Day
19, Sunday, May 03, 2015
It was a rough night last night. I was awake at 4:38 AM and couldn’t get back to
sleep. I turned my alarm off at 6:30 AM
when it sounded. Jan woke up also and
said that he woke up very early and couldn’t get back to sleep. He told me that he was going to stay in bed
until I finished. I got up, got dressed
and packed. Jan got up finally and
started getting ready. I took a couple
of bags out to my Motorcycle. It was
cold! It was 45 degrees. Ken was already at his Motorcycle and was
cleaning it. I packed my Motorcycle and
walked back into the breakfast area. C.E
was already there saving a table with five chairs. The others came in slowly. We were done eating by 7:30 AM. We returned to our rooms and got the rest of
our stuff. We weren’t going to leave
early. We were hoping that it warmed up
a little. Three of us needed to get gas
so we rode across the freeway to the Shell station and gassed up. We were ready to go and left at 8:36 AM.
It was C.E.’s turn to lead. He led the Group of five north on I-25. We rode for a short time and then we turned
onto Highway 160 west. We rode through
the city of Walsenburg, CO. We could see
at a distance the snowcapped mountains all around. We rode for 91 miles and at 9:57 AM, we
stopped in Ft. Garland, CO for a pit stop.
We bought some snacks and beverages also. Chuck was waiting for a fresh pot of coffee
to be made; however, he couldn’t wait any longer. The two female employees were “cat fighting”
and cursing at each other in front of the patrons. Chuck didn’t want to stick around for
that. He would get coffee later. We left at 10:15 AM.
C.E. continued to lead us on Highway 160. It didn’t take long for C.E. to make a
stop. After riding 27 miles, we stopped in
Alamosa at a Safeway gas station at 10:42 AM.
C.E. needed gas for his Trike. As
C.E. was gassing up, Chuck, Jan and Ken were looking at a map. They were trying to figure out a new
plan. We all looked to the west and
there was a very large, dark, rain cloud that we were headed for. I stayed on my Motorcycle while they had a
conference. The decision was made and
C.E. was instructed. We left at 10:54
AM.
C.E. led us back on Highway 160 west until we arrived in
Monte Vista, CO. He then turned onto
Highway 285 north. We were not riding
into the storm, but we were riding north along the storm. At least we were not getting wet…yet. We continued until we entered the town of
Saguache, CO. C.E. pulled over by the
side of the road and we all stopped.
They were discussing the route, again, with the map. We were also looking towards the west and the
nasty looking sky. I told the guys that
while they were discussing, I was going for a pit stop a block west at a gas
station/mini-mart. I rode off. For it being a little town, it sure was
crowded. I went inside and found the
restroom. There was only one and there
was a line. Before I knew it, Jan and
C.E. were in line behind me. I walked to
the front of the store and Chuck was at the register buying his cup of coffee. I walked to my Motorcycle and Ken was putting
on his rain gear. He told me that it was
decided that we were going west, through the storm. We all put our rain gear on. It is always a funny sight watching us put on
our rain gear. We were all dressed and
we left at 12:18 PM.
C.E. led us out of Saguache and onto Highway 114. We were headed towards the nasty looking
clouds. We were on a nice country road.
The clouds were threatening. The
sprinkles started and quickly turned into hail.
It was a good thing that we had put on our rain gear over our jackets
and that we had helmets on. The clothing
cushioned the hail and you can hear the, “tink, tink, tink” on the helmet. We weren’t going very fast and it hailed and
rained for about 8 minutes. The rain and
hail stopped, but the road was still wet.
We got an occasional sprinkle, but it didn’t last very long. We continued and came up to a “T”
intersection with Highway 50. C.E.
turned left on Highway 50. We rode for
73 miles and at 1:34 PM, we stopped at a Subway for lunch in Gunnison, CO. We have been to this Subway before on an earlier
ride. We were riding US 60 East and US 50
West. We took off our rain gear and walked into the Subway. We had good sandwiches and returned to our
Motorcycles. We needed to get gas and
there was a Conoco gas station across the street. C.E. had started putting on his rain gear and
so did I. The others chose to go get gas
and then put on the rain gear after gassing up.
As C.E. and I finished putting on our rain gear, the rain started. I saw the guys across the street, gassed up
and in the rain putting on their rain gear.
C.E. and I gassed up and rode out to the open where the other three
were. We waited for them to finish
dressing and we left at 2:30 PM.
Chuck was now leading and he had told us that he was
going to lead as slow as or slower than C.E. led in the rain. We headed out on Highway 50. As soon as we left, it started to
sprinkle. The sprinkle turned to a good
rain. It rained for about 15 minutes and
it stopped. Once we got to dry road
conditions, Chuck sped it up a little.
The road was well maintained and it was a good road. We were riding at about 65 to 70 mph and it
was fun on the curves. We rode alongside
the Morrow Point Reservoir. It is a big
reservoir. We got to about the half way
point and there was a bridge crossing the reservoir. We went over the bridge and sped off. There was not very much traffic on the
road. It was also cold. I checked the thermometer on the Motorcycle
and it got down to the 40’s. We rode for
74 miles and at 4:00 PM, we arrived at the Holiday Inn Express in
Montrose. Chuck and Jan entered the
lobby to “make the deal.” I was my turn
to room solo and Chuck told me the price.
I told him that the price was OK.
We all went in and checked into our rooms. Chuck roomed with Jan and C.E. roomed with
Ken. We got our bags from our
Motorcycles. The rain and road dirt got
the Motorcycles very nasty. They were
filthy. They all needed to be
cleaned. This type of dirty Motorcycle
couldn’t be cleaned with a wet towel.
This has to be detailed at home.
We parked our Motorcycles and tucked them in for the night. Ken saw a Mexican Food Restaurant two
businesses away from the hotel. We would
walk to dinner.
After getting our bags into our room, we put our swim
suits on and visited the Hot Tub. It was
nice to get in to a hot Hot Tub after the ride we had. We finished and met in the lobby at 7 PM to
walk to dinner. We did, we ate and
returned to the hotel. I returned to the
blog and the rest returned to their rooms.
Today we rode for 319 miles and rode in the rain and
hail. We rode on some nice roads.
Tomorrow, I believe that we are going to head towards
Durango. Yes, we are headed south. Our journey is almost over. Durango was mentioned, however, plans change
at any time. We shall see. So, until tomorrow…
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