Holyoke, CO to Sterling, CO 53 miles

Haven't hit the mountains yet but somehow we at at 4000 feet, the high plains. Toward the end of the day the terrain changed to desert. Most of the day we rode on Route 6. It's the same Route 6 that starts in Provincetown, MA.

This stretch of route 6 has a comfortably wide shoulder and is lightly trafficked. We passed mostly farms and there was one place to stop for a snack, a gas station with a phone. A man who finished pumping his gas told us a story about biking and before leaving said, I always wanted to go cross country on my bike, I don't think it'll ever happen now. 

Along most the route there were farms and silos. I spent my time looking at the nuances of colors and thinking about how I would approach drawing the different grasses, the occasional daffodil, the stones supporting the flat rail road track that parralled much of the road, the shades of blue sky, the fence, the specks of color in the dirt and even the road surface. 

I also though about the two times that I thought about quitting the trip. When one member left I thought I might too. The next day when another member had COVID I thought that that might break up our group. I was very close to calling it quits. Peggy left last week.I still miss Peggy. Steven and I remain. John is a week ahead. Steven and I get along very well. We are similar in many ways. We ride the same pace. We're kind of quiet and respect each other.. We work really well as a team. Oh yeah, He usually laughs at my jokes and shares in a couple of verses of songs because that's all we can remember. I laugh at his corny jokes too 

I'm so happy that I didn't quit. 

So rewarding.