Day 18 - wind at our backs !!

We woke this morning to the promise of a better day, a bit of blue could be seen in the sky and even though it was chilly it was definitely warmer then yesterday.

I took my time getting out of camp today and once on the road quickly had to shed my rain coat as I was to warm, the temperature was around 14 degrees.

Right from the start the wind was in our favor , and more and more blue sky appeared, so I decided to take it easy for the first half of the ride and just enjoy the prairies. With sunshine it was easier to appreciate it , it’s like a quilt of green and yellows with some blue and trees mixed in for accent and it goes on forever !, I also managed to take more pictures today .

We stopped in Kenaston to see the “Big Snowman” he stands 5.5 miters tall, and while in town all crowded into the local dinner for lunch . After lunch we took a more southerly route and now the wind was really behind us and the last 60 km were effortless . A stop was made at Davidson to see the “ Bid Coffee Pot” and eat my peanut-butter sandwiches and from there a quick run into camp. 

The rain held off until after dinner today and it only rained for about a half hour then the sun came back.

Once again there is a poor signal here so I can not upload the blog , will try tomorrow again .

Total ridden today: 126.1 - average : 25.3 - ridding time : 4.58

Gain elevators are slowly disappearing on the prairies we are told.

The long road , is you look carefully you can see the rider ahead of me .

The prairies are littered with these old abandoned farm buildings , kind of sad to see, but very intriguing as you wonder who lived here and when ?

There has been a lot of rain this year , it's nice as everything is green but the farmers are suffering as the conditions have prevented them from seeding and now it is too late as the growing season is so short.

Stopping in Kindersley for lunch

The Big Snowman stands 5.5 mitres tall

The Big Coffee Pot ind Davidson

Old wagon used to build roads

At our camp ground 

Day 17 - Where did summer go ???

The South Saskatchewan River

So last night tents were flying around the campground, the wind was blustery and incessant and it rained all night . Morning came and nothing had changed, talk around camp was of perhaps hiring a school bus to take riders and bikes on to the next campground . 

Myself and a few other of the thought that we were here to ride every inch of this trip no matter what set out early, and even though it was only 9 degrees and the rain would not quit, the wind was blowing in the right direction “ east “ so we were flying down the highway in the mid to high 30s and at times even maintaining 40+ for long stretches. I was cycling on my own today so I decided ( and a lot of the others also ) to just keep going to Rosetown 83 km down the road without stopping , with the tail wind I was there just after 10 and headed to the A&W for breakfast , slowly the place filled up with riders . From there we had to go south a bit and that was a treacherous 5 km ride in gusting crosswinds , it was so bad that the rain stung as it hit , and it was hard to keep the bike straight, I was only averaging 17 km/h , finally the sign for Outlook appeared and then it was east again but by then the winds had started to change direction and it wasn't as good a tail wind but all the same good progress was made . 

When I finally got into camp the skies let go again , luckily Erin had made chicken noodle soup so the few of us that were there huddled under the awning savored the hot soup until the rain stopped then hurriedly put up our tents and hung our cloths to dry before the next cloud dumped on us. Soon after the rain and wind returned and again some tents went flying , it got cool, no it got cold ! as we waited for dinner which was a fantastic Chicken Catalina ! 

The one big concern during dinner was that three of us were missing, no one had seen them after Rosetown, one Jay had called the emergency number saying he had left the other two but that did not give us any idea where they were. Finally just as we were finishing dinner Serge and Pierre-Alain rode in to cheers and applause, about a half hour later a car pulled up and delivered Jay to more cheers, he had ridden into a farm and asked for help and they were very kind and drove him to us , we now finally all relaxed knowing we were all safe and home. 

Because of the rain a lot of riders have opted to stay at the hotel in town , me, I’m staying in camp so now once again I am sitting in my tent typing away to the sound of rain falling on my tent as it fluters wildly all over the place , ironically last night with all that fluttering I had one of my best nights sleep so far. 

Total ridden today: 157.8 - average speed: 29.7 - ridding time :5.18

We are camped by the side of the South Saskatchewan River , on a good day we would be able to swim in it , today we can just look at it .

This is the longest pedestrian bridge in Canada, it's an old railway bridge that has been converted, it is called " the Sky Trail" and it's 3,000 feet tall. I could see it from the campground but because of the rain was not able to get to it.   

Day 16 - We are in Saskatchewan !!!

Last night we had our first thunderstorm and it was a good one , my tent was flapping pretty good but it stayed up and it stayed dry. This morning we woke to clearing skies and a good breeze .

I headed out at a more leisurely pace today , out of camp we headed east and stayed that way for the whole 155 km , and of course the crosswind was back for the whole trip and as the day went on the temperature went up into the 30s  

88 km into the day we crossed into Saskatchewan , our third province !!!!!!!! , of course we stopped to celebrate by taking tons of pictures . It’s amazing how far we’ve come in such a short time !!

So my notion that the prairies are flat is a fallacy , yes you can see as far as the eye can see but there is undulations to the land and with tired legs we climbed a good few hills today . One thing about the prairies is that they are very green this year as there has been lots of rain and you see the evidence in every depression along the way as they are full of water. I find I’m not taking many pictures as really nothing changes much .

About 30 km from camp we realized there were thunderstorms in the area, ( there had been tornado warnings for the Calgary area ), so after my last stop for some Gatorade I headed out with Bob to try and get in before they hit , the road was wet and we seemed to be following the rain , the sky ahead was dark but luckily it moved north as we neared the campground , there was lightning but it too was to the north , as I went along another one formed to the south and I ended up getting a little wet as I got into town and then it stopped. ( I later found out that the group I had been ridding with that did not pull into the last stop got caught in hail and had to take cover under a farmers manure wagon , good thing I stopped )

Got in set up the tent , went for another cold shower , and as I got back the skies opened and the thunder started . so here I am in my snug tent writing this blog waiting for dinner . Today was another long day , I’m a bit tiered but not as bad as yesterday. 

Total ridden today: 155.2 - average: 23.3 - ridding time: 6.39

Gas station with tanks above ground 

Buffalo rubbing stone

I was up at 5.30 to set out breakfast stuff for the early risers and after our crew had to cook pancakes , which turned out to be a bit of an adventure in it self to start , but after a bit tinkering we managed to produce edible pancakes that were liked by all. 

After all the cleaning and putting away we left camp last just after 8. This time I was not on sweep duty so I went off to try and catch some of the riders ahead. Well, that proved to be a challenge because much to my surprise this part of the prairies is no flat !!! and there was a good bit of hill climbing to be done and add to that a crosswind from the south. 

So the first 50 km I was mainly on my own, after a sweet downhill near the town of Delia   I finally caught up with the group in town at the local restaurant. Every one had piled into this little restaurant almost overwhelming the owner , but he kept up with us and feed us very well !!! and we also got our bottles toped up something very important out here were services along the roads is scarce. I also spotted the first grain elevator of the trip here. 

After a bowl of soap and a toasted salmon sandwich I left with a group and the prairies flattened out but the crosswind picked up something nasty and the road just went on forever and ever. I kept a good pace but as the group splintered and started to fall back I foolishly pushed on a bit harder then I should, the last few km I did with Trevor who had caught up to me, he’s an excellent rider and I should have let him ride on but I stayed with him to the end and now I’m tiered !!!

In Youngstown there is a tradition going back many years that a pot-luck dinner is held on the day we arrive we also contribute and everyone gathers at the Community Hall to eat , well what a spread , a regular feast !!!, and the sight of 40 hungry tiered riders devouring it was amazing !!!, we had a great time with the town folk , and I think I’ll never forget this meal, my eternal gratitude goes to them !! We had yet another birthday among us “ Andy “and he gave a very nice speech thanking the towns people.

Most of the riders have opted to sleep in the community center ( me I set my tent up to dry it and some damp cloths I have ) Another quirk of the Youngstown stay over is that a mobile bicycle repair man is here and most of us took our bikes to him for a going over , me I had him replace my chain that had stretched a bit. 

Now after watching a bit of the Tour de France I am catching up with the Blog before it gets dark , I’ll sleep very well tonight ( I better we have another big day tomorrow )

Total ridden today: 147.7 - average 22.0 - ridding time 6.41

Day 14 - The Royal Tyrrell Museum, WOW !

Today is a rest day and we are camped in what seems the middle of the “ Bad Lands “, the town of Drumheller about 14 km from camp. There are plenty of mosquitos here which is strange because the area looks so dry. Last night a veteran of the 2000 Tour came by with cookies and we grilled him for a while about his trip, it nice to see past participants still interested in the Tour. 

The usual routine for rest day involves laundry , cleaning the bike ( which I have not done yet ) visiting the local town and eating. Light rain came down during the night and  off and on during the day, so cycling into town was an iffy option if we didn’t want to get wet. Bob and Janice were heading out by way of taxi and asked if I wanted to come along, so I did. We were lucky to get the one taxi that was working and he deposited us at the restaurant Bob new were we satisfied our appetite . Drumheller is a dinosaur town , from the giant one in the town square to the many smaller ones to be found all through town, and today there was a motorcycle festival going on so it was quite interesting. 

After a bit of shopping and sightseeing we called our taxi again and headed out to the Royal Tyrrell Museum and what a wonderful place it is, they have the most amazing display of dinosaur bones that were collected mainly in the area. I am most definitely going to have to bring my grandson Max here to see as he loves dinosaurs. The display is so well done that you get a real sense of how large these animal were,and there are so many of them ! , it's just WOW !!!

After we were done we called our friendly taxi driver again as it was raining a bit and we didn't relish getting wet on the 4.5 km walk back to camp, and so here I am with my wet cloths back on the line and thinking what am I going to have for dinner !!