Episode 2 of the 4-part #TrailLove series comes from the Grand Valley of Colorado. This region, found on Colorado's western slopes, is an arid and rugged high desert, with beautiful flat top mesas and red rock formations; and features some of the world's most heralded mountain bike destinations. While the region is exploding with more and more trails, and exciting opportunities including lift-served downhill atop the Grand Mesa overlooking the valley, it is Grand Junction and Fruita that serve as the area's premier trail destinations. Despite only a dozen miles separating their respective city centers, the two towns offer vastly different riding opportunities, with Grand Junction's Lunch Loops providing an abundance of rocky and technical options, and Fruita's 18 Road area offering ridgelines and flow for miles and miles. Adam Snyder, Brice Shirbach and Derek Bissett had a blast exploring the two areas in spite of some early season inclement weather and untimely injuries, and soaked in as much of the Grand Valley mountain bike culture and history as they could.

The BMC Trailcrew follow each other down a Fruita classic, known as "Joe's Ridge". Moon dust be damned.

Derek Bissett was on fire all week leading up to his separated shoulder. The Ohio native sacrificed a lot for this project, and was keen to be a part of it even when riding wasn't an option.

The Trailcrew experienced a bevy of weather conditions throughout their week in western Colorado, including several days of high winds, thunderstorms and below average temps. That meant that when it was go time, it was go time. Just ask Adam Snyder.

Free Lunch was a favourite among the Trailcrew in Grand Junction, with high speed technical sections, jumps, drops and plenty of rocks.

By the week's end, Brice would amass a nice collection of ailments including a broken toe, a torn calf muscle, a bruised knee cap and a hole in his palm. When you pick a fight with rocks, the rocks will always win. Time has done some wonderful things to the Valley, and much of it is fair game for riders.

There are line choices aplenty throughout the Lunch Loops in Grand Junction. Derek usually prefers the most direct route from Point A to Point B. The Book Cliffs offer up an astonishing backdrop to the north of the Grand Valley. You often need to remind yourself to keep your eyes on the trail with scenery like this, as the trail will often disappear from beneath you without much notice.