After some epic rides in the Springs, it was time to pack up the car and start the real adventure. I crammed all of my stuff into the van and we headed north to do one of Neil's favorite rides in Golden back from when he was in college. Even though I've spent plenty of time in Colorado at this point, I still sometimes go on a ride that totally blows my mind. Golden Gate Canyon was absolutely one of these rides.
From the trail head, we climbed up a rock and root covered slope that quickly sucked away all of our energy. The slope and difficulty of the trail were challenging enough, but the elevation zapped our power, making the ascent all the more difficult. Even though I had spent most of a year at 6000 feet, these trails peaked at nearly 10,000 feet, and I could feel it. At least I wasn't at sea level a few days ago like Neil...
When we got to the top of our climb, we crossed over a ridge to the shadowed face of the mountain and were met with a snowy descent through the forest. The late season snow from the previous weekend had melted away in town and on most of the trails, but at this higher elevation and in the shade of the trees, some snow was still present. I was initially disappointed that we couldn't shred the descent at full speed, but sliding down the trail over wet, slushy rocks and roots proved to be very challenging - not to mention ample entertainment.
As we got down to lower elevation, the snow disappeared, and the trail got fast and flowy, with plenty of line options over the rocks and roots. Neil and I love riding all kinds of trails, but we agreed that plunging through the aspens and evergreens of Colorado at high speed is one of the best feelings you can get on a bike. In addition, the sheer amount of vertical that this ride offered was incredible. Maybe I should be used to the massive scale of the Rocky Mountains at this point, but I guess I'm still a California kid who gets blown away by real mountains.
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| Neil going off the rock drop at the entrance to Free Lunch trail in Grand Junction |
After our ride - and a quick food stop - we headed west on I70 towards Colorado's Western Slope to ride in Grand Junction and Fruita. We made a quick stop along the way in Vail to meet with a customer and discuss the final details of his upcoming bike build, then continued on to Glenwood Springs for the night. We hit the road the next morning and headed to the Lunch Loops trails -- Grand Junction's most technical riding spot.
Both of us were pretty worn out from the last few days of riding in Colorado Springs and Golden, so the climb took longer than expected. However, we quickly forgot about the pain in our legs when we hit Free Lunch Trail - the most technically challenging trail in the area - distracted by the more pressing issues of choosing a line through steep rock gardens, boosting takeoffs, and sighting landings.
I had last ridden the Free Lunch trail on a trip in October and had finally felt like I was truly pushing my Ventana Zeus to its limits. Neil had also ridden it once, on a trip out in March, but this was the first time we would ride it together. As we charged down the run and connected into the Pucker Up freeride trail, I rode lines and hit drops I wouldn't have gone for just a few months earlier. Either I had grown more comfortable with aggressive terrain, or I was just so brain-dead from the last few days that my self-preservation instincts didn't work anymore. Regardless, we were both wearing huge smiles on our faces at the bottom. The excitement gave us the motivation to slowly climb back to the top once more for a run down Eagle's Wing before calling it a day.
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We slept in Grand Junction that night and went to the Kokopelli area the next morning. This area offers a lot of fun riding, but Neil had just one plan for the ride – cleaning the Horsethief drop-in. For those who haven't been to Horsethief, the drop-in is a couple hundred-foot descent down the side of a mesa that is made up of rock ledges that gradually turn into a mess of giant rock slabs the farther down you get. It's a high-consequence puzzle that has injured many and been conquered by few. Neil had first come here about 15 years ago and got stuck about 3/4 of the way down with what seemed like no line choice except hucking off a 3-4 foot ledge to a short landing before another similar ledge, which was more than he was comfortable attempting. Despite hearing tales of riders making it through the lower section successfully, on a few subsequent trips during the intervening years, he had still not been able to figure out a comfortable line.
Today, however, was different, and we set out to finally get it done aboard his Oxide Battleaxe. Neil had come across several videos recently showing people riding through the final sections with relative ease - and on much less capable bikes than the Battleaxe. We also stopped in to visit local rider Mike Curiak, who has ridden the drop in plenty of times, and discuss the various line options. Between memories of the trail, video footage, and verbal discussion, Neil had a good idea of where he wanted to put his wheels.
We arrived at the top of the drop in, rode the upper sections as Neil had always done previously, then stopped at the critical spot to scout the line choices. Once Neil was confident with his path through the rock slabs, he went for it, cleaning it with no issue. Only later did he realize that his fork was in its short-travel setting. I was amazed that he made it look so smooth, even with this accidental handicap.
After Neil's success with the drop-in, we rode the Horsethief Bench loop, trying to get sideways on some of Fruita's classic flowing turns, then headed back to the car for a short day to leg our legs recover. Satisfied with our time in Colorado, it was time to cross over into Utah and stay in Moab for the night.
The next morning, we hopped on a shuttle to do a run down a large portion of the Whole Enchilada, which feeds into Moab's famed Porcupine Rim trail. We went into the ride stoked for some high-speed slickrock riding, but a massive headwind down the entire descent zapped much of our speed and energy. It was quite disappointing to be hitting one of the best descents in the area but not enjoying the ride as much we should have. Not every ride can have perfect conditions though. Although we had planned to hit Rockstacker, Captain Ahab, and a few other trails in the Amasa zone, we opted to rest more and drive out to Virgin that afternoon.
The next day, we tackled Grafton Mesa, which is a rugged downhill run just outside the Western entrance to Zion National Park. I rode this trail for the first time during my Spring Break this year and loved how aggressive and relentless it was. As one of the first downhill trails in the area, it helped push the progression of mountain biking in Utah that has ultimately led to the extreme riding found at the Redbull Rampage. Most riders shuttle this run, but with only the two of us, we decided it made more sense to pedal up the dirt road that heads up the back side of the mesa. At the top, we hit some fun technical trails to get warmed up before starting the main descent. We charged down the run, but it seemed that the fatigue from all the previous riding on the trip was taking a toll on us and kept us from loosening up and riding as aggressively as we wanted. The steepness of the trail and size of the rocks definitely challenged our 160mm bikes and required a high level of concentration.
In the afternoon, we drove out to Saint George to hit the slightly more mellow Zen trail. Zen trail has plenty of technical features to keep you on your toes, but it's fast and flowy enough to ride playfully, especially compared to Grafton Mesa. We had a super fun run down this trail, hopping off the various rocks and ledges for a great end to the day. This is a definitely a must-ride when passing through Southwest Utah!
Stay tuned for the fourth and final installment of our road trip, which covers our rides in Nevada and California before returning home.
-Xan
We'd love to hear stories and see pictures of your Rohloff and Schlumpf equipped bikes in action! Send them to adventures@cyclemonkey.com
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