Video: Road Tripping & Van Life Across Utah & Colorado

Nov 20, 2018
by Jonathan Emery  

There's nothing quite like a summit; whether it be the summit of your local mountain or one you've never been to before. There's just something about getting there and cresting that final pitch, crossing the tree line (at least here in the east) and turning around to take in that view. For die-hard mountain bikers like you and me it provides an even better reward: knowing that the rest of the way is all downhill. For us on Team Granite MTB this trip was our summit, the highpoint of our ride/race season.



It was the summit of our season for many reasons. It was the first real mountain bike trip to ride as a team with our buddy and TG President Ryan St. Lawrence since his life-altering spinal cord injury 2 years ago. While it wasn't my first cross country mtb trip, it was my first time in the “mountain bike holy land” of Utah and Colorado and my first cross-country trip with the team. It was the first time some of us had lived out of an RV for 9 days straight, finally getting a taste of that viral vanlife. It was even one guy's first time doing his own laundry!

Ryan and the OG members had done this trip before, which made the planning part easier… or so we thought. We ran into an entire summer’s worth of rain the week we were heading out. This included snow in the higher elevations, you know, where we wanted to start most of our rides.

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Ryan Picked us up at the SLC airport in his sprinter van. The 9-day bike party had officially begun. We picked up the RVs with only one thing on our minds... riding!

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Snow-covered summits and peak foliage were a treat even if it meant riding through some snow to start the trip

As nervous as I would be riding a bucket bike down one of Park City's best DH's Ryan was all in, even in the snow. I managed to snap this shot right after he yardsaled from his front tire washing out on an off camber snowy corner. Kids crazy. But that's why we love him. Once we had dropped into the fast sections of the trail, he was gone, hooting and hollering all the way down.

From Park City we drove late into the night to Fruita, Colorado. There, we were met with un-ridable conditions by late morning. Not that we are afraid of rain, but the trails were too muddy, and no one wants to be THAT rider. Seeing riders carrying their mud-covered bikes along Joe's ridge trail from our campsites below was enough to convince us to move on. So, we finished our leftover pizza, put out the fire and headed over to shuttle Ribbon trail in Grand Junction.


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Photo Left: Andrew Quinn Photo right: Ryan St. Lawrence

The ribbon trail is unique in that it's mostly all rock slab. The toilet bowl, as it's called, psyches many riders out even when dry, especially the A-line. I guess you could say we really trust our tires…or we're just not that bright. The descent was awesome even in the rain. It was the climb out that had us second guessing our decision. But I always say, some of the best memories come from the most challenging rides. Memories like Jonny falling flat on his face in the muddy slope with this bike behind his head, or my cartoonish display of trying to run up the slippery slope. After our third trip to the car wash in one day to wash bikes and clothes, we headed east.

It's funny how things work out sometimes. I posted a story on my Instagram that morning of how we were heading east to find dry weather. A short time later, driving there not knowing what we were going to ride, a fellow team member replied to my story from home. He suggested a trail that started near the top of Vail, with shuttle instructions and all, and we had a plan. Two Elks Trail would prove to be a highlight of the trip for sure. A 15-mile shuttle run, after the first few miles of up and down is a 9 mile 3300' descent back into town. We all owed our teammate James a beer for coming through. We rode a couple more local trails before heading to Eagle.

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At the top of Bowman's shortcut about to drop into two elks trail. The elevation got to me on the climb from 10,500' up to 11,800'. Had to dial it way back which is not my style.

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Follow the golden singletrack, the aspens were popping

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Eagle would prove to be an awesome stop. Some of the buffest and flowiest downhills such as pool and ice trail reminded me of one our best riding areas in the east; Kingdom trails. We climbed up three or four times that day to hit dirt surfer and another trail or two that aren't on the map.

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Eagle had some awesome scenery at the top of a mellow 3-mile climb from the ice arena called boneyard trail

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Nearing the top of the boneyard climb

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After 4-5 straight days of riding the legs were starting to feel it but Carlo who is at least 10 years our senior would school us all on the final climb that day

The forecast had changed for the better, so we headed back west to Moab for the remainder of our trip.

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Our first order of business in Moab was to find a shop that could rebuild my X2 shock and to grab a demo bike for the day. Chili pepper bike shop came through on both fronts and rebuilt my shock while I rode one of their demo bikes. Oh, and they have a coffee shop inside, so you can sip your americano while you shop. We were able to get Ryan out on the back 40 trail despite his battery failing to charge that night. We stayed close with his battery only having a 1/4 charge. In the afternoon, we squeezed in a quick Mag 7 ride.

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Photo: Jonny Ewing "I wouldn't have taken your picture if I knew you were gonna do that" Jonny said after taking my picture endoing on "top of the world"

Mag 7 was one of the coolest technical rides. I would love to do it again with more time to take it all in. We were limited as I had to get back with the demo bike so the shop could get it ready for the next day's rental. Gold Bar Rim and Portal Trail were amazing, but not for the faint of heart. The exposure doesn't bother me like it does a lot of people, but it's real and needs to be taken seriously. One rider we ran into was clinging to the edge while their partner pushed both of their bikes. Ryan was able to set up at the finish of portal trail and get drone footage of us coming down.

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The next day we would be dropping in on the whole enchilada, or at least the half enchilada. Some of us started up on Kokopeli. The old guys were sick of getting snowy and started further down on LPS. The guys that started early tried to ride one more time with Ryguy but it was one of those rides that wasn't meant to be, with everyone's bike breaking. Jonny had no brakes left, Keith had no grip and one pedal off the spindle, and Ryan’s throttle switch was breaking and his motor failing. They were all laughing after as usual when something goes wrong.

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Lower porcupine rim singletrack was breathtaking, like riding through a painting

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The second to last day it was raining. After seven straight two-a-days, we decided to take a much-needed rest. We took "Good and you" tours (Ryan St. Lawrence's nickname) through Arches National Park, just six guys in the back of a van drinking beers and taking in the scenery. If we had let Ryan's ADD follow through we would've driven through arches having not seen a single arch!

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The final day we did another two-a-day ride. We started with Jackson to Captain Ahab as a loop in the morning, followed by the entire Slickrock Trail in the afternoon. While some people will tell you it's the beginner area in Moab, or not worth doing, it's totally unique and worth it. Just do it.

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Photo: Carlo Carluccio One of the few photos of yours truly as most of the time I was on duty as media man

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By the end of the trip Ryan was getting pretty good at flying the drone, Nathan was brave enough to catch it

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Sniping shots of the boys from 300 yards away on another ridge

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And just like that nine days had flown by. Our legs, bikes, and one RV in need of some TLC. We were ready to get home and reunite with our families who so graciously picked up the slack while we were gone. The sun felt amazing sitting in the slickrock parking lot while we drank our last post ride beers in Utah.

Rough cost breakdowns:
Roughly $1300-$1500 per person total cost for six guys in two 35' Rv's

Stats:
9 days, 135 miles ridden, 15k' climbing, WAY more descending, 1200 miles of driving (thanks to Nathan for driving our RV the entire trip)

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Special Thanks to: Highland MTB Park, Zoic Clothing, Handup Gloves, Ryno Power Sports Suppliments, Nox Composites, Vittoria Tires, ODI Grips, Cycles Etc., Jewell Instruments, Daniels Equipment, Members of Team Granite MTB for being awesome humans

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Author Info:
projectnortheast avatar

Member since Oct 29, 2012
12 articles

31 Comments
  • 11 6
 There was a time when that trail register had no stickers on it. Not a fan of turning everything into an ad; looks sloppy and trashy. Not sure why putting a sticker on something doesn't constitute littering.

Get off my lawn.

That said, nice vid.
  • 2 1
 I'm a bit more upset that they rode ribbon trail in the extreme mud...Stickers, shmickers
  • 2 0
 BOO HOO! Your gonna make our MTB trail rough when it dries!!! ????????????????
  • 1 1
 @savage47: cant tell if you're trolling or not, but riding mud in a desert does a ton of damage to the trail tread if it isn't fixed before it dries again, and no one wants to ride singletrack with a deep rock hard like tire tread the length of the trail that your tire constantly gets snagged in. It's not a fun technical challenge to ride, it's just stupid.
  • 1 1
 Go fly a a kite!!!
  • 1 0
 @slayerdegnar: simma down... ribbon is 100% rock all the way down, the climb out was the only thing muddy and it was literally oozing down the hills into the trail.. so we packed the tread back down for you to retread the trail. Your welcome.
  • 1 0
 your lawn has too good of riding so.... no Wink
  • 3 0
 @projectnortheast: Glad you had a good time.
  • 7 0
 Oh, so that's where all the stickers came from.
  • 4 0
 Epic trip, more stories packed into 9 days than could ever be fully recounted, but my buddy Mr Emery did a great job capturing the essence of how fabulous this was!
  • 2 0
 I've been road tripping with @projectnortheast for the last 4-5 years. I'm the driving and logistics guy and he's the trail guru and photog. This was a trip for the ages. Road tripping with the TG group added a whole new level of fun and excitement. I'm ready for Whistler 2020. Get ready @DPoole603Smile I need some good avocado breakfast sandwiches.
  • 5 0
 Trip of a lifetime. Nice write up! Can't wait for Whistler 2020.
  • 4 0
 Wait a second.....what!?
  • 3 0
 @DPoole603: start planning now! lol
  • 3 0
 so what's the backstory on your friend ryan? saw that he was riding what looks to be a modified dh bike with a motor, just curious...
  • 3 0
 Hey rocky... you can read all about his story here. He had a bad crash a couple years ago and now he rides an adaptive bucket bike with us. www.pinkbike.com/u/projectnortheast/blog/team-granite-taking-adaptive-biking-to-an-11.html
  • 2 0
 @projectnortheast: sweet! that's awesome that he can get back out and rip. thanks for sharing, happy turkey day!
  • 1 0
 @rocky-mtn-gman: you as well my friend!
  • 3 0
 Great story and photos. Two Elk is an under rated ride, glad you all stumbled upon it.
  • 2 0
 it really is, awesome trail! Would love to explore the are more.
  • 3 0
 It is...I just get the feeling the trail is trying to toss me down the hill and into the creek the entire way down!

@projectnortheast If you have more energy after 2 Elk check out Whiskey Creek loop at the trailhead by I-70. Or park at the Whiskey Creek trailhead and ride up the bike path to Vail, buy Gondola ticket and ride bike park then take Grand Traverse (starts at the top of the Gondola) to 2 Elk. Nice vid, you hit a lot of good trails.
  • 4 0
 Awesome work. Looks like a great trip!
  • 4 0
 Sweet story.
  • 3 0
 Team Granite crushes southwest sandstone!
  • 3 0
 granite too haha
  • 4 1
 That's a hell of a lot of driving for 135 miles on the trail.
  • 2 0
 The first week of october it rained more than it did all summer long in the area. Flights were booked, RV's were rented. The first day was gorgeous weather even with the snow, but the local trails were Unrideable around fruita so we made the best of it. No one wanted to do 1200 miles of driving haha but it was fun, and when your with a group that's determined to make it work, that's what it's all about.
  • 2 0
 @projectnortheast: Yeah that was an unusual weather situation for sure- the summer was brutal so it was welcomed by the locals. Hopefully you get a chance to visit again and get out on some of the local trails.
  • 1 0
 @eriknasby: no signs of stopping the road trips so I'm sure I'll be back.
  • 2 0
 My count was 170 miles of riding but the RV road tripping was part of the fun anyway. Drive/Ride/Sleep/Eat. We literally didn't do anything else.
  • 4 5
 Randy's so smart that he taught his dog how to speak spanish







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