After everybody's kind e-mails about how much they are enjoying
the daily reports, I go ahead and fall behind a day.

It was not easy bidding farewell to Barbara's hospitality, but we
did not want to wear out our welcome. So off we went down route six,
with large mountains looming ahead of us.

We made a quick stop at Safeway on our way out of town, because we
were worried that there would not be too many places for lunch. We
faced a head wind for much of the morning, but the road conditions
were great. Even when we had to switch to Interstate 70, the
shoulder was wide and smooth and the grades on the Interstate are
kinder than those on the lesser highways.

Our scheduled lunch stop was De Beque. No one seemed to know much
about that town, and when we arrived there it was easy to see why.
It was a small town before the mines played out. All that was open
was a bar. However, there was a great town center with a Gazebo,
where we enjoyed our picnic lunch from Safeway, and Martin got to
fix another flat.

We meet two young boys there on bikes, Colt and Seth, who were
shocked that we were cycling across the country. One wanted to join
us, but had to ask his mother first. They did ride with us to the
Interstate though. They also told us a bit about the town, and it
made for a great lunch.

The head winds did calm down a bit, and we arrived in Parachute
earlier than expected. Because we were there early, I was hoping to
camp, but there was no campgrounds for twenty miles, but there was a
Super 8. We could have pushed on to Rifle, but since we knew we were
stopping at Glenwood Springs the next day, there was nothing to be
gained. So we called it a day, and all went to eat at a New Mexican
(as in New Mexico) restaurant. It was surprisingly good.

And anther milestone was reached today. We passed one thousand
miles. We have now cycled 1,026 miles and climbed 56,288 feet.