Day 19 - Fruita

Kokopelli trails (Rustlers, Horsethief, Marys, Steves, Lions, Troy Built trails) & 18rd trails (Prime Cut, Chutes & ladders, Front side, Zipperty do da, Kessel Run, Joes Ridge) - (Fruita, Colorado)

 

Had a good breakfast at the Hotel, and then drove over to the Kokopelli's loops. Met a guy with an Epiphany at the car park who showed me his replacement swing arm, as he'd cracked his previous one. It was quite hot even first thing in the morning, I headed off and rode round the Rustlers Loop , and easy but fun singletrack loop.

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Even though the Rustlers loop is the easiest one, its still challenging if you ride fast.

From rustlers I rode up Mary's loop trail, a double track with a singletrack line.

I did the hike a bike down to Horse thief Bench Loop and then rode round the loop.

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Horse thief bench loop trail, has great view of the river, and plenty of little ledges and drops.

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After having a good run around the loop I climbed back up to Mary's and headed on over to Steve's Loop.

After a little gate Mary's trail turns into nice singletrack which contours along above the river.

I rode around steve's loop and then back up to the Lions Loop.

The lions trail had a lot of climbing, with some downhill and technical bits thrown in, It was very hot by this point in the ride.

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The climb up to the start of Troy Built along lions loop was brutal in the heat and strong sun, and I had to seek shelter behind rocks as I cycled up, several times to cool down. I had not filled my camalbak up with enough water and was running low, but decided to head along Troy built anyway as I knew it was a fun trail.

I Stopped to shelter behind bushes several times as I rode along Troy built to cool down, but the trail was worth the discomfort.

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I finally ran out of water as I dropped onto the dirt road, so I scrubbed my plan of riding up Mack ridge and cycled back along the road to the SUV. I saw Prairie dogs as I rode along. I wish I'd loaded up more fluids before starting the ride so I could have ridden more of the trails. In total I rode about 26.5 miles on this ride.

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At the trail head car park I met another solo rider, and we both headed off up Prime cut to ride Chutes and ladders. All the chocolate milk I'd drunk weighed heavily on my stomach, plus he was a single speeder which meant I had to ride faster than I would normally have wanted to. The trail was good to ride though, with the fast ride back through the fields a hoot.

As the sun went down the temperature got more reasonable, I didn't get too many chance's to take photos as the other rider was in a hurry to get back to his car , so he could set up camp.

Back at the car park I put my lights on my bike and helmet and then set off up 18 road to go and ride Front side to to Zipperty do da.

Riding down Zipperty in the dark was very different to doing it in the day. It was an amazing clear night and you could clearly see the Milky way.

I cut across to Joe's cut and rode back up 18 road and then down Kessel Run, which was great in the dark with all its little ups and downs and bearmed corners. The I rode back up and went down Joe's Ridge.

I got very spooked riding along joe's ridge when I saw what looked like a juvenile cougar running across the trail in front of me, so I speeded up and decided to head back for the car, in case there was bigger cat out there looking for dinner. After packing up my bike I felt safe in the car park so did some start gazing. In total I'd ridden about 17 miles on the 18 road trails.

Email me for garmin GDB file

I drove back to Grand Junction, as it was late i went to a Safeway and bought my self some salad and other stuff and ate in my room. Before going to bed.