The Dao of Fruita Tom

" Its all about eating food, riding bikes, drinking beer and other things...

That's what we love about Fruita! "

Two dirt days in Moab

Moab in the Morning, a photo by ~gomez~ on Flickr.

With the rain in Fruita, Boo decided we should go get us some wheels and head to Moab for a little ride action. So I scored me some hot mini-van crossover chebbrolet and drove to the gatlinburg of the high dessert.....Moab Utah. Not having planned, much, i decided to head up sand flats road and ride the now legendary Slickrock Trail. The last time I rode it was over 20 years ago and I was riding a rigid Klein. I knew the trail was demanding, but i thought what the hell. Right out of the box, I endo'd on a short step up by mistiming my manual. I landed in a hand-stand and then pushed off and back onto my feet. Swell...this should be interesting. Well after the first few climbs and associated panting it started to sprinkle rain. After the next few rest stops it started to rain pretty steady. Slickrock has awesome traction till it gets wet.....and then it lives up to its name. I stopped and put on arm warmers and a vest. The climbs were just handing me my own ass and I was riding cautiouslywhich didn't help out the the old 'mo'. A whee little racer girl passed me and danced up an impossible slab of rock.....uhhh! The photo opportunities hower were incredible.

The next day I wanted to find something easier, so I hit the internets and found a ride that they said kids could do....but that plenty of slickrock playgrounds for bigger kids. An 8 mile loop with spurs of easy rated singletrack.....with names like E-Z and Lazy! Woot! Windy and cold, but with pure blue sky contarted with brite white clouds and even some nasty black clouds near the end....but I didn't get rained on, for once.

Well enough of Moab.....lets get back to Fruita!

Ride Fruita

My favorite ride in Fruita is out on 18 road. Ride up Prime Cut and then hit Joe's Ridge down to Kessel Run and back to Tom's Jeep. Pure mountain bike bliss...even the climb up Prime Cut felt good on this April Thursday afternoon. The desert is in (full) spring mini-purple flower bloom. The path is familiar, yet the memory is a bit blurry. The parking lot seemed crowded, and yet, the trails are not, so....though we do come across a few other riders that we share laughs with at the road crossings out on PC. What a playground....made just for us*.

We've been getting some rain since my first ride, so things have gotten a bit depressing. They tell me that Horsethief Bench turns into a traction sweet chewiness dream-scape the day after it rains and that's all I have to get me through an Easter High Holiday, where I got soaked, while doing some grocery getting on Tom's ASC^ cruiser.

*the MTB Tribe

^Aspen Street Coffee

Fruita the Journey and Getting Settled

Is it good luck when a wild turkey lurks around your house at the beginning of a journey? I'm going to take it as a sign of good fortune for my visit to the Colorado Plateau....specifically, Fruita, Colorado.

This was to be my first train trip out west. Jumped on Metra into Union Station and then waited for our Amtrak train to show up (about an hour late). The first twenty hours went by with little discomfort or trepedation, but as we got closer to our destination, i think I was ready not to be cooped up. Tom picked me up and we soon landed at the Hot Tomato for good beer and laughing with friends.

I'm living at Tom and Noah's house in the (infamous) Fish Bowl. A well appointed tool shed with everything but running water. Day two in Fruita would be all about easing into spring training camp. I unpacked my bike and put it back into riding order. I could tell right away that the rear disc brake was fleuggered, so I rode it up to Over the Edge and after some logistical gymnastics got it straightened out and ready for some singletrack cruising, grunting, sweaty good times.

Tommy and I spent the afternoon hanging out on the patio with a case of Session Lager waiting for my bike to get fixed. It was a beautiful warm sunny afternoon. We went to see Michelle's daughter sing in a play at her school. It was all about the great state of Colorado and .....as it should be....the seats hurt my butt.

So now you're caught up to Friday morning at the coffee shop, blogg'n and coughing (I still have a lung full of gnomes). Today we ride and stuff.

Hump-Day ({[Date-Nite]}) Trail Opening Ride Report

Maybe as many as 20 fun-seekers came out and rode the S.Kettle Muir loops, ala choy. We were all jealous of Julio's new team evil honkey threads. We had trail runners, grommets and three trail stewards from across the state. We rode en'mass out to downtown, where with enough coaxing the speedier gents took the lead and the rest of the rabble broke into smaller groups....fanning out to seek bike funski's throughout the Muir system. At the end of the ride Vinny warned us that someone had crashed and broken their arm and that the paramedics could be up ahead on an ATV. The real story of how the rider sustained multiple bone fractures sounds like the Kettle Gnomes are setting some diabolical traps out on the Squirrel Loop. So the dude gets a little off the trail and clips a small tree that is holding up a bigger tree that has fallen. The larger tree falls and knocks the guy off his bike, pinning his arm between his frame and the ground. According to an eyewitness account the dude's arm looked like the letter W. The Bike Patrol led the paramedics to the guy and they evac'd him out of there to the hospital. So we had emergency disco lights for most of our post-ride celebration. Kenny had the coals going by the time I got back to the car and Butch took charge of the campfire just as the moon rose on a gloriously warm and wonderful spring evening. We barbequed up some dinner and laughed our asses off.....so just like old times. Thanks to everyone that helped. It was great to see the tribe again! I think this is going to be a great year!

and the weather's good!

Lungday Adventure

Lungday Adventure, a photo by ~gomez~ on Flickr.

After a week of coughing my fool head off, I tested the ole'lungs out and took the pugz out for a little lungventure ride. Trails are ready to go......it rained last night and they're already dry enough to ride.....yesterday at the kettle trail work event, there were tons of worms in the soil.....but who knows when they'll decide to open them.....and basically, who cares, cuz I'm going to fruita.