Apr 27 2006
Biking in Fruita, Colorado
RonK and I spent a long weekend on the western slope, biking in Fruita, Colorado with Team Big Butt. TBB, if you're wondering, is a group of fantastically kind and welcoming guys that bike all over the state. And they're good bikers, too.
Ron's back was really bothering him, so a typical conversation this weekend went something like this:
Mike: "Hey, Ron. How you feelin'?"
Ron: "I think I'm good. Really good, in fact. A little tight, but OH, MY GOD! OH!!! OH!!! OH, GOD THAT HURTS! OH, MAN. OH, CHRIST, KILL ME NOW! PLEASE! OOOOOOOOH!"
Mike: "Ah. Much better than yesterday, I see."
He made it through the entire weekend though. What a trooper.
The trip started at 7:00 a.m. on Friday at Ron's house where we packed up the car and hit the road. We met some of TBB at John's house, then started the drive to Fruita around 9:00. We arrived at the campsite at 2:00 and quickly got the bikes ready for a couple trips around the lake. There was only one technical part of that ride, a steep hill with really soft dirt and a quick corner at the bottom. And of course, Ron and I both ate dirt and acquired matching scrapes on our legs. We ended the day after 12 miles and only a few scrapes and bruises. Not a bad way to start the weekend.
Saturday was the big ride for me and Ron. We started with Horsethief Loop. I'm telling ya, if you ever have a chance to make it out to Fruita, you must ride this trail. It's 8 miles of technically challenging (but rideable) singletrack. The trail winds it's way through the red cliffs and canyons of western Colorado and the Colorado River. We still had a little ride left in us after Horsethief, so we finished the day with the 4 mile Rustler's Loop, a beginner's singletrack with some nice climbs and super fun rolling, winding singletrack at the end.I somehow missed the ride on Sunday, maybe because I slept late or maybe because TBB left early. Regardless, the guys were getting ready to leave when I was just getting hydrated and fed, and I didn't think that I was going to be able to survive the Book Cliffs ride they had planned without appropriate preparation. Too bad, too. I was amped to get back out there. So, I lounged around the campsite all day, caught up on some reading and rode around the lake a bit.
Ron and I headed back Sunday night since he was hurting and I was looking forward to having an entire Monday to myself. On the way back, Ron ran over a couple shredded tires in the road and caused quite a ruckus (yeah… I said ruckus). It scared the piss out of us and did some damage to his new car. Like every other day on the trip, it ended with a few scrapes and bruises (this time for the car), but everyone survived.