Though I went to high school in Grand Junction, my youthful exploration of the valley was limited to places I could get to with a case of beer and/or a girlfriend. So coming back here after all these years was bound to be a revelation, even if the town hadn't changed — and it has.
In many ways, for the better.
It's still a place where the local newspaper readers vote J.C. Penney the Best Place to Shop for Men's Clothes and Dos Hombres wins Best Mexican restaurant.
But it does just fine in the beer and biking departments, from one end of the valley to the other.
Until September, there was a brewery at either end, with several brew pubs in the middle of town. This enables a nice easterly route to Palisade Brewery (where selected seasonals are available only on tap) for 42-mile loop that on certain days could take in the Peach Street Distillers, too. (Peach Street has an excellent Vodka and a new Jackalope Gin I'm still making up my mind about.)
Unfortunately, Boneyard Brewery at the west end in mountain biking mecca Fruita has closed, taking with it the area's best reuben as well as cutting the number of local craft brews available. It also removed one excuse for dallying on yesterday's 30+-mile loop in that direction. Just as well, because when the sun drops behind the mountain, the temperature does, too.
If beer isn't your thing, the valley is dotted with wineries on bikeable back roads.
Today, we headed away from civilization and tried a trail with a long stretch of slick rock that took us on a long downhill — with a manageable but blood-pumping return uphill. It's a double track open to motorized traffic, so we encountered a dirt bike, ATV and a couple four-wheeling pickups, plus one other mountain biker.
You have to be willing to share in some places out here, and better the vehicles have a place to play that doesn't entail tearing up the desert.
Of course the trail ethic — like any ethic — isn't universal. But why make yourself crazy on a beautiful day in a beautiful country?
