At the beginning of 2004 we began planning another trip out west, similar in format to the 2001 trip, but longer and not confined to Southwest Colorado, or even solely the state. The Moto Guzzi National rally was being held in Hill City, South Dakota, near Mt. Rushmore, so we placed it in the middle of our itinerary, which would also guarantee at least some riding in three states: Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota. We had entertained adding a few more to the list, but that would come later. Mark and Barbara, who had begun the trip in 2001 only to drop out in St. Louis with vehicle trouble, would be our companions of the road this trip. They both generally get up earlier than Kim or I, so the trip would be a minor compromise.

Prelude: The trip to Golden was thankfully uneventful, and XM radio in the truck was a minor miracle in the middle of Kansas. We stayed in Manhattan again and ate in Aggieville, but the restaurant we loved last time was no more.

The view of downtown Denver from our hosts' house in Golden, Colorado.

We arrived in Golden to find our friends were not there, but had left unexpectedly for Florida to attend to a family emergency. They had sent us a key at the last minute and told us to make their house our temporary home. We were glad for the temporary home base, because the weather was terrible and we decided to start the bike trip the next day. A quick look at the long-term weather forecast showed a pattern of rain flowing across Colorado, but better weather north into Wyoming and Montana. We were heading north anyway, so we hoped we might luck out after all. We unpacked our crap and relaxed, and then went into Golden for dinner at the Table Mountain Inn.

The next day was indeed horrible, weather-wise, and we decided some of our merry band needed new long johns. We went down to Golden and dropped in on Eric, a friend of Mark and Barbara’s who lived in the older part of town, in a great old house with a hail-pocked 60s Maserati Quattraporte in the front yard. Kim ogled the mid-century modern furniture and discovered that Eric’s wife Susan was the daughter of Eero Saarinen, designer of the chairs we were sitting on, in addition to many great buildings and the St. Louis arch. We spent some time talking bikes and rides and chairs and then went into Denver to the giant REI store, housed in a converted power plant, for long johns. Many of the original powerhouse fixtures remained in the store, and it was a good re-use of the structure. We hit the grocery store on the way back and made dinner at the house and turned in early.