(Incidentally, this is a really good time for any of you to order custom sewing - turn around times can be really fast since I'm out of school and looking for work.)
Before spring semester the commuter bike speedometer read 8,456 miles... but I really wanted to hit 10,000 by the end of the semester, so I took the long way on the commute whenever possible and it worked!
After finishing a senior design project involving a scale model oilfield automation system using MATLAB and Arduino, then driving to Denver to take the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, I needed a brain dump day in the woods.... Corcoran Peak was the goal - a small peak with a long approach with a vehicle or a shorter distance but harder approach on a mountain bike.
I set off from Grand Junction towards the Bookcliffs north of town, rode through the desert to the end of 25 road, and had some entertaining hike a bike up the Tellerico trail to the top of the Bookcliffs. My Hike a Bike Shoulder Strap came in really handy. It has two side release buckles that attach with webbing and a tri glide buckle to either end of the top tube, then a removable padded shoulder strap clips into that. Let me know if you want to order version 2 - $20 shipped. It would be easy to just tie on a piece of webbing, but this thing is really easy to deploy and adjust...
Once on the Ute Trail, there's some great but short lived singletrack winding through the junipers, but then the trail kinda disappears for a little ways... more hike a bike ensues then eventually the trail comes back and turns into a dirt 2 track with wild horses.
Ute Trail joins a nice dirt road that goes up and down some hills towards Corcoran Peak. Near Corcoran Peak are some weird formations labeled "hoodoos" on the map that were fun to check out. I parked the bike near the hoodoos and went on foot from there, through a bunch of sharp, scrubby bushwacking that would be nearly impossible without elk trails to follow. I was getting low on water so upon finding a small patch of new spring snow, I crammed my bottle full of the cold, wet goodness.
Then I had to come all the way back home. Its good to feel tired again!
