Aug. 22 - Day 8

Met with Darren & Miguel in the parking lot and departed the hotel at 7:15AM with fond fairwells from many riders. The bonds of friendship from old and new members showed as it was solid hugs and best wishes for everyone that day.

We set out for Montrose, CO, passing through Vail then down the 24 for breakfast in Leadville at the Golden Donkey. When ordering a simple 2 egg breakfast our server commented, "okay, I'm not saying you're old but if you order this from the senior's menu it'll save a few bucks". Well that just fueled it for them to hassle me. I said, it must be the grey in my gotee.

After a great little breakfast we headed out for Independance Pass, through Aspen. There's no money there . . . cha! We saw a guy speaking Italian at the gas station, riding what we figured was a $6000 road bike. From there, on through Carbondale with a wicked ride on a great road trying to keep up with a local on a KTM. Best ride easily! Stopped in Paonia for lunch at a little dinner. Great chicken and rice soup and a quick sandwich. One more fuel stop (averaging 3/day) and Miguel needed batteries for his cam corder to record ride sections. Unknowingly he forgot his card there and had to cancel it later.

From there it was back roads heading for the infamous Black Canyon Road. Of course we hit a little heavy traffic on the way in the form of cattle - a neighbour was moving his herd from one pasture to another. As we rolled through the sound of the V4 kept them trotting, and even scarred the s#!t out of one.

Agian, another astonishing find. Miguel, a resident of Colorado Springs and seasoned travelor through all these states, claims this as his favourite all time road. Darren got all excited and took off out in front. A stop 2/3 through revealed a huge grin on everyone's face. From there, it was another 1.5 hours to the Best Western in Montrose.

We checked in, cleaned up, had a few beers and hit a local Italian place called "Garlic Mike's". Nice place but we ordered before thinking. A great rule to remember "You can't eat big meals after a long ride day". I barely touched 1/4 of my meal and just couldn't eat any more. A combination of the ride, the cold lingering and leaving the altitude, we paid the bill and called it a night. Tomorrow brings the Million $$$ hwy and the Silver Road loop. Looking forward to getting a good night sleep - we'll see what happens.