Days 9-10: the trip ends, the backlog begins.

So I just dropped Jeff off at the Las Vegas Airport, which unfortunately brings our trip to an end. Or rather, it brings Jeff’s trip to an end. Since I don’t have a job yet I get to keep driving up to Oregon. But either way, it’s sad that the tomfoolery had to come to a close.

We’re pretty far behind in blogging the trip, and I’m way too tired to do it all tonight. So this is just Days 9 and 10 for now.

Day 9: Fruity for Fruita

After leaving Peach Valley, Jeff and I drove to Fruita. Since it was too hot to ride when we first got there, we hit up the local dinosaur museum, complete with fossils, moving dinosaur displays, and an earthquake simulator with shaking floor. See below. It was pretty much awesome.

EARTHQUAKE!!!

After the museum we headed out to the Kokopelli trail area outside of Fruita, rode Mary’s Loop, the Horsethief Branch Trail, Steve’s loop, and Moore Fun, plus a few others. Horsethief and Moore Fun brought some of the best riding so far on the trip, combining some fast and flowy singletrack with bits of slickrock and a few hairy technical sections, particularly on Moore Fun. Also, the ride brought some great scenery as a lot of the trail mileage hugged a canyon edge overlooking the Colorado River.

View on the Horsethief Branch Trail

Jeff on top of Moore Fun

Then we headed up to the Road 18 area to camp out. It was in the middle of nowhere, and the 10 or so miles of poorly maintained dirt roads were probably not so good for the trusty Chevy Prism. We set up camp, made a lovely meal of Kraft Mac and Cheese, Hot Dogs, and New Belgium beer, then passed out to a clear night sky with some shooting stars. If it weren’t for the mac and cheese it would sound kinda romantic.

Day 10: Road 18 riding and bad hippy guitar in Moab

Woke up, took down the tent, and headed out riding more-or-less from the same place we camped. The trails around Road 18 were fast, but with the exception of Zippety-Doo-Dah, were kinda boring. Zippety was pretty sweet though. Also, it was our first day of riding when it was truly hot as balls. I ran out of water with a couple of miles to go, and both of us were hurting by the end.

Zippety Doo-Dah

After Road 18 we headed into town for lunch at the Hot Tomato pizza parlor (had lunch there the day before too, and it’s great), then drove to Grand Junction with the hope of doing some more riding. Except it was 102 degrees, and there was no shade on the ride, so we drove through Colorado National Monument instead, which had some breathtaking views, plus one badass guy with a mohawk, lots of tattoos, blue flame shirt, and a moped.

Jeff in Colorado National Monument

That evening we drove to Moab, Utah, via route 128, a sweet drive weaving along the Colorado River, and checked into our room at the Lazy Lizard hostel, and went for a run/hike up the Hidden Valley trail to a hidden valley. Came back to the hostel to find one guy playing bad guitar and another girl playing bad mandolin in a poor rendition of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” We showered and fled those poor excuses for hippies like wildfire to grab some Mexican food for dinner. Then we passed out so we could ride the Slickrock trail the next day.

The Prism posing for a glamour shot on the drive to Moab

The Hidden Valley

More to come...

-Kevin