As a prologue to RAWROD, chris and I took a couple days off to try the trails in Fruita, CO. We had heard that it was worth the extra miles past Moab. I would say comparing Moab to Fruita is like comparing apples to oranges. They are really quite different.
We rolled into town and found a bike shop which was pretty easy. They have two that we found right off the bat. We stopped and asked where we should ride. They suggested Mary's Loop off the Kokepelli Trail Head and then the trails off 18 road. We started at KT. We were a little confused at first and started off with Rustler. It was a quick 4 miles or so. This little practice loop was a good warm up. After we got our bearings we started down Mary's. It was fun. We climbed down to HorseThief and rode that. We also did Steve's Loop. We came back on Moore Fun Trail. I did not think this was very well named. Maybe it was because I was tired by this time, but I could not ride very much of this section at all. Compared to the rest of the riding my skill level was sub par.
It was the Fat Tire Festival this weekend, so we spent a some time in town walking around talking to vendors. Chris found a three speed electric auto bike that he really liked from Trek, the Lime. We got to see Mavic's new 29 inch wheels. We also spoke to DT Swiss about single eyelet rims. Fruita was really cute too. It seemed very bike friendly and creative.There was also a bit of dinosaur theme to the town. Here these two themes were combined with a dinosaur bike rack. This is Mike the Headless Chicken. I didn't really get it but thought is was cool none the less. Mike is madeup of old parts of anything metal from scissors to spark plugs. Mike has his own website too.
18 Road is an entire network of hard packed trails. It was smooth and you could just roll. We started off on Zippity do dah. This trail had some of the steepest descents, but traction was not an issue at all. It was more intimidating than technical. We rode chutes and ladders which we liked more and actually did twice. We came down kessler inbetween the two runs though. I think Kessler was my favorite. Chris did not pedal once coming down it. It was a blast. I think I liked it best because I am lazy and my legs did not feel good once last week. I am not sure but I figure it is because I got sick last weekend. I am hoping anyway.