Mountain - Plains - Fruita CO road riding - help w/my vacation!

Anyone have any info on nice day rides, 30-100 miles, in the Fruita area? My home-girls and I are planning a little roadie vacation mid-April, looking for some nice road riding. Don't really know anything about the area. We are looking for 3 or 4 nice rides, bonus if there are long & short options in case some of us are feeling stronger than others.

Info about a nice place to stay (moderate price hotel or camping) also welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Fruita - a tourist destination? How about that.

Ride to the top of Grand Mesa on Rt 65. It's a relatively mild climb but it goes on for 30 miles or so. The road surface is good (unless this winter's plowing has caused havoc) and there isn't a lot of traffic. This option requires a bit of driving to the start when starting in Fruita. One can make a loop up and over Grand Mesa and return via Rt 50 but that is a long day - approx. 150 miles.

Rt 139 to Rangely is OK though my knowledge of that road dates back about 7 years. The shoulder width and condition varied considerably but the traffic count was moderate. This is an out and back route. It's about 77 miles to Rangely from Fruita.

If you are willing to drive a bit into Utah (bring passport) you can pick up Rt 128 off of I-70 that runs to Moab. It's rolling terrain and one can decide how much to ride before turning around and heading back to the vehicle. If the road is open the La Sal loop to Fisher (?) Mesa off of Rt 128 can be fun - lots of climbing into the La Sal Mtns with attendant great views. The La Sal loop is an out and back ride.

I've heard people talk about a nice road bike and winery loop out of Fruita but, unfortunately, I don't know the route. I just did a search and came up with the following link - go to the bottom of the page for info on whom to contact about the ride. http://www.fruita.org/tourism/packages.html Though this appears to be a B&B service the folks might be willing to share the bike route.

The local Fruita/Grand Junction bike shops might be a valuable resource too.

I lvie in Grand Junction (10 miles away) and you are coming to one of the best places there is for road riding--mostly because there are lots of choices with relatively little traffic.

From Fruita, you will have to do the Colorado National Monument, a pretty good climb, absolutely beautiful, and they recently re=paved the upper part of the road--its like glaas. They will likely chip and seal it later this year but for a short time, it is just wonderful. Depending on the strength of your group, you could do an over and back which would be about 40 miles.

My favorite place to ride is an area 10 miles south of Grand Junction that exits Highway 50 at Whitewater. From Fruita, it would be better to drive to Whitewater. There are several nice climbs, almost no traffic, and pretty good roads. You will need some directions and maybe a local to ride with you to get the most out of this area. A college race is scheduled for this area this weekend.

The ride previously referred to in a prvious post called East Orchard Mesa which is an area between Grand Junction and Palisade that winds through the orchards. A little more traffic, but not bad. If you leave from Fruita, the round trip is a about 50 miles. The bad part about going from Fruita to Palisade is getting tthrough Grand Junction. But there is a bike path that will allow you to skip a lot of the heavier traffic.

From Fruita there are lots of farm roads to the north and the west that are paved and, the traffic is light, other than an occassional sore headed farmer who has hated spandex since its invention. One nice ride, but short is to Highline Lake--about 20 miles from Fruita round trip.

There is a group ride every Tuesday and Thursday that leaves from Canyon View Park in Grand Junction and goes north and west across farm roads--leaves at 6 p.m.

Enough for now--Email me if you want to know more.

Wow, W.C.G., that's what I was hoping for! A lot better info than the book I have. I may take you up on your offer of more info, thanks.

Anyone else out there, the more info the better, keep it coming, and thank you!

I just got back from Fruita yesterday. No road riding, TONS of mountain biking! But, we stayed at the Comfort Inn right off of I-70 and Fruita exit. Its on the South side of the highway. Nice place.

Have tons of fun. :)

Make the beautiful and challenging ride through Colorado National Monument, the park entrance is in Fruita, I think. I don't think it's real long, maybe 30 miles, but it is beautiful. http://www.nps.gov/colm/planyourvisit/bicycling.htm

Thanks SHifty - my vacation changed, I'm doing something else, but I'll keep it on the list. Really sounds awesome.