Fruita, usa trail report for April 6, 2010

Jen and i did a couple of rides today, total about 5 hours in the saddle. the trail conditions lately have been superb, so there is little new to report on that front.

the atmospheric conditions, however, have been quite heinous.

here in the greater Fruita area, we managed to avoid being "blessed" with the latest round of Colorado spring pow that has blanketed the mountains again. the wind has been snappin', though. monday was a "red flag" day, with gusts rising above 60 km/hr at times. we opted for a "rest day" and got a lot of things done around the house.
things quieted down a bit in the afternoon today, so we ventured forth to Rabbit Valley for a bit of recon on the Kokopelli's. the wind has done a good bit of filling parts of the trails with nice, loose sand, but at least it isn't the moto-churned moon dust that will undoubtedly re-appear once things have dried out a bit more and the mechanized hordes make their return for the season.

being as my trusty singlespeed had suffered a flat on Zippity on sunday, i opted to put off the repair and "test ride" one of the many premium steeds that have been arriving at the shop lately:


Turner 5-spot. braaaaap!


that much suspension travel requires an entierely new fashion diktat: vintage wool & baggies. i call my new-for-spring camouflage "juniper berry" for its green, brown and blue colorways. it just disappears into the desert...

here's what it looks like all put together and in action (double click the image and it will open a new full size window from youtube. sorry about the grainy image quality, we haven't calibrated the setting on the new camera yet.)

Jen, fashionable as always, rocks some rocks on trail #2



scenic overlook above the Colorado river



lots of wide-open views out here. Jen grinds up a short climb



scenery straight out of an old Gene Autry movie




evening brings another opportunity to ride with friends. we met up with Derek and Shaun to do some hot laps at the Loma area after the man in the black golf slacks got off work.


i never get tired of looking at this sort of thing: the view east towards the Grand Mesa from on top of Mary's



riding with friends usually means that we ride friendly. there's time to talk a bit, take in the sunset colors, and get a snack.

then we hammer.



tonight we took it easy and portaged down the Horsethief entrance instead of riding it. actually, Derek is the only one in the bunch of us who has actually cleaned this entire section. maybe next time i will keep the Turner for the evening session and give it a go. maybe.



kind of blurry, but i like this image anyway because of the light.


repairing a puncture slows the pace a bit on Horsethief bench. another opporunity to take in some nice evening scenery


fading daylight means time to hi-tail it to Munchie's in Fruita, USA for some tasty burgers and a milkshake. we definitely earned the calories today.

fade to black under the junipers and sandstone cliffs. Shaun bringin' it home for the evening (but still looking foward to the climb up the portage followed by the night ride down the Mary's slickrock)