Fruita, Colorado, 27-28 October 2001

Temperatures in the 70's made our first trip to Fruita a great one. The suspects, in addition to myself, were Rodney, Bob, and John from Salt Lake.

Click on each picture for an enlargement.

27Oct01-19-21.jpg (95K) It seemed every picture had to be a multi-shot panorama such as this to capture what it was like. Our first day's ride was off the Loma exit doing Mary's Loop, Horsethief Bench, Handcuffs, Lion's Loop, and Mack Ridge Trails. Here the group is on Mary's about to drop to Horesthief.

27Oct01-25.jpg (83K) Some of the typical riding on Horsethief
27Oct01-22.jpg (88K)

27Oct01-37-39.jpg (95K) Bob on Handcuffs, I believe. The scale is a little deceiving in this shot. The rocks on the bench in the distance are 8-10 feet tall and there are some riders too small to see.

27Oct01-54-56an.jpg (71K) Lunch time on Handcuffs. From near to far: John, Bob and Rodney.

27Oct01-65.jpg (68K) Rodney on the more technical Lions Loop. Cooool!
27Oct01-69 (60K) Three animals sitting around the campfire. We had a great camping spot at the top of the "18" road.

27Oct01-16 (60K) The campsite by day.
28Oct01-01.jpg (104K) Our ride the second day was the epic "Edge Loop". After some sweet singletrack on Frontside, we had many miles of road to climb up to the table top. John, Bob's back, Rodney.

28Oct01-02-4Pan.jpg (85K) On top.

28Oct01-07.jpg (77K) Rodney on some of the ridge top double track.
28Oct01-08.jpg (69K) Bob looking over Grand Valley just before we started to seriously descend. The ride guide says this ride has 3,800 feet of vertical.

28Oct01-10.jpg (88K) Some of the single-track on top is quite steep as seen in the distance.
28Oct01-15.jpg (111K) This is the famous portage on this ride - a 30 foot waterfall drop with the aid of a rope requiring teamwork to descend. We lowered ourselves using the rope bolted into the rocks.

28Oct01-18.jpg (114K) At the bottom of the portage. John on the rope with Rodney and Bob
28Oct01-20.jpg (104K) Is it supposed to look like that? A busted rim made for a frustrating final 5 miles or so. I had no rear brakes until the tire finally blew. Then, I had to walk and ride on the rim for a few miles back to the road.

All photos were taken with a Nikon Coolpix 775 camera by Mike Saemisch at saemisch@mac.com.

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This page created on a Macintosh using PhotoPage by John A. Vink.

27Oct01-37-39.jpg (95K)	Bob on Handcuffs, I believe. The scale is a little deceiving in this shot. The rocks on the bench in the distance are 8-10 feet tall and there are some riders too small to see.
27Oct01-54-56an.jpg (71K)	Lunch time on Handcuffs. From near to far: John, Bob and Rodney.

28Oct01-07.jpg (77K)	Rodney on some of the ridge top double track.	28Oct01-08.jpg (69K)	Bob looking over Grand Valley just before we started to seriously descend. The ride guide says this ride has 3,800 feet of vertical.
28Oct01-10.jpg (88K)	Some of the single-track on top is quite steep as seen in the distance.	28Oct01-15.jpg (111K)	This is the famous portage on this ride - a 30 foot waterfall drop with the aid of a rope requiring teamwork to descend. We lowered ourselves using the rope bolted into the rocks.
28Oct01-18.jpg (114K)	At the bottom of the portage. John on the rope with Rodney and Bob	28Oct01-20.jpg (104K)	Is it supposed to look like that? A busted rim made for a frustrating final 5 miles or so. I had no rear brakes until the tire finally blew. Then, I had to walk and ride on the rim for a few miles back to the road.