Day 1 of Colorado Fruita Loops 1000k, for 2026, pre-ride. Mike S and Charlie Martin rode the 1200k. Mike was DNF for Day 2 but rode the other days. I did the 1000k, which was the same route as the 1200k, Days 1-3, with an extra ~20 miles added to Day 3 for my 1000k. We stayed at a airBnB across from the civic center in Fruita. Mike and I drove up on Thursday, arriving at 4pm. Charlie arrived by Uber from Grand Junction airport a bit later. We went out for mexican food to Desierto Rojo. It was very good. Even I liked it. I had shrimp burritos and nachos. Early wakeup as we started riding together at 4AM (3:54am). Temp was ~40 when we started and it continued to decline until we summitted where it reached 19F!!! YIKES. That descent was super cold and I was shivering and the bike was too! I fell off the pace on the climb as Mike and Charlie continued. Since we were pre-riding, we had to fend for ourselves for water so I had equipped my bike with the Wolf Tooth dual bottle holder and was able to carry 3 bottles ( 2 at 25oz and 1 at 32 oz). Our first water chance was at Gateway Store at Gateway, after the descent. That store was not open! So we all, separately continued toward Naturita. At Gateway was a fancy resort and it all looked so Sedona like. The ride out to Naturita was good road and low traffic and the scenery which started Sedona like turned to be more normal. The control as at Naturita Sales, but Mike, arriving first had checked it out and said that the Family Market was a better choice and that across the street at the Visitor center was water/ice and nice bathrooms. Mike and Charlie took off for home as I arrived, so I bought a pre-made burger from the Family Market and sat and ate, then headed back into some wind. Upon arriving back at Gateway (ie Gateway Store) it was open and there was Charlie. Mike was long gone. I refilled bottles and used restoom and took off. Charlie followed and then passed me by. The climb back up to the high point was a challenge for me. But finally got there and had the great descent back toward Whitewater, CO and then Fruita. I arrived back at the house ~915pm, about 10 min after Charlie and 1 hour after Mike. Great day of scenery and cold. The only real challenges this day was where we would get water and riding back into Fruita along Broadway while looking into the sunset. Luckily the road was wide enough and traffic was low. No realy changes needed in the route.