Day Two - Salina KS to Denver
Miles: 517
Elapsed Time: 10:35
A virtual cakewalk day of only 522 miles. We had some coffee and a piece of fruit but we thought we would grab something after riding a 100 miles or so. We were back on KS 4 and blasted our way out to La Crosse, 108 miles away where we stopped at the Rush County Courthouse. We decided to gas up and saw the local gas station had some food. We ate some breakfast burritos and tater tots while we sat and chewed the fat with the locals. Another 100+ miles and we were on a dirt road heading to Monument Rocks. We are normally in too much of a hurry to stop at places like this in KS but it was really worth a visit. This place was the first landmark chosen by the US Department of Interior as a national natural landmark. It is a series of large chalk formations that stand over 70 feet tall. We were there around 11:30 and just about had the place to ourselves. The gravel road back to the Rocks is not that bad and is about 7.5 miles, with only a few sections being a little loose and a small challenge to navigate. After the rocks we rode about another 100 miles and stopped at Weskan, again where we have stopped a few times before for a quick stretch. We gassed in Limon and prepared for the home stretch. We would make Denver in plenty of time for a relaxing dinner with Sebastian and Winzi. We arrived in the late afternoon and checked in . Sebastian and Winzi had taken their rental Harleys up to Mt Evans to get acclimated to riding on hogs. We went to a local establishment and waited for their return. They arrived and we shared a first beer together before going to dinner at Prohibition. This restaurant was one I had seen on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network. This has become a tool I have now used on several occasions where if I am in a large city I will search the episodes and find a restaurant that might typically go unnoticed. This approach has paid dividends on more than one occasion. It didn’t disappoint here either as we all enjoyed the signature Short Rib burger and got the night off to a great start. It was hard to go to bed that night but we knew we had a big day ahead of us and I knew we would have some struggles out of the gate.
