Monday, 4 July 2011

Day 15 - (maintaining a positive) Outlook

As Ilan put it, this was a good day for a lobotomy. 158 km of bald prairie is a long haul. This morning, hung over from yesterday's euphoric tailwind ride, I felt like my limbs were made of lead.

We started out into a headwind and took it easy, doing just over 20 km/h. The terrain is really flattening out now, to the point that we got excited over a 2% grade. We could see for miles and miles and miles.


In Rosetown we had lunch at the DQ and Ilan talked to a reporter. He took pictures of both of us, so I may grace a page of the local paper. Hopefully the fame won't go to my head.

Another break in the monotony came when we met a young woman and her dad who were also cycling across the country. Even with two full panier bags, she was easily pulling away from Ilan and me. I tried to resist the urge to push harder and restore our male pride. Eventually she stopped to wait for her dad and I was glad we didn't have to worry about her disappearing over the horizon.

It was a long day on the bike, probably close to 8 hours. These are the tough days for me since I had never done more than 135 km in a day before this trip and my light weight isn't an advantage on the flats. The wind blows me around like a leaf.

I can feel the cumulative effect of the long days and after the ride I was completely spent. For supper, I stuffed myself to the gills with chicken, veggies, noodles and ice cream. I felt pretty uncomfortable afterwards but I hope that the extra fuel will help me tomorrow.

I had to leave the camp to do laundry and when I got back the sun had already gone down over the nearby "Sky Trail", an old rail bridge they've turned into a walkway.



Today's track

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