While installing the new “Gear Up: The Science of Bikes” exhibit at the Museum of the West, I kept coming back to the 20-foot cycling history timeline that our curator of archaeology, Reilly McGonagil, spent months researching and assembling. I expected a string of dates and race results, punctuated by black-and-white photos.

What emerged was far more interesting. The history of bicycles in Western Colorado isn’t a straight line. It’s a recurring loop—a full cycle, if you will. 

TRANSPORTATION (1890s–1910s)

Bicycles weren’t toys when they first arrived. They were freedom.

By the mid-1890s, the Grand Junction Wheel Club had formed with dozens of charter members. They hosted group rides, speed trials and what was likely the region’s first organized Fourth of July bicycle parade. In Fruita, the Social Wheel Club began hosting long-distance rides on dusty wagon roads by 1897. The sight of both men and women riding was front-page news at the time.

For many Western Colorado residents, the bicycle meant something radical. It allowed for personal transportation without needing a horse or train fare. It was fast, affordable and self-powered.

Even City Council took notice. In the early 1900s, Grand Junction passed its first bicycle ordinance, regulating riders just as they did carriages and livestock

Downtown Grand Junction at 5th and Rood Avenue, early 1900s. Dan Morgan Collection, Museums of Western Colorado.

RECREATION (1930s–1960s)

As cars were used for daily travel, bicycles had to reinvent themselves.

By the 1930s, most people weren’t riding bikes to work. Much like today, they were riding for pleasure, exercise and celebration. When the Fifth Street Bridge opened in 1933, a community bicycle procession was one of the first groups to cross. In 1939, the Wisemen’s Club launched a massive bicycle safety campaign that drew thousands of children.

During World War II, the bicycle’s role in transportation made a comeback, as fuel shortages led many people to rely on bicycles for commuting to work and transporting goods. With rubber rationed to support the war effort, factories were limited to producing only a few government-approved bicycle models. 

By the 1950s and early ’60s, cycling entered its “family era,” characterized by bike rodeos, summer safety fairs and school fitness campaigns. If your first bicycle came from a downtown hardware store and had coaster brakes and chrome fenders, you were part of this chapter.

CULTURE (1970s–1990s)

Somewhere between the first group trail rides and the first big races, bicycling became a community. 

Filming the fictional “Hell of the West” bicycle race near the east entrance to the Monument for the movie “American Flyer.” The Daily Sentinel Photograph Collection, Museums of Western Colorado, July 10, 1984.

When the Horizon Bike Club formed in 1975, members immediately began advocating for a region-wide bikeway system. In 1978, the first organized ride through Colorado National Monument took place, establishing scenic road cycling as a major draw locally.

Then the racing boom arrived. In 1983, Grand Junction hosted a stage of the world-famous Coors Classic, drawing tens of thousands of spectators. Two years later, the film “American Flyers” was shot partly in the Monument and helped put Western Colorado on the cycling map.

By the 1990s, the next transformation was underway: mountain biking. 

Fruita, once known mostly for orchards and farming, suddenly became a gateway to desert singletrack. The first Fruita Fat Tire Festival in 1996 changed the region’s tourism economy forever. A new kind of bicycle culture emerged, from festivals and bike shops to advocacy groups and trail crews. 

Visitors were coming for the valley, not just passing through. 

IDENTITY (2000s–TODAY)

Today, the bicycle is part of Western Colorado’s economy, branding, lifestyle and landscape. Tourism agencies promote bike routes and trail systems. Real estate listings tout “near trail access.”  

Trails like 18 Road, Kokopelli and Lunch Loops turned the region into a bucket-list destination for riders from all over the world. The Palisade Plunge, opened in 2021, quickly earned a reputation as one of the longest continuous downhill trails in the country. Colorado Mesa University’s cycling team has won national titles. Event calendars are packed with races, brewery rides, bike-to-work days, adaptive cycling programs, safety rodeos and gravel events.

Gear Up!  The Science of Bikes

Through January 3, 2026, the Museum of the West in Grand Junction hosts Gear Up: The Science of Bikes, a hands-on exhibit that shows how two wheels changed the way we live, work and play.

See and try historic and quirky bikes, from a Victorian penny farthing to a square-wheeled bike, an ADA adaptive bike and a classic 1970s Huffy, plus interactive stations where you generate electricity, test brakes, race shapes and more.

This exhibit requires an additional ticket beyond general admission at the Museum of the West. Adult tickets start at $14, seniors/military at $13 and kids (age 3-15) at $12. 

Learn more at MOWC.co or call 970-242-0971.

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