we packed up and headed out bright and early. we were told to check out Mccoy Flats, Red Fleet, and perhaps the Flaming Gorge. the drive up was good, we went through the town of Rangley, Colorado (should be called Strangely, it was.....strange...). i had done some internet research but thought it best to stop by the local bike shop and get the skinny on the fat tire goodness. we went to Altitude cycles, right there on the main drag, got a map, and asked for recommendations on where to eat lunch. This was the key moment in our trip. The super friendly helpful girl who does not ride a bike but works there at the bike shop suggested we eat at the Vernal Brewing Company, conveniently located behind the shop.
HO...LEE....SHIT!!! it turns out there are actual chefs from 5 star restaurants working there and putting out solidly amazing food. we never made it to the Flaming Gorge, but at this restaurant, we did see the Flaming Paul. he was perhaps the best waiter we've ever seen, and oh boy was he gay. for lunch i enjoyed a delicious loco moco, the Captain had a kick ass beet salad and "hand pies," which for lack of a better term were little empanadas, meat stuffed dough. the food blew our minds and tastebuds. then it was time to ride.
we said adeiu to our prancing waiter and headed out.
speaking of gay, the sinks in the men's bathroom were the gayest thing i've ever seen. the faucet where the water comes out resembles a piece of sliced bamboo. after about five minutes of waving my hands around, looking for pedals on the ground, and looking like a shitty interpretive dancer as i tried desperately to get water to come out of the fucking faucet, one of the staff entered the bathroom and i asked him what the deal was. he said you had to slide your hand under the length of shaft of the faucet, which i did and water poured out. so i pretty much had to jerk off the faucet until it came water into my hand. soooooo gay.
anyway, after lunch we went to mccoy flats and headed out for a ride. Great place, lots of signage, fun singletrack trails. the wind was blowing at a blustery 25 to 35 mph, making it pretty fucking shitty. we went out, i started getting pissed at nature, we went back to the car to sit and rest. then we tried another loop, climbed what felt like forever, against the wind, descended some super fast fun trail, again, against the wind, and i was done for the day. back at the parking lot Captain Lowballs started talking to a group of local chicks who had just arrived, he asked if he could go ride with them, he took off, i sat at the truck reading a book and fell asleep. it was pretty wonderful really. I probably would have loved Mccoy Flats if it wasn't so goddamn windy. there was a lot more to ride.
The singletrack is indeed single, more single than a 35 year old man living with his mom and some cats. Mccoy flats wasn't really techy, it was a lot like 18 rd in Fruita, or at least the way 18 rd used to be before it became popular and the trails widened from so many people riding off the trail. the way it looks, Mccoy flats won't have that problem, it will be gone before it becomes a popular kick ass riding destination.
Captain lowballs returned from his estrogen ride, we decided to eat dinner and set up camp at Red Fleet. for dinner, we went back to the Vernal Brewing Company, saw Flaming Paul again, and had a super amazing dinner. I had the chicken and waffles, Captain Lowballs had the burger, and we both had culinary orgasms. Paul regaled us with stories of straight dudes hitting on him, told us about the restaurant itself, and was overall pretty badass. i know it was a biking trip, but that restaurant was so damn good i can't not think about it.
we found the trail head and set up camp about 20 yards from it as the sun went down. we made a fire and enjoyed some shitty 3.2 beer we bought at the 7-11 (note: bring own beer to utah) relaxed, and soaked in our complete contentment.
after a spotty night of sleep despite being totally tired and the weather being perfect, we woke up and went for a ride. The trails out at Red Fleet are magical. there were loooooong stretches where i didn't pedal, my bike was just propelled forward, even up hills, without me needing to pedal. Again, the single track was indeed single, barely wider than my tires in some spots, and the scenery was flat out beautiful. I wish i had taken some pictures, but i was too busy piloting my bicycle and grinning to stop and get some happy snaps. besides, there is no way i could capture how cool it was, any picture i take would have been lame. after an hour of some more flowy fun fast awesome trails, we packed up, ate at Betty's, a greasy spoon, (we both wanted to go back to the Vernal Brewing Company, but we didn't) and headed back home, where i desperately tried to stay awake for the duration of the drive back.
Vernal has some crazy beautiful riding, it's not too bad a town, despite being in Utah, and they have a ridiculously out of place amazing restaurant with kick ass food that isn't ridiculously expensive. Camping is free and easy, there are more trails than we had time for, and i'm super glad I went.
I would totally go back, and i'm gonna. I just want to make sure it isn't so goddamn windy.
overall, a pretty great time. another successful mountain biking road trip in the books.
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