This little yarn starts with four riders wanting to ride in the four-corner states. So these four road-trip-acting fellows headed out of the Sooner-state in search of some serious-acting-singletrack.

This ride was not single-track- but we got over that fact in a hurry. It turned out to be great 2-track with, nice views of scree fields, lava-flows and slick rock to park and play on.

We were riding the Rainbow Rim Trail with beautiful views on vistas overlooking the Grand Canyon - “WOW”. We rode into the sunset like old west cowboys and then finished with our night-lights; that was “tight”. The Rainbow Rim Trail is just getting better, better with age. This trail has nice flow and good contour with doable climbs and screaming downs with out a lot of hard braking. The views of the canyon demand attention. “A MUST DO TRAIL”.

You guessed it, A CLIMB, 41/2-mile climb on the Bear-Claw-Poppy Trail. This ride was more than a little warm, 103 degrees (it’s a dry heat, hehe). We pedaled to the top making a U-turn for the descent! We grinded our way through a sandy wash keeping our awareness for a hill called Clavicle. We “cleaned” Clavicle - the right side screamed - YEAH! My scream, was drown out by the whine of my tires down this fast hard-pack-tire-candy with twists, g-outs, and jumps!!

Gooseberry Mesa Trail. This trail is very difficult for me to put into words that would do justice. Unless, You, have had the privilege to ride here. This trail is one of my all time fav’s. Our theme for the day was to ride, crash and laugh (over and over). Again it was oven like, I guessed it kept other people away. We were the only people up on this huge mesa; I was left with a feeling that we owned the Mesa for a day. We had ownership of the BEST BIKE PLAYGROUND IN THE WORLD. This playground is full of rollers, ledge-moves, g-outs, and built-in intense little climbs on 70% slickrock. If You like technical, YOU WILL GO CRAZY FOR THIS TRAIL! Quit reading and go call the Boss for some vacation time and GO RIDE IT!!!

Thunder Mountain. The ride started with, You guessed it, another CLIMB. The Crew ascended Seven-mile climb up to the TM trailhead. This Western State was awful dry. The soft and sandy sections slowed our climb out onto the pinkish-red colored trail that made it such a beautiful ride. We balanced our bike’s, on the spine ridges overlooking the Hoodoos. The TM trail was a bit of work but well worth it, for the views alone! Close to the end of the ride, Thunder Mountain had some vicious switchbacks and one sweet downhill-I think this was the best downhill of the trip. The right-side screams louder-YEAH!!

The Kokopelli’s area. I think Fruita has become one of the best mountain-bike destinations in the US. We climbed over a hogback, headed up Mary’s loop, and rode to a rough technical downhill section called the ‘driveway’- the local’s brag about cleaning it. I gave into my modesty about half way down and decided I was to heavy for anyone to carry out. The driveway spits what’s left of riders onto Horsethief Bench Loop. The Horsethief Loop is a four-mile-ride - a little technical. This trail is surrounded by mesa’s and views of the Colorado river. We rode in creek washes and on slabs of slickrock. This little loop has a bit of everything except big climbs. We rode it twice, first lap in the rain, the second lap we got dry and then headed for the barn and a cold one!

This ride started a big question mark ‘?’. The rain had finally caught us and we were on the run. Down I-70 East (one of the most scenic interstates I have ever seen) we were on the move noticing that the rain was letting up. Off to the right a Rainbow was forming - like a box of ‘Lucky Charms’ but instead of the little green dude with a bowl of cereal we spotted the town of Vail with ski lifts. We plunked down the green stuff for a lift ticket and boarded a new high-speed Gondola. To the top we went. This turned into four trips on the lift and 23-miles down the mountain. Our arms and quads were on fire, small trade-off, to sample trails like Escape6, Bad Simba, and the Double Black Downhill. Right side screaming again! - Life was very good.

I would like to finish with saying that I feel blessed to have such a good experience on this trip and want to thank my beautiful wife for the kitchen pass! Thanks Ron, Ward and TJ for being partners in such a big ride!, through this beautiful Country, We call home!

The Lava Dance

Sunset

THE END