Nine of us, on 7 Concours, 1 ZX-11, and a Triumph, went on a great ride to Colorado's Western Slope. Starting point was at the west edge of Denver. Saturday's route included Copper Mountain, Fremont Pass, Leadville, Independence Pass, Aspen, lunch at Redstone, McClure Pass, Hotchkiss, Grand Mesa, and Montrose. There is no end to the great scenery and winding roads along that route! Mark F., former COG AAD, graciously hosted us at his home in Montrose, entertained us with a potato cannon, cooked up some great bratwurst, provided sleeping space in the living room and in the back yard, and then fixed a big breakfast. Thanks, Mark!

On Sunday we were a little more free-form, with Lance, Harold, and Matt heading off on their own, Rick, NickNinja, and Ed heading to Hotchkiss and the north rim of the Black Canyon, Doug and Rocky heading to Sapinero and the north rim of the Black Canyon, and me just heading to Black Canyon National Park. We all ending up meeting each other on the way home via Gunnison and Monarch Pass.

By the time the weekend was over we had covered about 600 miles of winding mountain roads, had a great time at Mark's in Montrose, and had seen lots of beautiful Colorado scenery.

P.S. Harold won the long distance award. When he and I were exchanging e-mail earlier in the week, I thought that he had moved to Colorado. Wrong. He left Pasadena, California, at 4:00PM Friday afternoon and rode 997 miles to show up at our meeting place at 7:45AM Saturday morning. Saturday night he stayed at his brother's in Montrose, then rode back to Pasadena on Sunday. Whew. No surprise he has an Iron Butt Association license plate frame for doing a Saddlesore 2000.

- Randy Bishop, Littleton Colorado