8/22/2004 (Sunday) - Hartsel Springs Ranch to Riverside Lodge, Salida, 53.85 miles.

Today's ride felt slightly harder than yesterday's - partly because I could distinctly feel that I rode hard the day before and partly because of the mileage. However, the mileage was probably deceptively long since the last 10 or so miles was one big, long downhill.

We started the day with a big breakfast at Hob's (again) - where I had cheese and ham omlette. The portions were so big that I had enough leftover to make a sandwiche for lunch! The scenary for the first three quarters of the day were average for the trip. However, the view of the Collegiate peaks and other 14,000 fters - together with view of the valley below - at the beginning of the long descent into Salida was simply awesome and must rank among the best of the trip! Ken and I arrived at the pass way ahead of others and took it easy down the 3000+ ft. descent, figuring we've worked too hard to zoom down. While I had the misfortune of running out of film at this critical juncture, Ken took plenty of pictures that he promised to share. We arrived at camp at around 2:30 p.m....with Ken technically arriving 1/2 second before I did...

We have dinner out again today - this time at an Italian/Pizza place. Afterwards, we had a nice stroll to an ice cream place - where we completed chuggin down more food. We took a ride back to the lodge on Mike's pickup, after which Mike and we said our goodbyes...