Me like pain. ;)

What better way to follow an epic ride with lots of climbing than with an epic ride with even more climbing?

Since we lost almost a full day to the rain, we had to cram a little extra in towards the end of our stay in Fruita. This turned out to be one of those classic “Pete” rides that Jason makes fun of, but really enjoys. The idea is that we start with one trail and if we feel good, we go onto the next. If we feel good after that, we do another. The Kokopelli trail area has enough variety and places to bail out that you can really do that ride well. 33 miles and over 4000 feet of climbing later, we finished out the ride.

We started with a warm-up loop on Rustlers. This loop is a good, mellow and scenic ride that lets you get your legs and arms loose. After the riding yesterday, my arms needed it more than anything.

Moore Fun was next up. I think this was the ride that Jason was looking forward to more than anything we’d ridden so far. He’d heard so many good things about it and read a lot too. The lower part of the east side is pretty tough this early in the ride. Neither of us had fully warmed up and we were not really riding at our best yet. We walked a few of the rock moves and climbed quite a few too. It was really fun.

By the time we got towards the top, the riding skills were coming back to us. We topped out the first climb and snapped a few photos. There is a ¾ mile traverse between the first peak and the second. On the way there, I climbed up on some rocks and snapped a few photos looking down on Jason as he rode by. I thought about dropping a rock on his head, but I decided against it.

Then the fun began. The descent on Moore Fun is uhhhmmmm more fun than the climb. We had a blast on the rocks and switchbacks. There were some big ones we walked towards the bottom, but I rode a lot more this year than I did last.

Next up was Mack Ridge. There were more rocks and trials moves on that climb, though it is a little easier than Moore Fun. The view from the top was amazing. The descent was great, though not at all technical.

We both started to feel the miles a little at the bottom of Troybuilt. It took a little while to get used to climbing again. Jason did better than I did. I’d bruised my upper arm yesterday and it wasn’t working as well as I’d have liked. It was still good, but I wasn’t keeping up as well as I had in the past. The last climb to Lions loop was really tough. It was pretty loose and steep, so it was hard to keep a rhythm going.

The first part of Lions loop SUCKED! It had been torn up by 4 wheelers and cows after the rain and it was jackhammering me since I was riding the 0” suspension forks. Lyons would have been fun if it hadn’t been so chewed up.

Upper Handcuffs was the same way. We ended up riding for almost 5 miles on rock hard trails that were rough as heck. My arms were killing me. We pushed on and really enjoyed the rest of Handcuffs. The views from the edge of the cliffs are amazing on that ride.


Climbing up to Mary’s loop was another tough one, but really fun. By this time we’d been riding for 27 miles or so. We were running low on water and were ready for a break. Mary’s gave us that opportunity. It didn’t have much climbing and there was a lot of smooth singletrack to roll through.

Horsethief was last on the menu for the day. We’d ridden it twice earlier in the week, but wanted to ride all the trails at Kokopelli if we could. We were completely out of water by this time, but it was only a 4 mile loop. It was a blast and definitely a good way to close out the ride.

Riding down Mary’s and back over the ridge to the car was much welcomed. Oddly enough, my legs felt great. It was my arms that were hurting badly.

After all that, we went to Chic-Fil-A for pre-dinner, then Texas Road House for the real thing.

Talk to you later.

Pete