Barrel of Monkeys

This weekend I had more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

And not even the fake ones.

More fun than a real, giant barrel full of monkeys with diapers, cigars, and unusually large hats... and seriously, what is more fun than that?

Ahhhhh, Fruita. That's what.

This weekend I learned to fly... I scared my legs into uncontrollable shaking at least five times... I fell in love with a bicycle (like, so in love that had there been a judge dressed like Elvis, I'd now have two wedding anniversaries to celebrate)... I had one of the best weekends in my life.

Here are the highlights:

After a cold night camping on Friday night, we woke up and had some delicious hot chocolate and bagel sandwiches. Chris and I noticed that Yeti was handing out '08 demo bikes for people to take on the trails and after much indecisiveness, I finally decided it'd be fun to try out a different bike. I'm glad I decided to go for it, the bike was unbelievably fun!

On Saturday we rode Mary's Loop and Horsethief Bench. The defining moment of the weekend was when I decided to ride down a super steep 15 foot long rock. As I stood at the top, trying to decide whether to ride it or walk it, I saw a small crowd gathering at the bottom to watch people ride down. I also noticed that almost all of the girls around were walking down. I knew I had to go for it. I took a deep breath, said a little prayer, and headed down. I grabbed a little too much back brake and ended up fish-tailing down most of it. Chris stood at the bottom, ready to catch me if I ate it (which was, in all honesty, a good possibility), but I rode it out and stopped at the bottom with shaky legs. Phew.

After this we had a great ride where I rode two or three more obstacles that would normally have me walking. At the end I rode down a series of ledges at a speed that would normally have me nauseous just watching. I felt good. I felt confident in the bike. I must've left my brain back in Denver.


Sunday we rode the 18 Road side of Fruita -- Prime Cut, Joe's Ridge, and Kessel Run. These trails were super fun, lots up quick ups and downs. During this ride I made my legs shake three times -- once coming down a little steep rock where I took in more speed than necessary, once riding down a super skinny ridge with a huge rut down the middle and sharp hills on each side, and my first time getting air off a little rock jump at the end of the day.

The little steep rock was fun, although I took too much speed down and that made for an interesting line. Chris made it look like a piece of cake -- both going down and UP. His bike control and skills still leave me amazed.



Joe's Ridge was, well, a ridge. Whoever Joe was, I don't know... but to be honest, he's not my favorite person in the world. I had been prewarned about this ridge. It took me three or four false starts before actually sucking up the courage to ride it. At one point I was ready to cry and walk it, but I knew I couldn't go through the whole weekend, pushing myself past my own limits so many times and walk this one stupid ridge. So I rode it. Eventually. But the important thing is that I rode it. Then my legs shook.

The last leg-shaking experience was The Jump. My face, in this now infamous picture, is a truly honest expression of fun, shock, and "oh crap"ness. I went a little fast into that jump and scared myself a bit. Then the legs shook. A lot.

So I tried it again. The second time felt a little more controlled.

Chris made it look easy!

After the ride, I reluctantly gave the Yeti back to the Yeti people -- saaaaaaaad -- and we drove home. Neither one of us were ready to get back to work and real life. Flying through the air with two wheels is addicting.

Those darn barrels of monkeys.