Thursday July 23, 2015

There was a tremendous series of thunder storms that went through the area last night. The tent held up and didn’t leak, but was wet this morning. We packed the wet tent and headed into Town for breakfast.

What a difference a day makes, the wind was behind us today, but what an incredible boring ride.

I got Ralf to take photos every time we stopped for our hourly break. This is what our day was like. Long, straight road with one bend in it!

We went through a couple of Towns which were quite nice.

Grenfell had a really nice Tourist Information Office, we were hoping to get some lunch there but decided to push on to Broadview. I chatted to the lady at the Tourist Information Office who told me that people would commute to Regina from here (about 150 kms) for work. There used to be three grocery stores, two gas service stations, car dealerships and tractor service places. Most of the young people do not want to work on the farms, so they move to Regina. She said that her and her husband were fortunate as their sons wanted to keep the farm and are living and working on the farm.

Broadview was supposed to have a campsite, which it did, but no showers. There was another campsite 2 kms down the road, again no showers. How can you call yourself a campsite when there are no showers.

We stopped long enough in Broadview to look at their museum and to have lunch. It was nice museum, with a very enthusiastic curator.

Another expensive roadside lunch at a C0-op Station.

Both of us were feeling good so we carried on to the next Town – Whitewood. As I cycled along I was thinking I could create an award for highway stops that were ridiculously expensive and call it the Highway Robbery Award. The winners would get a black mask, like the Highway Men of old.

The weather was changing again and I persuaded Ralf to check out the hotels. I negotiated a deal with the owner of the Quest Motel and got a bigger room (2 beds) for the same price as a single room (one Queen bed). Not that we need two beds, but the bigger room accommodates the bikes.

Ralf also decided to dry the tent in the room as it was raining again.

Wednesday July 22, 2015

Gordon had told us about a nice route to get out of Regina without having to deal with too much traffic. We passed the Legislature and the University and spotted pelicans under the bridge.

A brutal ride from Regina today. The wind was from the south east and we were heading east. It shouldn’t have been too bad, but we couldn’t draft each other because the wind was in the wrong direction. It was a tough slog. On Saturday it took us 6 hours 59 minutes (riding time) to cycle 176 kms, today it took us 4:51 to ride 82.5 kms today. Two hours less riding time and we cycled half the distance. It was a boring ride as well. Long, straight, flat road!

We arrived in Indian Head around 1:00pm. The fella in the Visitor Information booth seemed bored and I felt as if I had interrupted him reading a good book. While I was trying to extract information from the fella, Ralf was outside chatting to another touring cyclists. He is from Quebec (Montreal) and is heading home. He planned on going another 100 kms today.

We went into the downtown of Indian Head for lunch. Indian Head is where the TV series Little Mosque on the Prairie was filmed. I didn’t recognize any of the store fronts from the series. The only thing that I did recognize was the band stand in the park.

After lunch and a very nice chat with a couple in the café, we headed out to the campground. We are paying $34.00 for a bit of grass, no power or water. The shower was free and free wi-fi, which doesn’t reach to our pitch.  We were the farthest away from everything.  Sometimes, we feel as if we are getting ripped off.

It started to rain as we were getting dinner ready. We went under an awning on another camp-site – the owners weren’t there. The owner of the campsite came around on her golf cart and told us off. I was going to tell her that we have paid $34.00 for a bit of grass but I smiled and apologized and we came back to our wet picnic table and ate in the tent.

Tuesday July 21, 2015

An early rest day in Regina. Gordon our host offered us a rest day, so we decided to take it. We needed supplies and there is a large outdoors store near his house. I bought a new T.shirt $7.00 Wal-mart special.

We did all the boring stuff that needs to be done – shopping, washing, bike cleaning and route planning. We should be in Manitoba by Saturday.

The agreement with Gordon is that he cooks and feeds us on one night. Ralf made spaghetti with meat sauce (Spaghetti Bolognese) and garlic bread – lovely.

Another relaxing evening chatting about Gordon’s travels in Nepal and Tibet.

Monday July 20, 2015

Oh Dear. I usually write my blog each night. If I am tired, or we are at a warmshowers host I will write it in point form and then fill it in later. If I forget anything of significance I check the photographs that Ralf has taken to jog my memory. Well… when I came to post this days’ blog there was nothing. No notes, and only one photo – what was this day like. Obviously it was blank, nothing much happened on this day between Moose Jaw and Regina.

I do remember that as we were saying our farewells to Keri and the kids Ralf got a text from our warmshowers host (Gordon) in Regina. He said that if we get to Regina by 12:30 he could slip away from work and let us in. Maybe that is why we hurtled down the very straight road to Regina.

Those little blips on the elevation profile were railway bridges!  Total climbing 128 metres!  We did get to Regina by 12:30. We watched some of the Tour de France in the afternoon and relaxed for a few hours.

Gordon made us a lovely dinner and we had a chat about his travels. He has cycled across Canada from west to east and from north to south.

Sunday July 19, 2015

A day of rest in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan.

Moose Jaw has had a number of enticing tourism slogans – Moose Jaw home of the Snowbirds, refers to the Canadian Air Force aerobatic team which is located near Moose Jaw.

Moose Jaw the Friendly City, was another slogan.

Moose Jaw, Surprisingly Unexpected. This is the new slogan and Moose Jaw is a surprise. While we were there, the RCMP Musical Ride was performing. There was a week long Festival of Words,  with authors from throughout Canada showcasing their work.

We had a great time in Moose Jaw. Our host Keri ran her own business growing vegetables. She utilizes other people’s gardens and has about 6 gardens that she uses growing everything from lettuce, celery, carrots and more. She provides weekly vege boxes to over 40 clients and was a very busy person. She has a great energy about her, it was lovely staying with her.

We had decided to be tourists in Moose Jaw; we took the trolley tour and visited the Underground Tunnels where (supposedly) Al Capone came to Moose Jaw to get some of his liquor and booze during prohibition.

Moose Jaw also has a number of murals.

Moose Jaw has some lovely old buildings.

Moose Jaw has a huge train switching yard.

However in days gone by it had a passenger train as well.  The passenger train station is now a liquor store.

In the evening Keri came back to the house with her two children who had been spending the week with her parents.

Draven is her four year old son who Ralf managed to wind up to be a whirling dervish. I had been reading and he came over to me to get me to play with him. I told him to get a book and I would read to him. After reading three or four stories to him, he was sufficiently calm enough to go to sleep.

Saturday July 18, 2015

Did you see how many ks we rode today 176 kms over 109 miles.

Now I know a lot of my Canadian friends are going to say well Saskatchewan is flat, so you can cycle 100 miles on flat roads. Well we climbed over 354 metres today.

Today was one of those days where everything was right: the legs, the weather, the route and most importantly the wind.

We left Swift Current under grey skies, cool temperatures and the winds coming out of the west at 35 kph. We were heading east, those winds pushed us for most of the day. Ralf said we only peddled half of the distance.

It was a lovely route, the shoulders were wide and for the first 40 ks or so Ralf and I were riding side-by-side and chatting.

We got to Chaplin which was going to be our overnight stop at 10:45 am 80 kms done. There was no real campsite, no shower, or potable water. Only the gas station with limited supplies. We decided to carry on to the camp site near Mortlach. We were both feeling really good and strong.

We got to Mortlach and turned down the gravel road to the Provincial campsite at Besant 135 kms. The campsite had signs saying no potable water – just a precaution, the lady at the office said. Campsite would have cost $25.00 plus $2.00 per shower. There was also a gospel jamboree happening – hallelujah Jesus!

We called Keri our warmshowers host for tomorrow and told her that we were making really good time, and asked if she would be able to host us tonight. She kindly said yes so we carried on.

176.06 ks later we arrived in Moose Jaw feeling remarkably fresh and strong. What an awesome day.

Keri invited us to go with her to a folk festival and dinner with friends. We went for the dinner but decided not to go to the folk festival.

Although we cycled 176  kms and averaged 25 kph, we enjoyed the scenery and took the time to stop and enjoy the views.

Today we passed two large lakes. One was called Reed Lake, it is part of a migratory path for over 40,000 birds in the fall and spring.

We also passed an area where brine and salt were being processed.

We passed a sign saying the Ice Road was closed.

Coming into Moose Jaw we pulled into the rest area to check the City map.

Welcome to Moose Jaw.

Friday July 17, 2015

Awake a little later than usual, 6:15 am, but that is o.k. as we had a relatively short ride to Swift Current. It was 4.5 degrees when we got out of the tent – 4.5 degrees where did this weather come from!!  I contemplated getting my leggings out, but they were at the bottom of the bag, I didn\’t think I would need them again.

We packed the tent up and headed back to the restaurant for breakfast. It was too cold and too windy to attempt to cook at the campsite.

We started the ride at 8:45 a.m., after having a nice chat with a fella near the bank in Gull Lake. He offered to drive us to Cypress Hills, so that he could show us the area. We declined as we have two warmshowers set up for Moose Jaw and Regina and we needed to carry on.

We passed the new grain elevator, it is huge.

We had the wind at our backs again today and climbed 254 metres.

When we got into Swift Current there was a very large black cloud hanging over the area. I opted for a motel and we called a few near the highway for prices. We are staying at a cheap and cheerful place next to McDonalds. It started to rain about 1:30 and continued all afternoon.

Yeah we are in a motel and not in our little tent.  It has good wi-fi, a fridge and a TV.

This is what the room looks like before we move the bikes in and spread our stuff all over the place.

Thursday July 16, 2015

We had breakfast in the campground and noticed a lovely oily film on the coffee, great water! We headed out to the Esso Station and there was the first shocker for the day. We bought 4.5 litres of water and it cost $13.35. To buy 4.5 litres of gas would have cost $5.17, water is 2.5 times more expensive than gasoline! Now you know where the saying Highway robbery comes from. Remember water is a precious commodity, conserve it.

After grumbling about the rip-off at the gas station we headed out towards Gull Lake. We had a really fast ride, the wind was at our backs, the sun was shining on our faces and the hills (308 metres) rose gently to greet us. A lovely days riding, and every sip of that expensive water was like drinking a fine wine.

We stopped at a rest area with three historical signs – telling the story of the history of ranching in the area. In 1886 a Yorkshire Baronet – Sir John Pepys Lister-Kaye (what a name) bought 10 blocks of land of 10,000 acres each.

Each block was one farm!

We watched these two freight trains squeeze past each other at a curve on the track. I am glad we didn’t have to wait at the crossing for these trains to clear.

One was full of containers going east bound the other was full of potash going west bound. Saskatchewan is the world’s largest exporter of potash.

This photo was taken a couple of kilometres outside of Gull Lake.  It shows, Saskatchewan oil, Saskatchewan grain and Saskatchewan trains. Three major industries in Saskatchewan.

We arrived in Gull Lake before noon. We decided to find a restaurant for lunch and then decide whether to carry on to Swift Current (another 56 kms) or to stay in Gull Lake for the night, as originally planned. I am not sure what hit me as I was eating my lunch, but I suddenly became very lethargic. We opted to stay the night in Gull Lake. I was ready to push it, with this wind we would have got there in no time. Ralf put his foot down and said no, “plan your ride, ride your plan” or something like that.

Why do I keep pushing myself when I am obviously not 100%? I had a bad back, but still wanted to ride, I have a cold, but still want to ride. I enjoy riding. I enjoy getting on my bike and listening to the thrum of the tires on the pavement, feeling my legs going around, and looking at the scenery. I just enjoy riding.

We made the right decision to stop. We headed to the campsite and set up the tent. Ralf went to get provisions for tonight and I fell asleep with Hank. I was awoken after about half an hour by the rumbling of thunder. A storm came through, hail stones bouncing of the tent, thunder all around and the wind picked up.

The tent survived and no water in the tent, the new fly is waterproof and hail proof. At one point in my dozy state I thought I should put some clothes on, if the tent got blown away with me in it, they would find me with my tank-top on and nothing else – not a pretty sight. The storm blew over and I was fine.

Prior to Ralf going to the grocery store he decided to take some photos of the old grain elevator in the Town.

There is a new grain elevator being built a few kilometres east of the Town.

After taking these shots, Ralf managed to get to the grocery store, before he got soaked to the skin.

It was very windy for the rest of the afternoon and got quite chilly.  We opted to go back to the restaurant for dinner rather than attempt to cook in the cold and the wind. It was so cold we had to dig out our puffy (down) jackets and zip our legs on to the shorts. I contemplated on putting my socks on, but decided against it.

Wednesday July 15, 2015

As we were leaving Medicine Hat early this morning we spotted a deer in the downtown core with her two babies. She stopped the traffic for a while. We were heading up a hill and couldn’t stop to take photos of them.

This windmill is part of a garden centre, that has a butterfly house attached to it.

Medicine Hat looked like a nice City, clean with a nice historic district.

The topography in this part of Alberta is referred to as the Badlands.

The Badlands are a type of arid terrain with clay-rich soil that has been extensively eroded by wind and water. Canyons, ravines, gullies, hoodoos and other such geological forms are common in The Badlands.  In this photo they look like small hummocks, but they can have quite stunning ravines and shapes to the topography.

We are already in Saskatchewan, where did Alberta go?

Just to let everyone know Saskatchewan is not flat, at least not yet. We climbed 361 metres today! We joined the TransCanada Highway and enjoyed a big wide shoulder all the way to the campground near Maple Creek.

Again we had a tail wind for the most part, but it did change directions a few times.

We passed a warning sign for buffalo. Please stay in vehicle – although our bicycles are considered vehicles under the Highway Traffic Act, I wasn’t sure what we would do if we encountered a buffalo. We saw the buffalo herd, but from a very safe distance.

The only other exciting thing that happened today was the house on the move. A pick-up came alongside me and slowed down. He had flashing lights indicating he was the lead vehicle for a wide load. We have seen a few of these along Highway 3 and have moved over as far as we could to accommodate them. This one however, was a little bigger. It was a house and was taking up the whole road and the shoulder, we had to get onto the gravel portion of the shoulder. I had wondered why the traffic had been so quiet. Nothing could pass this house. When they move house in Saskatchewan, they really do move house!

As far as the campsites go, it wasn’t too bad, $22.00 tonight, the showers were free, the pitch was o.k. and the wi-fi was good, there was no place to wash dishes, and the water in the washroom was cold. The water quality was awful, you could taste the chlorine in the water, we have decided to buy water from the service station about 4kms enroute tomorrow morning.

We met up with Scott again, the Australian.  He doesn\’t carry food with him or have anything to cook on.  He cycled down to the Esso Station which has a cafe attached, for his evening meal.  I am glad we have our stove and the capabilities to cook food at night, it would be very expensive to eat out every day.

Tuesday July 14, 2015

What are we doing in Medicine Hat when we were going to go to the Dinosaur Provincial Park?

Well, the conversation went like this last night in the motel room:

J: Do you want to go to the dinosaur park?

R: If you do.

J: It is 175 kms out of our way

R: Yep

J: There is forecast for thunderstorms over the next 4 days in that area.

R: Oh

J: Campsites are only available for 2 nights.

R: We are going to cycle 175 kms out of our way, possibly in the rain and only have one full day looking at rocks.

J: Yep

R: Let’s go to the Hat

We left Taber at 7:15, we had a long ride ahead us. My back wasn’t too bad although it was still a little painful. My sore throat has gone, I now have a full blown cold in my nose. Ralf was still feeling a little low.

We were storm chasing today. We could see the rain clouds ahead of us for most of the morning. Fortunately, we didn’t catch up with the rain and we had a lovely ride in almost perfect temperatures.

We were passing corn, potatoes, fields of cash crops and at one point I could swear I could smell dill – obviously you need a lot of dill to go with those dill pickle chips.

It was mostly flat and a good tail-wind all the way to Medicine Hat.

We stopped in at Subway for lunch and chatted to an Australian fella who is heading towards Toronto.

I thought about stopping at this place to pick up some sausage for dinner.  As we don\’t have freezer bags with us and no way of keeping the sausage cool, we didn\’t stop.  Nice building though.

The Municipal campsite in Medicine Hat was a really nice campsite. $15.00 for the pitch, free showers and $2.00 for laundry, a camp kitchen area with tables and sinks, almost perfect. Wi-fi is slow but we can’t have everything.

There is another touring cyclist here tonight, Brandon. He is heading in the same direction, but is feeling a little worn out. He has done some big miles and of course mountain passes.

I told him we were going to go to Maple Creek a distance of 97 ks tomorrow. He was taking a rest day and then thought he might go to Swift Current (225 ks). When I told him about the campground in Maple Creek, he thought he might reduce his distances so that he could enjoy the ride. – Good plan.