A POV for the Holy Cross Trail and finished with Bentonite hill at the the lunch loops in Grand junction. Overview, if you loop Petekes to HCT and follow up with Curt's Lane, you are looking at around a 7 mile loop. HCT maintains very technical climbing sections which are some of the toughest in the Grand Valley. The descents are mostly technical rollers and gaps with no mandatory drops. There are multiple line options that can include rolling step ups followed by small to small/medium drops. HCT is a great ride for an average 1.25 hours loop or can be combined with either Free Lunch or Eagle's Wing. OR EVEN BETTER Ribbon, climb to Free Lunch, Widowmaker Hill, and Holy Cross for the premier Lunch Loop experience.
Bentonite Hill is a shortcut from the Raven Ridge back to the Tabeguache double track that shortens and steepens the route back to the trailhead. Bentonite is exceptionally steep for a mostly dirt trail with loose conditions at times and shouldn't be attempted in heavy winds (wind exceeding 40 mph). Learn from the fool don't be the fool. Over all it features a difficult roller entrance that can be accessed a medium drop with speed and the rest is pretty steep and fast with a few fast drops. It is comparable to Zippety at 18 rd. except with a longer steep run then both Zip Crux trails and no braking bumps (which is very nice). I hope people find this helpful and excuse the gimbal "squeak" in parts of the POV.