Set off into a radiance and wind afternoon, an hour normally associated with a quick circuit to be back before evening, so there’s a sense of, not mystery but its gentler cousin, unusualness. The timing is just as anticipated, picked up Joel from the Grand Junction Airport at 11:30, lunch, load bikes, pedaling from center Fruita by 2, at the trailhead after 3 and onto the excursion proper. With Logan and Skyler in the area and willing to put off their Kokopelli ride by a couple of days to wait for our arrival, we’re four riding against sunset’s paradox of wanting it start in its beauty and wanting it to stay high so that we might keep going.

Ride until we’re tired and it’s dark, we agree, the resolution of not caring how far we get today a pleasant tone of giddy. Drop onto the Fruita textures, trails passably familiar to me but…