Grand Junction Mt. Bike Trails

Mountain biking in Grand Junction. WHOA! Ryan said they were some of the best trails he has ridden within the last few years. Here is his review of the trails:

“With a mixture of spectacular views, challenging downhills and extremely flowing trails – Grand Junctions trails rival some of the best in the world. I started going up the main trail, 1,000 vertical feet, and connected to Eagle’s Wing trail which overhangs cliffs and a great view of the valley below. Too bad I couldn’t look that much because focus was required for the technical downhill. From here I followed this back to the main trail and crossed over to continue onto Holy Cross trail – which the local informed us is seen in many magazines – I can tell why because it meanders through giant boulders with tight rock paved downhills that produce a flowing feel. There were many options; from rocks to jump over and berms to rail. This trail winded up with some mellow turns over the mesas back into the parking lot.”

Why not K 3/5 Road ?

From here we packed up the car and headed off to Fruita. Due to eery looking weather and still being tired we decided to do another round of disc golf. The Fruita course was much shorter, only 9 holes, and challenging because we had to search to find each hole.

We then headed to Moab the 100 mile trip was not without its excitements. We stopped at the border of Utah to take some pictures and a historic site with dinosaur fossils Both were pretty fun and made the trip much more enjoyable. When we were almost to Moab we had to make one more stop at a giant sand hill which we climbed up and ran down. After several falls we were covered with sand and at the bottom of the hill. We shock off like wet dogs got back in our mobile home and headed the last few miles to Moab.

Dinosaur Imprints

In Moab we quickly found a campsite along the river which we claimed and then headed into to to get some dinner. We landed upon a place called Zax. were we ordered the pizza buffet. As we sat there gorging on pizza we couldn’t help but see from the patio all the cars go by and be jealous. Jealous of it all, one car would pass full of bikes while the next was fully loaded with rafts and kayaks.

we officially smell and need showers

We left dinner feeling several pounds heavier then when we started and headed to the local laundry mat. This is were we sit now watching our clothes go around and keeping you all up to date and worry free. After this we plan on heading back to camp and falling asleep next to the campfire. We will wake up early to rock climb, followed by a long road ride through Arches National Park. Can’t wait!

o we did skip a day (or two) on the blog. I apologize about that. The weather so far has not been the greatest. We stayed the night at the Holiday Inn Monday because I have an ear infection (yuck!!) and frankly, I was not up for sleeping in the car. Thanks Mom and Dad for making the hotel possible!

Tuesday was filled with on and off showers of rain/snow and some gusty winds. It was pretty chilly ( at least for me – I think Ryan was more okay with it than I was) and somewhat frustrating. But we definitely didn’t let the weather stop us from getting out and having fun. We found an 18 hole frisbee golf course in Grand Junction and spent a couple hours playing that. The course was a little over two miles and set back in a desert like area. Ryan and I were pretty neck in neck score wise until about hole 11, then he totally kicked my butt from there!

After that we drove up to Colorado National Monument, which was gorgeous! There is a nice 23 mile loop to ride all around the park with a climb of around 2,300 feet. It looked like so much fun! Most of the climbing was right off the bat and with the way I was feeling it seemed a bit too much. Ryan drove us up past the hardest of the climbing and we pulled over where it started to flatten out more. From there we rode our road bikes across most of the top portion of the monument.

It was absolutely beautiful and so much better to ride through it on a bike instead of driving. I was feeling pretty fatigued so we turned around before we reached the bottom. Unfortunately I have been lacking a lot of energy and find it hard to keep going for too long without feeling light headed. Ryan rode all the way down to the bottom and I drove the car down. I was happy he kept riding. I don’t like to take away from his training time.

After our ride we took off to find some mountain bike trails. We stopped on the side of the road at an intersection, looking like total tourists, with out big maps out trying to figure out where the heck we were headed, when a local pulled up and asked if we needed help. Fortunately enough, he must’ve known we were looking for trails because he was headed to the exact place we were trying to find. We followed him to a set of trails (and I don’t know the names – I will have to ask Ryan) and he gave Ryan some good loops and figure eight paths to do. I could tell Ryan was pretty excited to get out on the trails, but it was getting late so he decided to do them the next morning. Our stomachs were growling so we found a Famous Dave’s BBQ and settled in there. We had a very filling and tasty dinner there – with plenty of leftovers to feed us for the rest of the trip!

So that basically leads us up to now – I am at the hotel trying to rest up and Ryan went out early this morning to hit up those mt. bike trails. The weather is chilly and cloudy once again. We will head to Fruita this afternoon to do more trails. Then it is on to Moab!

It was a long day. We made it to Copper and skied for a couple hours. It was slush all over. Not the greatest skiing conditions but we made due… by playing in the Woodward Kidz Park with the six year old Bro-Bras!

My ski boots made my feet hurt yet again so I took it pretty easy. Ryan on the other hand dropped his first cliff, it was small one, but you have to start somewhere. We left Copper after basking in the sun in some big lawn chairs. It was nice – the sun felt good.

We hit the road towards Glenwood Springs but had a sudden impulse to check out a cave near Eagle CO. After reading through our Caves of Colorado book and a website on my phone we thought we knew the way to Fulford Cave…but it took some work. After getting to Eagle it took us about an hour to get to Yeoman Park. (which isn’t even where the cave is located) The drive through the mountains to Yeoman Park was beautiful.

Aspens lined the dirt road and a large creek ran along with beaver dams scattered throughout. Once we discovered the snow was too deep we had to turn back because there was not access to the cave at this time. We declared to come back in the summer months once the snow has subsided.
We headed back down the winding road to eagle and beyond (Glenwood Springs). Upon arriving into Glenwood Springs we could see all the pools of steaming water (the hot springs) We bypassed them for the moment. We went over to the main street and strolled up and down like tourists looking for a place to eat. We ended up at an Italian restaurant called ( agh crap we forgot name) but lucky for them because the service was ungodly slow and the food was average, but oh well we were hungry. After this we headed out to our camp ground.

At the campground we hurriedly moved our gear from the back to the front seats as the rain started to fall. We made our bed which resembled a 2 person wide bunk bed with about 2 feet of clearance between the bed and roof of the car. We stayed up for a bit working on the blog and talking about tomorrow We Finally dosed off and awoke several times during the night because of the pounding rain or fierce winds.

In the morning we did our same routine again-  we moved gear into the back again and set off for the nearest coffee shop where we set up our operations to plan our days activities. After much discussion we finally decided to attempt Hubbard Cave about 13 miles away. Then we plan to visit some hot spring later tonight. Ok we are off– More later

Last night I spent a couple hours packing because I had been putting it off all week. I really don’t like packing… I stress myself out making sure I have enough stuff and end up overpacking! Anyways though, Ryan and I met up at 8:30 am to start getting stuff packed up. His 4Runner is literally packed to the max! We have four bikes, two sets of skis, four plastic boxes, around a thousand duffel bags and only one pair of socks…

As we were leaving my apartment we found a nice cardboard hobo sign on the ground in the middle of the road… Ryan insisted on picking it up and hanging it in the back passenger window. So now as we pass people on I-70 they will not only think we are on a road trip, but also homeless. The sign says: “Need Help to Feed Me – God Bless” We ran to Home Depot and Whole Foods. Ryan munched down on some maple pecan granola and Brown Cow yogurt. Food wise -  Friday I baked some vegan apple cinnamon mini muffins, banana bread and protein bars to have on hand for snacks. Spending money on gas station snacks add up fast, and they usually are pretty unhealthy!

We are heading to Copper to ski – in 60 degree weather – Ryan says it is comparable to skiing back home in California. After skiing we will go to Glenwood Springs for the night. This first day will be interesting as we figure out how we sleep and keep everything organized.