Fruita Trails

Season #14 is full on!

Late summer 2008 and it's a bit warm; actually looks to be cooling off here in late august and September will bring even more days in the 80's and then 70's and October will bring the 60's and 50's. Fall is awesome! We are loving the trail conditions we have enjoyed in the valley this year, darn near perfect since March and if we get out early in the day (before 1pm) or after 6pm it's quite nice on the bike.

What's New:

Free Lunch Trail in the Tabeguache area near GJ (10 minutes from Fruita) is a challenging trail with many rocks and big drops. It's well laid out and thus fun for most who love tech riding. It is called ”free-ride” by many and yet it is a ”Singletrack” (thus not OFF TRAIL nonsense-which would lead to the trails demise) and there is no ”constructed”  features and thus not that kind of ”hucker” FR trail. It is a technical MTB Trail and I'm not one for  ”catagorizing” since I'm just a ”Cyclist”. But it's cool and I can ride it all (not all the options but can thouroughly enjoy the trail as a very hard ride). It is now made even better by the addition of the Lunch Line which gets you there from the top of Little Park Road right where the Tabeguache hits the road. This making a sweet short loop back to this spot with little climbing or a shuttle with ironically the same amount of climbing pretty much but much more descending back to Monument Road.

Future Trails: Kevin Foote has laid out a really sweet line in addition to the Troy Bilt / Mack Ridge loop. It would allow an all singletrack and continued technical connection between Mack Ridge and the top of the Troy Bilt climb (this climb will be re-routed as it needs to be to meet this new line). The already approved (not yet built though and is not there at all) line will climb through a beautiful rock cliff band and then run the edge of the Colorado River canyon with the best views in the area. (only in contest with Mack Rifge which you would also ride on this trail).

Waiting... New Trails in the Valley have been on a bit of a hold here as the BLM has led us into compliance with their ”official procedures” and those have pretty much been shelved in light of the nations ”Oil and GAS panic”. It's almost ironic as those of us who ride know; if we encouraged bike use as a part of our national pride instead of playing it off as an activity for ”a few”, we might be in a different situation. But were not; Oil is key and Natural Gas is crazy around here. The Government has little to no budget for trails as they race to drill every possible hole in the earth before there comes a change in Washington (Please dont even tell me if you think all this talk of ”more drilling” is really going to drop energy costs. Don't be mislead; we are the hot bed of the natural gas boom here in western Colorado, they used tax money to build pipelines to the west cost and are working on one to the east cost, our Gas bills in this area have increased by 5 TIMES since the drilling frenzy started. Those who drill make big bucks, those who buy spend big bucks. I dont care if they find the mother load of oil and gas, the energy companies will record record profits, use foreign companies to drill for it(who will take millions back home in euros) and you will save something in line with Vice President Cheney's first name... DICK)

Anyway; for now if you want new trails in the valley you need to support organizations like COPMOBA who will need cold hard cash to pay for trail building (whihc we have some ready to go forth with but it's going to be us who pay the way). Speaking of which; I just walked Kevin's new line between Troy Bilt and Mack Ridge; AWESOME line, I hope we build it before I'm too old to ride it.

See ya all this fall - let's ride!

We will have some more surprises for you in 2008; hopefully some new trails that we can talk about and some future plans for even more. We will have some new shared use stuff in the Bangs Canyon and Cactus Park area, we'll let you know on that as it develops. Either way; riding here will be steller again and we'll see you on the trails. Let us know if we can help you make a fruita trip or make it better... fruitausa@otesports.com

 Fruita Singletrack Ethics

Please help us and all Singletracks we ride by adopting the following code of riding. Thanks for joining us in protecting narrow and challenging Singletrack Trails. Please spread the word as our sport is not entirely united around the concepts that keep trails the way we all know and Love them.

• Learn the Singletrack Yield; the rule of ”Yield to everyone” isnt right! Too often riders who meet just ride OFF TRAIL around each other. That is NOT a Yield at all; that's ”Im too much in a hurry to be slowed by you”. The rule is most always; allow the uphill rider to pass. How? STOP your bike... steo a foot out of the trail off to the side (without crushing that palnt or cactus) and LEAN your bike and/or slide it a bit to the side. The rider youa re YEILDING TOO then can pass without leaving the track. AWESOME!      If we pass each other; thats 2 bikes wide and thus is NOT SINGLETRACK after we do. (Trails wide enough for this are called ”roads”) Keep Singletrack Single is our rule... Thanks for being a part of that passion for narrow beautiful trails.
• NO Shortcuts! - we all know that we dont cut switchbacks (I think we do) but we also need to spread the word that just because we ”see a trail over there” doesnt mean we need to ”ride over there right now”. Trails all have a start/entrance and and end/exit; they may have several but they do not need an entrance and exit every few yards. Please don't ”cut over” to the trail from your camp site or from that road you parked on or from anywhere except the Trailhead. I cantr promise you if you ride up the raod you will find the entrance; then you can roll DOWN the sweet singletracka nd not mess up a beatiful trail or the experience of those who are on track.
• Cheaters never prosper / No new TrAXES! - we all run across things we can't or don't feel like riding. If we didn't then we would be the single greatest rider in the sport. Never ”lower” the trail to your skill level by altering the line or stacking rocks or cutting down trees or plants. Someone can ride it; I know it seems like too much but it's not. Ask your friend to spot you and give it a try maybe, or just walk around, NEVER re-design a trail that you didn't help design and build in the first place. If you really think it needs fixing? Stop in the local trail advocate shop and mention it. That will be appreciated; kicking out off trail tracks will be appreciated, creating a new ”by pass” or ”ramp” on someones favorite rock move will be despised and be re-built back to normal and thus wastes everyones time. Cutting down or back a tree is just vandelism of nature; NEVER kill plants for your own convenience, Please spread the word.
• Burn Baby Burn - But NOT that! - We all camp and we all LOVE to camp near our beloved trails. The better the trails the more campers and riders they see a season. As in Fruita where we see 20,000 campers a year the ”gathering” of fire wood is a huge negative impact. Live trees should be allowed to remain thus and dead limbs still belong to the tree. Old decaying trees are the source of fertilizing the soil for the next generation. BYOWOOD (buy a bundle) and save the nature that we came here to enjoy. Spread the word on this; it's a little known idea, Thanks
• When in doubt... RESPECT it... all of it. We love here and you came here because it's awesome. I travel becasue I want to see more awesome places. To be the one who comes to ”awesome” and leaves it ”less awesome” says something about me that I would never want to hear said.    Leave it as good or better than you found it...

These are the Trails and the Places we Love! I'm glad you love them as I do. Thanks for the help - Keep Singletrack Single - Love Life - Share the Love - Enjoy the ride

Why is Fruita so talked about?

Is it really that good? I've heard you have a lot of singletrack, which ones are the good rides?

These are questions we hear all the time and thought maybe we could offer some answers as you ponder whether or not to come ride here. If you already ride here, well, you already know.

Read about our Trail Advocacy

The #1 reason Fruita is special is ”Singletrack”. We don't send you on 30 mile fire road cruises or sandy 2-tracks. We have lots of dirt road that can be used to make rides very long and the Edge loop uses a section of road to get to the top of the 30 mile loop. But the kicker of all our famous rides is the narrow singletrack often made by and for mountainbikers. We have options here to ride 45 mile loops of 90% high quality singletrack.

It's why they say- ”Fruita Singletrack Rules!”

It's Fruita Singletrack. Why do people come to Fruita and keep coming back? It's the trails that are 12-24” wide. The feeling of riding a bobsled through the pinion juniper on a thread of dirt no wider than your handlebars. It's the view from the ridge tops all the way to Telluride and Moab... yeah, from the same ridge!

Fruita, it's been said many times, has magic. The feeling of the rides and the feeling of the town. It all adds up to a place where the mountain biker feels at home. It's the kind of place where bikes themselves feel at home. If you're into road riding. We have that too. The combo is what made Bicycling magazine call us one of the top 10 cycling towns in the USA. The old Coors Classic ”Tour of the Moon” stage runs through the colorado national monumnet just outside Fruita. Fruita is famous for it's singletrack and this funky little bike shop. But we hope once you come you'll come back for the town and the scenery as well.

What makes it so unique?

Singletrack in the high desert. Rocks are the norm, dramatic scenery is as well. The desert was made for mountainbiking, especially the ”high desert” we are located right where the desert meets the mountains in western Colorado. It means no sand, lots of blue skies and a few trees to color the view. We sit so close to the transition that we can even ride above 8000 feet whenever it's too hot down here.

So which rides are good? The truth is we have thousands of miles you can ride a mountainbike on. Most of which would make the guide book in most places. Here, we don't list all those as rides although the locals or seasoned visitors will use them to make a long ride. But the 36 rides that make up the Fruita Fat Tire Guide book are simply the ”best of the best” every one of which is a ”must do”. In Fruita part of our plan to keep from being ”crowded” is to have so much good stuff that no single trail is over run with riders. So far it's working perfectly and we keep trying to find new rides to insure it stays that way.

We also teach good MTB ethics and user habits. Messages like ”Keep Singletrack Single” and ”Learn to ride - 12 inches wide” are spreading the message internationally that good ethics preserve narrow trails. Our tires never leave the track... ever! We are proud of our ten year old and still narrow trails. The picture on the right is Joes ridge from 1995...

So come check it out for yourself; I promise Fruita won't dissapoint. You might already know that and think ”but I bet it's crowded”. I am always amazed by the fact that we never meet other groups on the trail, certainly not very often. There is too much good stuff, good planning and new places to go. Fruita is an enthusiast destination, it keeps us from having the masses of Moab and we prefer to keep it that way. It's not for everyone but if you passionate about Mountainbikes, Singletrack and the Lifestyle of MTB folk? You will find out why Fruita Colorado is becoming the ”homeland” of MTB legends.

Come see for yourself... we'll be glad to help.

A Little about the trails in the area...

Kokopelli's Trail Area, just west of Fruita - nearly 50 miles of MTB rides. Killer loops, technical trails like Moore Fun and even novice rides such as Rustlers Loop. Popular favorites like Mary's Loop, Horsethief Bench, Lion's Loop, Troy Built, etc.

Rabbit Valley, Spanning the Colorado Utah Border - this shared moto trail system is really filled with some awesome opportunities if you get a bit away from the 'destruction zone' close to I-70.
Status: really good right now, look for the new ride ”Zion Curtain” in the new Fruit Fat Tire Guide! Another a must do is the Western Rim... why not loop both for a true epic!  When 18rd and Koko are too wet, sometimes Rabbit Valley is a life saver!

Bookcliffs/18 Road - Awesome smooth, hard packed singletrack north of Fruita. The trail network is not super technical (with the exception of Zippety Do Da) so it is a perfect place for novice to intermediate riders to have fun without getting in over their heads.

Tabeguache / Lunch Loop Area near Grand Junction - really good techy rocky trails right near downtown GJ. Well worth seeking out and trying some cool ”on trail moves”

Just re-opened: The Holy Cross trail, a great techy trail designed by the guy who brought us Moore Fun.
Holy Cross Trail under re-construction; Kevin Foote is leading a COPMOBA crew of volunteers and re-routing the Holy Cross Trail into a really cool technical masterpiece. It's nice to see something becoming better and re-opened! Cudo's to BLM, COPMOBA, Kevin and all the crew!

Douglas Pass area: The legendary quality ride here is the ”Flight of Icarus”. Climbing to 9,000 feet before it plumets to the valley below. The ”Flight” has been called ”a must do before you die” in a Nissan X-Terra TV ad. It is a favorite of any who venture here. It's a drive and has some ”politics” surrounding it but is absolutely stunning in it's scenic and ride quality.

Come ride with us. Drop us an email if we can help in planning and when your here, consider us your home. We are here because of you and you are the reason we have been so acclaimed for ten years.

Thanks and we'll see you in Fruita!