The place I was staying in Moab for Outerbike didn’t have any rooms available on the first night that I had planned to be there, so I stayed in Grand Junction, CO instead, which gave me the opportunity to ride the very popular Horsethief Bench trail in Fruita, CO!

I’ve seen quite a few videos of this trail, so I had a good idea of what to expect. The beginning is a super difficult “drop in” which trail guides actually call a hike-a-bike section, but advanced riders are able to ride the whole thing. What you see on video versus what you see in person, however, are vastly different!

The biggest thing to me that video failed to portray is just how steep the whole thing is. It wouldn’t take much of a stop of your front tire to send you over the bars!

The rest of the trail was a blast, and there was only one short section that I skipped, being that I was riding alone, and it was a weekday, meaning the trail was pretty empty.

Check out the video!