Well, the 14 pass ride turned into a 13 pass ride. The morning was beautiful and cool. The first pass over Last Dollar went off easy with Troy getting familiar with gravel. I chose to get to Ophir via pavement rather than the gravel Illium road to make up time. At Ophir things were going well, both Gary and Troy holding good pace. Gary lost his momentum toward the top of Ophir Pass and, in an attempt to get moving again, smoked his clutch. I returned down to see what I could do to assist. Gary got going again and made the summit. We packed the clutch with snow to cool it and coasted to the bottom on the US550 side. We then traded bikes and I rode it to the top of Red Mountain. Gary turned the wrong direction at US550 and went to Silverton and realized the wrong turn. He made a u-turn and joined me at the top of Red Mountain Pass.

We made a choice for Troy and I to continue on while Gary would make his way to Montrose to deal with his clutch problem. Corkscrew was great, a little traffic on Hurricane and a little more traffic on California (Couple of Jeep drivers who thought they owned the road and wouldn't let Troy pass). I rudely passed them! Cinnamon was good and we had a nice cruise into Lake City for fuel.

On up Slumgullion and to Los Pinos Pass for a quick lunch. On toward Old Cochetopa. I told Troy of the hundred mile an hour opportunities and he said, "I won't be doing a hundred." I waited at the intersection just beyond Dome Lake and Troy said, "I hit a hundred by Dome Lake, this V-Strom is confidence inspiring." I just had to laugh. The drip to Doyleville was quick and we make good time across the cut off. I sure was missing you on that section. Once on US50 we quickly caught a bunch of traffic moving very slow. I have no idea why a four mile line had formed. The temp was rising and the speed was between 35-40 mph. It took around 30-35 minutes to get to Sargeants. We decided to skip Old Monarch and on to Black Sage and Waunita.

We stopped in Pitkin for phone calls. Called Gary, he was going to get a clutch installed and rejoin us but Davis Service Center did not have a clutch cover gasket in stock. On to Taylor Park via Cumberland Pass. At Taylor Park I observed a large nail in my tire. I told Troy to keep an eye on me as I would just leave it and continue on. The trip to Almont was easy going. We made it over Ohio and Kebler with no drama. Kebler is all mag-cloride from top to bottom. Once at Paonia reservoir Troy realized we were close to Aspen and we said our goodbye's. I made it home in 13 hours and 11 minutes. We topped our 13th pass in 11 hours and 4 minutes. The total mileage was 478 miles and another multi pass ride safely in the books.