Day 6: Tribune to Eads CO

57.6 miles, 1181 ft ascent, max grade 4%, 4:48 riding time, elevation 4219 ft.  
Today I had a convenience store breakfast because there was no restaurant open.  I am surprised that many of these towns have very little to offer.  We have ridden by many businesses that have closed.  The years since COVID have been hard on this part of the country.  However, yesterday I forgot to tell the story of Tonya’s Toffee.  I was riding into Leoti KS when I saw  sign advertising toffee/coffee/treats.  The building was new and very nice looking, so I went to check it out.  There were cars, but the door was locked.  I cupped my hands to see through the glass and someone came to open the door and let us in.  The business wasn’t scheduled to open for a week and they were training new staff.  They offered to let us sample their coffee and toffee.  Once inside I felt like I had been transported to a coffee shop back home.  It was nicely designed and well decorated.  I ordered a cappuccino that was DELICIOUS.  They also gave me a sample of their dark chocolate toffee, which was also delicious, and did not ask us to pay for either.  In the back was their industrial kitchen and packaging operation.  They ship all over the country.  I really hope they do well.
Today we left Kansas (finally) and entered Colorado.

This is the sixth state on my cross-country journey.  Eastern CO is a lot like KS, only drier and more desolate.  There were no services at all between Tribune and Eads, so we had to carry enough water for the whole day.  In my last entry I mentioned how the grain silos (more correctly called elevators) are like mileposts along the loooong, straight highway.  


The largest are perhaps 100 to 150 ft tall.  The railroad  strings the silos together like a bead necklace.  We came across a derailment near the town of Chivington CO.
In August 2025, 16 hopper cars with ~56,000 bushels of wheat (about 1,000 tons) derailed and spilled the wheat.  
The terrain changed as we continued west from wheat fields to prairie grass, and now to scrub brush with wildlife.   I passed deer and prairie dogs in CO whereas I saw nothing but birds in KS.  Tonight we are staying a the  Cobblestone Inn in Eads, which has been recently renovated and is very nice.  

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