After yesterday's 4:00am wakeup, we decided to start today's ride half an hour later at 9:00am.
Even though we could sleep in, we still woke up at 6:15, but we took our time getting ready.
Sean and I headed to get some breakfast from the Waffle Iron restaurant. I thought they would have a selection of items for breakfast, but they just had variations on waffles. So Sean got a breakfast sandwich which was eggs, cheese, and bacon between to waffles. I got a single waffle and bacon. The waffles were the heavy Belgian waffles with crystals of sugar throughout. It was very heavy so I only ate half of mine, but I ate ALL the bacon.
We were packed and ready to leave shortly after 8:00 so we stood around the bikes and talked until everyone was ready at 9:00.
Honestly, 50% of what makes these rides so fun is the time spent gabbing with people who also enjoy riding motorcycles. We shared stories both exciting and embarrassing. Talked about today's ride and especially we talked about how cold it might be. These were a bunch of people from Arizona. I could tell them it was going to be 105 degrees and they wouldn't bat an eye. But tell them it was going to be in the 60s and every piece of warm weather gear they own would come out of the saddle bags.
I used to be an Arizonan, but no longer. Anything over 85 degrees is HOT, and 65 to 70 is a perfect riding temperature.
The air was still filled with smoke so I didn't take many pictures. But we did stop next to a lake after 45 minutes so I broke out the drone and took a few videos.
After we played a while, we continued South to Kremmling, then turned onto highway 9 and Silverthorn. We took a short break for gas and snacks, then on into town. Rather than getting on the freeway for only 2 miles, we continued just under the freeway, then turned right on the Damn Road. It runs across the top of the Dillon Reservoir Damn and dumped out onto highway 9 in Frisco.
I barely recognized Frisco with all the road construction. Sean even called to ask if we were on the right road, but I had no clue. So we just kept going and it turned out to be the right way to get to Breckenridge.
In Breckenridge we took the truck route around downtown which turned out to be a good idea since they had closed the main road through town. It wasn't construction or anything, they'd closed off the road so that restaurants could put tables out in the middle of the street and people could eat and browse without dealing with cars.
I really liked it.
We parked in a parking lot and had a WHOLE nother experience. There were computer terminals to pay your parking, or you could use a QR code to pay on a web page. I was first in line, but figured I'd get out of everyone's way by using the QR code. But everyone else saw what I was doing and started doing the same. So we had 13 senior citizens trying to figure out how to use a QR code, then follow horrible instructions with question after question, including your license plate number and credit card number, just to pay a 50 cent parking fee.
It was bad, really bad.
But eventually we all paid, or at least made our selves feel good about trying to pay.
We walked around town a bit, but we all wound up in the same place for lunch. They actually had indoor dining, but not for all of us at once. 8 people got one table, 4 of us at another, and one couple wound up by themselves. They don't offer menus. Instead they tell you the wifi password and a QR code to get an online menu. The food was good. Then it was time to pay.
They handed us a tablet which we could use to divide up your bill and pay individually. Yet more modernization. It wasn't too bad, but Sean was paying cash and it didn't tell us that cash should be the last to pay. he couldn't back up to let me first, so I paid and he just left some cash on the table. No robots followed us out so I guess it was ok.
Back at the bikes I heard a few complaints about being drug kicking and screaming into the internet age.
From Breckenridge we crossed over Hoosier pass. We got a few raindrops crossing the pass and the weather ahead looked like more rain, so we stopped on the side of the road to put on rain gear.
Putting on rain gear is never a dignified experience. Several people had to actually sit on the curb to pull rain pants over boots and pants. I decided just to put on a FrogTogs rain coat.
We continued down the pass and out to Fiarplay where we stopped for a break.
Sean was leaving us here. Mostly because his front tire was getting a bit bald and he didn't want to push his luck. So he said his goodbyes and headed South toward Colorado Springs and home. I thought about going with him, but tonight's hotel was prepaid and non-refundable. So I stayed with the group. Sean texted me once he had arrived home safely, although he was wet. He found the rain storm that the rest of us missed.
Back on highway 285, we retraced some of day 2 and day 3's route. We talked about taking Monarch pass instead of Cottonwood Pass, but there really isn't much comparison between the two when you consider motorcycling for entertainment. Monarch is a highway meant to move masses of traffic. Cottonwood is a shortcut to the back country around Taylor Park. We chose Cottonwood.
This was my 3rd time over the pass in 5 days and I have no complaints. In fact I'm going to do it again tomorrow when I head for home.
We stopped for gas just before we went over the pass and several people asked how cold it would be. I figured it would be in the upper 60s or lower 70s. By the time we got to the top it was 62. That was perfect to me, but everyone else was cold.
We took a group photo, then quickly got back on the bikes and headed for warmer altitudes.
The ride up and back down was again, a blast. The road is just so nice because it's only a year old.
I lead the ride to the top, but Greg led going down so everyone didn't have to slow down. I'm not a speed enthusiast but I get where I'm going.
The ride out from Taylor to Gunnison was still fun and we arrived at the hotel without incident. And this time the rooms were all ready, so no waiting in the lobby.
We made reservations at the Ol' Miner's Steak House for 6:00. A few people decided to walk the 4 blocks, but last September I learned my lesson about long walks after a long day riding. We'd walked to a restaurant and by the time we ate, I was so tired and achy that I really hated the walk back. So this time I rode the bike, plus I needed to gas up anyway. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Crossing Rabbit Ears Pass
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