around the corner is rock stairs. I didn’t even think about riding down…it was hard enough walking it! After this the trail is butter smooth for a bit…until…more rocks. More big rocks. More hike-a-bike. Took me almost an hour to do a little over 6 miles. On top of that, I lost 2 chainring bolts and one of my water bottle cages broke! My bike hates me.
I get back on Mary’s loop and take it easy up to Steve’s loop. Even the “intermediate” trails had hike-a-bike. And not just sections that I chose not to ride because I wussed out, but sections that were difficult to hike over. I had to pick my lines for the best hiking route in some sections.
After Steve’s loop I headed back on the frontage road. I took me almost 3 hours from start to finish to “ride” a little under 16 miles. Ride time was about 2 hours. Was it worth it? Well, the scenery was amazing and plenty of sections put a smile on my face, so I’d ride these trails over and over if I lived out here. I sure wish it was colder though. A full-squish bike with 5″ of travel would have been nice too.
I was going to try riding 18 Road in Fruita since I had the rest of the afternoon ahead of me. Instead, I went to OTE to get chainring bolts, tore down my bike, cleaned it, replaced brake pads, and did laundry. Plus I’m a little tired and have at least 5 hours of driving ahead of me tomorrow to get to Park City in Utah.
Fruita was cool though…nice small town, very clean, and great state park. I highly recommend stopping here to check the place out!
