Even though this was a short day with no real climbs we took the opportunity to have a hearty breakfast at Willies Café. Almost all of the team made the 1 ½ mile back track for this meal. Everything as very good but the most impressive item had to be the pancakes. The plates the pancakes came on were close to one foot in diameter and the pancakes covered the whole plate. A few hardy souls tried the short stake which came with 2 pancakes. No one to my knowledge was able to finish the short stake.

The ride was uneventful and the only issue we faced was the narrow roads with no shoulders and in some areas of heavy traffic. Today was a special day for our senior rider, Ron Pinkerton, we celebrated his 70th birthday one month early. Ron wears a scarf to keep his neck from burning so everyone made one out of paper towels and wrote birthday wishes to Ron. Then Ron, Ed and I (part of the triple elders) rode together the rest of the day.

Once again an alumni of BiketheUSofMS TransAM route stepped up and bought us pizza and beer in Salida. He knew the schedule since the ride arrive on the same date each year. He shared his experiences and we told him how the trip has been going for us.

We camped at the Salida Chaffee County Fairgrounds. The camp area was dirty so Kye and I slept for the second time in our vehicle. We were pleased with the showers since they were hot and the shower room was clean. We had a slight rain which produced a beautiful double rainbow.