Full Circle on The Grand Loop, Part V: Revival!  – Kurt Refsnider | The Radavist | A group of individuals who share a love of cycling and the outdoors.

Kurt Refsnider‘s multipart series on the Grand Loop Bikepacking Race concludes in this final installment, detailing the revival of the almost forgotten route. With some new energy infused into the small community of Nucla, Utah, the race has risen like a phoenix from the ashes…

Five years ago, I wrote a four-part series here on The Radavist about the rich history of the Grand Loop and my own fascination with the largely-forgotten 370-mile-long circuit through the raw and remote Utah-Colorado borderlands. Fast-forward to 2025 and the Grand Loop seems anything but forgotten, having just seen more than sixty racers start the resurrected Grand Loop Race. I’m absolutely delighted to be able to add a fifth article to the series: Revival! As a participant in the race this year, I couldn’t help but grin as I saw how now-local resident Tim Tait embedded the event into the tiny community of Nucla, created a remarkably positive and supportive atmosphere around the race, and that we were joined by several of the visionaries who created these trails three decades ago.

The Grand Loop Race was a small annual event in the 2000s organized by Mike Curiak, and it carried the distinction of being the first of the now-prolific MTB bikepacking races. The then-iconic race inspired the creation of events like the Arizona Trail 300 and the Colorado Trail Race. But just as the region’s many abandoned uranium mines and old haul roads are gradually being reclaimed by nature, that original Grand Loop event faded away by 2010. It seemed that most of the bikepacking race crowd wanted either mostly singletrack or mostly gravel, and this unique route has little of either.

The Grand Loop follows three long-distance mountain bike trails that were developed in the 1990s by the Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Association – the Kokopelli, Paradox, and Tabeguache Trails. These trails might not include much singletrack, but that doesn’t mean they’re not quite technical – chunky and ledgy 4×4 tracks, rubbly and eroded mine roads, steep and rugged ATV trails, and usually a healthy dose of sand. The riding is tough to put it succinctly, and with nearly 45,000’ of climbing, the terrain adds considerably more challenge.

The small neighboring communities of Nucla and Naturita sit along the Grand Loop in western Montrose County, Colorado, referred to locally as the “West End.” Uranium boom towns from the middle of the last century, these communities are quiet today. In the fall of 2021, Tim relocated from the Salt Lake City area to Nucla with his wife Nicole. Tim had been the organizer of the Utah Mixed Epic bikepacking race, and after becoming involved with the West End Trails Alliance, getting to know the Paradox Trail personally, and learning more about the history of the Grand Loop Race, he decided to bring the event back, but now with the start/finish in Nucla rather than Grand Junction.

“Nucla is a fantastic place to host a Grand Depart,” Tim explained. “It makes the route a little bit more approachable with 24-hour services in Grand Junction a bit under halfway around the loop.” He also went through the laborious process of getting the free event permitted with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, a rarity for any of today’s bikepacking races in the U.S.

In the race’s first year back in 2023, 14 folks showed up, and the following year, that number climbed to an impressive 48. This year, a whopping 60 riders lined up at 8:00 am in front of the hulking gray quonset hut that houses Koski Fine Woodworking. A corner of the shop used to serve as a small bike repair space for the community, but now Paradox Cyclery, a full-service shop, is located just a few miles away in Naturita.

“It’s amazing to see the stoke for this route. 60 riders is incredible!” Tim told me after the event. “It’s far beyond what I thought would happen.” I had previously done the event in 2008 as part of the earlier iteration’s largest-ever start with twelve brave souls. Seeing 60 riders roll out, led by Tim on his fat bike, was rather unbelievable.

So what’s the draw? Frances Hacker, a first-time Grand Looper and now the first non-binary finisher, said that their attraction to it was “partially for its remote, rugged nature and partially for the unique history of the route. I thought it would be neat to ride one of the first established bikepacking race routes in the U.S. and love a grand depart for the community aspect.”

Tim elaborated, adding, “I think people are craving super challenging adventures that they can squeeze into a few days.”

Only 22 of this year’s 60 riders finished, a testament to the difficulty of the route and the weekend’s triple-digit heat.

The evening before the start, Tim organized a gathering in Nucla’s one-block-long historic downtown. As I walked up, there were a few dozen folks mingling in front of the Saucy Mama’s food trailer, but the biggest grins were worn by a trio of gray-haired legends all sitting at a table laughing heartily over pizza: Paul Koski, Bill Harris, and Dan Antonelli. None of us would have been in Nucla that evening if it wasn’t for the decades-long dedication of these three. Paul, owner of the aforementioned woodworking shop, is a long-time Nucla resident who founded the West End Trails Alliance and, along with Bill, created the Paradox Trail. Bill was also the lead in creating the Tabeguache Trail, and Dan has been maintaining and clearing deadfall on the remote and seldom-traveled trails of the Uncompahgre Plateau since the 1990s.

Before some of this year’s Grand Loop racers were born, Bill was already bikepacking. “When I started dabbling in multi-day cycling trips 35 years ago, it was just an extension of my love of backpacking. I did a White Rim trip in 1990, and I was hooked.”

He spread out some photographs on the table and reminisced. “This was 1994, on the very first ride of the Grand Loop. We did it over six days, and I convinced a couple Jeepers I knew from Grand Junction to meet us each night with our food and gear by promising them beer and beautiful campsites. We all had a great time.” He paged through the photos, identifying all the locations along the way and what the riding was like back then. Many of the trails looked just like they do today – chunky, eroded, and somewhat overgrown. “Oh, that’s me there. Believe it or not, I used to have red hair,” he said with a chuckle.

I asked Paul what it meant to him to have so many riders showing up to ride the Grand Loop. “To see the caliber of riders showing interest in our area is a joy for me. I feel like we’ve almost been ‘rescued’ by a younger generation of outdoor enthusiasts who appreciate this area for what it is in its rawest form. No excuses necessary. You ride ‘em the way you find ‘em here in the West End.” There’s a magical sort of flow to these trails if you can find it, but it’s a unique sort of flow that can remain elusive to many.

The renewed interest in the Grand Loop isn’t just limited to the race. Gabriel Doutreloux of Quebec, Canada, rode the loop a week prior to the race. “There is something fascinating and vibrant about these trails. I have yet to put my finger on it, but it’s something in the spiritual realm. I haven’t before been in such a present-moment-state when riding.”

Local residents have been welcoming to the gradual increase in cyclists visiting the area and to the Grand Loop Race. Tim shared after the race that he thinks it’s in part “because what we’re doing is challenging and arduous and self-supported, it gets a nod and intrigue from the locals who pride themselves on grit, determination, and being self-reliant in a remote corner of the state. We’re also able to fill local lodging accommodations and bring a good weekend of revenue to the handful of restaurants here. That’s impactful in a small town.”

Beyond that, this year’s Grand Loop riders donated close to $2,000 to local organizations – the West End Trails Alliance, a local youth cycling program, and the Rimrocker Historical Society. The riders also benefit the trails directly, Tim added. “We had 60 people ride Glencoe Bench on Friday. I suspect that’s more bike tracks than it’s seen in 5 years combined.”

Hats off to Tim for all he’s done for Grand Loop enthusiasm and cycling in the West End in just the past few years, to the West End Trails Alliance for their dedication to the area’s raw and rowdy trails, and to Paul, Bill, Dan, and all the trail visionaries and volunteers who have made these sorts of experiences possible.