Mike P. and Steve were up early and ready to roll out.
Our first stop was the Garden of the Gods. Truly awe inspiring.
A great view of Pike's Peak.
We saw a rock climber in the Garden, and we assume he had the proper training, equipment and permits.
Given our lack of training, equipment and permits, this is the only rock climbing we did:
We had to stop for one more photo op on our way out of Garden of the Gods. Incredible.
We left the Garden with a few hundred pictures in our cameras and headed to Michael's Motorcycle Works in Woodland Park, Colorado. Mike runs a cool independent cycle shop but like a lot of independents, he's been having tough times. A neat shop and a cool guy.
We headed out of town on US 24 west to US 285 south and had lunch at Los Girasoles Family Mexican Restaurant in Poncha Springs, Colorado. Before our lunch, we gassed the bikes at the 24-hour credit card-only pumps in front of the restaurant. All of the pumps bore a sign like this, and Bruce found the pump that wouldn't work.
After lunch, we continued south on US 285 to US 112 west and picked up US 160 west out of Del Norte, Colorado. US 160 took us through the Rio Grande National Forest, which included crossing the Great Divide. I can't come up with the words to describe the awesome beauty of this ride. A steep climb to nearly 11,000 feet at Wolf Creek Pass included riding through two tunnels. It was a little scary to ride through the tunnels, but it was exhilirating. After crossing the Great Divide, we stopped at an observation point for more photos.
It's hard to appreciate the vast beauty of the view in photos. To add some perspective, check out the highway in the distance in the pic below:
This was a fantastic day of riding. Salute to Mike Powell for researching the route and arranging for beautiful weather. You are the man.
Today's mileage: 257 miles.
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