Unique trail nears ground breaking in the Lunch Loop

By Josh McDaniel
Grand Junction Free Press
September 6, 2007

My friend always tell me, "Nothing bad can happen to you in the air," when he's trying to talk me into something crazy on a mountain bike. But it's not the "in the air" part that I normally worry about. It is the after. So, as a cross country rider who is really most happy when both wheels are firmly on the ground, I was not the most qualified rider for advising the planners of the Lunch Loop's new freeride/downhill trail on the proposed route.

Fortunately, there were other members of our group with cojones grandes.

Dwayne Weddle, a local freeride mountain biker looked over a six-foot drop coming off a ledge in the upper reaches of the Lunch Loop Trail system. "Heck yeah, that's rideable," he said excitedly, checking out the line up to the drop and the run out. "Definitely a move for a 6-inch travel bike."

A few more yards down-slope Pete Webber, a trail design expert with the International Mountain Biking Association, checked out the grade with a clinometer, a small instrument used by trail builders for measuring the steepness of the slope. "Fifteen percent," he noted.

Also along for the tour was Chris Muhr, the COPMOBA president, Greg Mazu, with Bicycle Colorado, and Brian Wood, a local freeride mountain biker and COPMOBA board member. Our group had just dropped over the edge of a ridge looking out over the Eagle's Wing trail and over to Colorado National Monument. Chris Pipkin, a trail planner with the Bureau of Land Management, led us through the proposed route - a mix of fast descents, technical challenges, and seemingly impossible jumps and drops (at least from my awed perspective).

During the planning stages this trail has been referred to us The Black Diamond trail, but that is only a working name, and the planners are hoping a permanent name for the trail emerges during the construction process.

The project has been in the works for close to five years, and after several false starts and delays, it is finally near ground-breaking. The descent starts a little west of Prayer Rock at the top of Eagle's Wing trail at the upper end of a drainage. The line will follow the drainage and cross a number of jumps and ramps, or "technical features" in official trail building lingo. The route includes two "play zones" at the upper end of the trail. These will be about 50 feet wide and 200 feet long. Riders will be allowed to create their own lines within these zones, taking advantage of the existing terrain.

Two distinct lines will be marked through some segments of the trail - a single black diamond route and a double black diamond route. The single black diamond route will consist more of stair-step drops of the one to two foot variety. The designers said that riders who are comfortable on the Holy Cross Trail should be ready for the single black diamond option. The double black diamond trail will be only for highly skilled riders, with drops in the four to eight foot range.

"It is definitely a unique trail for the area," said Brian Wood. "It will raise the technical challenge for those able to step up to that level."

Wood said he was looking for a trail that was fast with big airs and had a large "smile factor." The proposed route in the upper half didn't disappoint him. "Some sections remind me of A-Line at Whistler - a combination of speed and big jumps as opposed to trails with lots of technical moves to slow you down."

He said that when you roll a five-foot or six-foot drop, you want "a certain logic" to it. "If I can keep a set amount of speed and hold the line, I'm fine, but if there is a big technical move after I land, I am not as confident."

The bottom half of the trail has not been finalized, and our group was there to offer opinions. The most promising route took it across a number of small drainages and then over a ridge that looks out on the connecting trail from the bottom of the Widowmaker Hill to the Eagle's Wing trails. From there the trail drops down below the rim and crosses a series of technical rock moves, staying mostly on sandstone. Finally, the trail rejoins the Tabeguache trail at the top of Widowmaker.

There are long-term plans to run the trail across the Tabeguache and down to the big bentonite hill, and eventually to the parking lot. But for now, trail planners are focused on making the upper trail as exciting and challenging as possible.

Part of the process of developing the trail has been the creation of a written trail management plan that includes consideration for risk management. Pete Webber of IMBA is developing the plan, laying out design, construction, and maintenance responsibilities. He said that the plan will help to ensure that sustainable best practices are followed and sufficient signs are in place to steer riders onto the correct trail, and to direct non-expert riders away from the route.

"You want riders to consciously choose whether to be on the single or double black diamond trail, and you want to make sure the trail is consistent in terms of the skill required. You don't want riders to be surprised and find that they are in over their head halfway down the trail," he said.

Chris Muhr of COPMOBA is optimistic that construction can start in September, and be finished this fall. COPMOBA is planning a volunteer work weekend for Sept. 29 and 30. Check local bike shops or the COPMOBA website at www.copmoba.org for continued updates.

Back down to Earth

Now, if you were reading the above and have no idea what a "move" or a "technical feature" is; or just the thought of "rolling a five- or six-foot drop" makes you want to head to the emergency room, don't worry, you are not alone. There are also some changes coming to the Lunch Loop for beginning riders. A skill-building trail is going in at the bottom of the Lunch Loop trail system near the parking lot on Monument Road. Modeled after Rustler's Loop in the Kokopelli Trail Area, the skill builder loop will be about a mile-long figure-eight with lots of signs providing riding tips and information on trail etiquette and ethics. The BLM plans to have half of the figure eight built this fall.

Another big change is also in the works. A singletrack bypass of Widowmaker Hill is planned to take pressure off the route, and to make the climb a little easier for us mere humans. No more blaming it on the weather or trail conditions for not making it up the hill.