Island Richards

In July, Teresa, Brandon, McKenna and I went to Cortez, CO for a few days to visit Teresa’s Grandma, and we followed it up with a couple days in Durango, CO. Between the food poisoning, and the bad weather the entire trip basically sucked. The three days at Grandma’s house were basically a nightmare, and during the two days we were in Durango, both Brandon and me ended up terribly sick, and on top of that, the weather was horrible. We only managed to mountain bike a total of about six miles, most of it in the rain (though the trail was fun.) Despite it all, there was a two hour break in the weather during which we managed to get in a rafting trip down the Lower Animas River through Durango. It was a blast. The weather was perfect and the rapids were a blast. At one point Teresa fell backward on her seat and ended up riding out one set of rapids on her back in the middle of the raft! You can see in the pictures that it looks like she just disappeared

Not every vacation can go as planned, and sometimes you need a few rough spots to remind you to appreciate the good times. The raft trip turned around what had up until then been a pretty much horrible week. The following morning we made a beautiful drive along the Million Dollar Highway, and saw some beautiful countryside. It was a long day of driving but it is always nice to see new places.

-Island

On April 23-28, my friends Derek, Steve, and Aaron came up from California to join me on a mountain biking vacation in Fruita, CO and Moab, UT. They got to Rock Springs late on Tuesday night, April 22, and we spent all day Wednesday showing Steve and Aaron around town and giving Derek a chance to get caught up with old friends. I took them on a quick tour out to Firehole and back around Sage Creek where we were able to scare up plenty of antelope, deer, and even a herd of elk.

On Thursday, we headed for Fruita. We checked in at the Fat Tire Festival headquarters, then got our hotel rooms in Grand Junction, and headed back to Fruita for free food and drinks at the Stonehaven Inn.

On Friday, we headed out to Kokopelli’s Trail Area where we rode Mary’s Loop and Horsethief Bench Loop. We were a little late getting back to Fruita for any festival activities, but the great folks at Single Tracks Bike Shop fed us great burgers and cold beer. Their hospitality was top notch. We finished up the night with a trip to the hotel jacuzzi and a good night’s sleep.

On Saturday, we headed up to Bookcliffs Trail area where we pedaled up Prime Cut and made a loop back on Chutes and Ladders. After a break at the bottom, we pedaled back to the top and took the Kessel Run back to the parking area. All I can say about the Kessel Run is WOW! The funnest 2 miles in less than ten minutes that you can possibly imagine. It was so fun we did it three more times. After a dinner at Applebees and quick showers we headed back to the festival for some music and fun. On the way back we got caught up in a sobriety checkpoint courtesy of the Colorado State Troopers. I was a good boy that night though, and we got back to the hotel without a problem.

Sunday was a travel day as we headed to Moab, UT for some desert riding. I shuttled the others for an easy ride down Gemini Bridges in Canyonlands, followed by a quick driving tour of Arches National Park. We managed to get in a couple miles of hiking before dark before we headed back to town and a good dinner at the Fiesta Mexicana restaurant.

On Monday, after a quick trip to the bike shop for a tune up on Derek’s bike, we headed to the world famous Slickrock Trail in the Sandflats Recreation area. Simply put, the Slickrock trail can only be described as “horrific joy.” Until you get the hang of riding on slickrock, the descents are pure terror. The climbs are grueling and the heat is almost unbearable, but in the end it was worth every minute. As miles added up, we got more comfortable with the terrain and began to have massive amounts of fun. So much so that Derek and Steve couldn’t keep themselves from rolling around with their bikes in a big sandpit! We finally made it back to the trailhead where we celebrated and took a few pictures at the Slickrock sign.

After the trail, we had dinner at Zax Pizza place and then headed for home. During the drive I got the news that Grandpa had just passed away, so it put a little damper on what had been an absolutely amazing weekend of riding. I was sad that I wasn’t there with him at the end, but I’m sure he would have appreciated where I was and what I was doing. It was Grandpa that taught me to appreciate the great outdoors and I’m sure he wouldn’t have wanted me to be doing anything else, anywhere else.

Overall, was a wonderful few days of mountain biking and friendship. It gave me a chance to spend a lot of time with my oldest friend, Derek, to build on my more recent friendship with Steve, and to start a new friendship with Aaron. I learned that I could do things on a mountain bike that I forgot years ago, and that I could push myself past physical limits that I didn’t know I could get close to.

Below is a link to a photo album of the trip and some videos we took along the way. I hope you enjoy them and I can’t wait to do it again!

-Island

2008-April Mtn Bike Adventure

Here is a clip of me riding the Kessel Run at Bookcliffs in Fruita, CO

More YouTube video clips of our rides.

Me and a few buddies are heading down to Fruita, CO for the Fruita Fat Tire Festival during the last week of April. Derek Milligan is coming out from California and bringing a couple of friends. We’re planning on spending Friday and Saturday burning up trails around Fruita and then heading over to Moab on Sunday and early Monday for some slickrock.

I’m going to have LASIK done the week before so I won’t have to have contacts or glasses on when I ride for the first time in 20 some years.

I’ll post some pics when we get back.

In the meantime, here are some pics from mountain bike trips during 2007.