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DT Fat Tire Festival – Day 1 – Lunch Time http://dirttreaders.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=2205	Page 1 of 2

Author:	GP_pilot [ Thu May 07, 2009 3:30 pm ]
Post subject:	DT Fat Tire Festival – Day 1 – Lunch Time
Fat tire festivals in general seem to be a good event for those wanting to meet new people, ride new trails, drink freely, and don’t give a sailor’s care in hell what comes out of their mouth (and ass) at what ever volume. Kinda like Animal House. Even the weekend we arrived in Grand Junction, Fruita had their 14th annual Fat Tire Festival in full swing. But to hell with their festival. 9 people up from San Diego for a full week was a full fledged festival in and of itself. Let the party begin. Day 1 - We eased into riding with a late morning lunch. Lunch Loops Trail System (aka Little Park Preserve) on the south side of Grand Junction is what all other trail systems strive to be. Everything is here for everyone and continues to expand with another 3.8 miles of trail added since last year’s visit. Kids now have Kid’s Meal, while Free riders have Free Lunch, Eagle’s Wing, and new Pucker Up. There’s even a 6.5 mile long shuttle with a brake scorching 2,100’ descent of Ribbon Trail/Andy’s Loop. Other folks will add words, pictures, and videos as they see fit. We barely got started from the parking lot and were already lost, but the feature was fun. But then someone played a bad joke for 3 minutes, but this it is Colorado after all. Climbing Widow Maker Then hiking Widow Maker First overlook on Eagle’s Wing Bjammin striking a pose Free Lunch is the opposite of multi-use friendly. Think twice before taking a free lunch. Bjammin blew his whole hucking wad on the first morning with this 5’ drop in the upper Free Lunch play area. But we decided to continue with Eagle’s Wing instead. Across the valley is Colorado National Monument (2nd largest concentration of arches outside Arches N.P.) Andy’s Loop below snakes down from the hill on the right. Then we bailed off the bottom 1/3 to head back up and hit Holy Cross for technical fun. Sladnas picking the line Evdog on a low clearance rock roller Quaestionis rolling by the cross Evdog on a another rock roller Twisting trail Richard rides the rock spine Final descent back to parking lot off Kurt’s Lane Then it was time for a 6.5 mi shuttle run of Ribbon Trail which joined up with Andy’s Loop. Shortly after starting at the trailhead, you’re dumped on a gigantic tilted slab of rock. These riders are less than 1/3 down it. The rail yard and downtown Grand Junction is in the background. Stang takes a roller Another rock slab It doesn’t take long for some folks to boil their brakes. Hike-a-bike down Then finish on Andy’s Loop with Eagle’s Wing on the ridgeline above Day 1 ended up finishing w/ 18 miles under the wheels and off to Red Robin for burgers and beer.

Author:	bankerboy [ Thu May 07, 2009 3:40 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: DT Fat Tire Festival – Day 1 – Lunch Time
Ain't it great to get out of the state? I love my home in SoCal but there is so much more out there. Next year I want to go there or maybe Sedona. Looks like you had a blast.

Author:	moondogg [ Thu May 07, 2009 4:38 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: DT Fat Tire Festival – Day 1 – Lunch Time
Great report, great trails and great pics....but this is f-ing awesome: GP_pilot wrote:

Author:	tsinillas [ Thu May 07, 2009 5:52 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: DT Fat Tire Festival – Day 1 – Lunch Time
What an awesome looking trail. thanks for the Treader Report.

Author:	GP_pilot [ Thu May 07, 2009 6:35 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: DT Fat Tire Festival – Day 1 – Lunch Time
moondogg wrote: Great report, great trails and great pics....but this is f-ing awesome: GP_pilot wrote: Perhaps you'd like this one even better at the end. The number at the bottom corresponds to the location # you're to report to 911, if needed. Trail is rated double black, one of 3 in Lunch Loops.

Author:	danimal [ Thu May 07, 2009 7:07 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: DT Fat Tire Festival – Day 1 – Lunch Time
great post. great pics. and you guys even had triplets riding in the same outfit. tiiight.

Author:	evdog [ Thu May 07, 2009 7:37 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: DT Fat Tire Festival – Day 1 – Lunch Time
I'll add some pics to that! This year the plan was to ride more trails than last year. I must say that was a very good plan indeed. Part of that strategy was to do one longer ride per day rather than two shorter ones, which seemed to result in us bailing on a few rides. It worked well for a few days but seemed to wear people down. Kinda makes sense, how many days in a row can you ride 5-7 hrs? We arrived on day 1 to a packed parking lot. Notice how our van was parked next to another truck/trailer. On the other side of that truck was the fence. While we were riding the truck departed leaving a space. Some genius decided to squeeze his car into that space. But he didn't just drive in parallel to us like the truck had been; instead, he parked perpendicular to the van/fence which could only have been done by pulling up to the end out our trailer and parallel parking inwards. Must have been his special spot. When we returned there was a note from the ranger telling us not to block cars in. Last year when we rode Lunch loops it was cold and threatening to snow on us. This pic is not from last year. And it did snow on us this year, albeit for just a few minutes. Sladnas and Bjammin nearing the top Another missed turn but we stopped to play on this drop in Looking down over the Ribbon trail. We would ride that later. Bjammin airs into Free Lunch Bjammin is the only one to man up and hit this air. Not knowing what the rest of free lunch would be like, we hiked it back up and rode Eagles Wing instead. Eagles Wing turned into a pretty tough trail with a couple double-black diamond sections. They could probably be done if we knew the lines better but given it was only day 1, we all walked these bits in the interest of enjoying the rest of our vacation. Fun descent And awesome scenery...all at once Next up was one of my favorite trails from last year, Holy Cross. It has a lot of technical ups and downs. Some of the ups seem near impossible, you'd probably have to be a local to ever conquer all of them. Here's a vid of Sladnas. He probably would have made it if he had been wearing clipless. Holy Cross seemed much shorter this year and was soon pushed down my favorites list by a number of other trails. But its still a must-ride there, no doubt. Here Offroadie rides the spine. Then Allen hits up the entrance to the spine They have flow in CO like we never see in CA. Love this pic Coming back to the parking lot there is a sweet set of switchbacks. Technical & fast enough to be fun but ridable by anyone. Next up: Ribbon trail. This was a point to point shuttle that we were convinced would be all downhill. It almost was.... even so, it was enough for Sladnas to torch his brake pads and rotors (seriously, they were almost black). Never seen that happen before There were some cool slick rock sections. Offroadie hits up one Followed by quaestionis Endless slickrock section And then the world's most brutal HAB (that I've done). Stang leads the way. But it wasn't long, just steep. And it led to this view which made it worth while. You can see the ribbon of singletrack far off into the distance. Not much further than that was the parking lot where we started. Sean and Allen went to pick up the van while the rest of us cooled off and had a few beers. Great end to a great day of riding. Huge Thanks to Sean / GP_pilot for organizing this year!

Author:	jabantik [ Thu May 07, 2009 7:55 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: DT Fat Tire Festival – Day 1 – Lunch Time
oh those are your dirt treader names? hehe it was difficult enough to learn 7 real names (2 marks made it slightly easier). that was a really fun trip. thanks to sean and everyone for being so accommodating. it shows the quality of the people when someone like me can ask, 'can i come?' and show up and feel welcome. is this a 7-day treader report? i don't have any day 1 pix worth posting. p.s. YOUR MOM

Author:	GP_pilot [ Thu May 07, 2009 8:35 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: DT Fat Tire Festival – Day 1 – Lunch Time
jabantik wrote: is this a 7-day treader report? i don't have any day 1 pix worth posting. More reports to come, but will be split for each day. You'll get your chance to post photos. jabantik wrote: p.s. YOUR MOM Yes, that would be the quote for Day 1. Now we just have to find an unnamed trail for it.

Author:	Ld00d [ Thu May 07, 2009 9:05 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: DT Fat Tire Festival – Day 1 – Lunch Time
it's so awesome to see ben pushing his bike. i didn't think that ever happened!! of course, when i ride with him, i'm not in eyesight of him unless he comes back down the hill to ride back up again with us slow guys.

Author:	bjammin [ Thu May 07, 2009 9:18 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: DT Fat Tire Festival – Day 1 – Lunch Time
Having these guys really step up their game combined with the longer, more intense rides really had me gasping for air...not that there was any at the elevation we were at.

Author:	OffRoadie [ Thu May 07, 2009 9:37 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: DT Fat Tire Festival – Day 1 – Lunch Time
I totally forgot about that hike-a-bike on the ribbon.

Author:	hncreature [ Thu May 07, 2009 11:12 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: DT Fat Tire Festival – Day 1 – Lunch Time
WOW! Keep the TRs coming!

Author:	b5driver [ Fri May 08, 2009 7:39 am ]
Post subject:	Re: DT Fat Tire Festival – Day 1 – Lunch Time
Nice report guys. Can't wait to see day two.

Author:	Robo [ Fri May 08, 2009 9:02 am ]
Post subject:	Re: DT Fat Tire Festival – Day 1 – Lunch Time
Awwwwwwwwwwwesome.

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