Day 21 - Portage la Prairie (aka Porridge la Prairie)

The adversity continued last night in Minnedosa as, for the first time on this trip, I had trouble getting to sleep. I had set up my tent in what I thought was a secluded spot only to have several huge RVs park next to it. As it happened, the occupants of these RVs were chatty and in no hurry to go to bed. Even with my trusty earplugs, I could hear every word they were saying. Finally at 2:10 am I shifted into assertive mode, got out of my tent, walked in the general direction of their campfire (I couldn't see anything else) and asked them politely to be quiet. I guess I cut an imposing figure in the dark because they immediately abandoned their fire and nothing else was heard. I felt like a hero.

Four hours of sleep later we were on the road again, riding through the endless farmland of Manitoba.

I rode with Chris, trying to take it easy on my knee. We had a sweet tailwind most of the day which made that much easier to do and we made good time despite my handicap.

We arrived at Miller's Camping Resort outside Portage la Prairie at 3:30 and I have to say that this has been my best camping experience so far. The showers are great, all the facilities are close to our tents, and supper was served at 5 so we've had lots of time to do laundry, write in our blogs and goof around.

I get a kick out of a lot of the random things that come up during our down time. For example (one of many), Owen explained the connection between reversible underwear and the Beatles song "Eight Days a Week."

And here's a look at the weird "tan" lines I got from my gloves and warmers:

One more short day tomorrow and then a rest day in Selkirk. We're already a third of the way through!

Today's track

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Day 20 - Minne-do(h!)-sa

OI knew things were going too smoothly. Today just was not my day. It started out okay. There was a vigorous but manageable headwind. There was just enough cloud cover to keep the temperature comfortable. We were on a quiet road, taking it easy and tyaking in the sights.

Then, about 60 km in, my right knee started to feel not quite right. It's not unusual for me to feel a little knee pain now and then, but this persisted. It could be my punishment for pushing too hard yesterday. On the bright side, it is easy to manage. The pain goes away as long as I stay below a certain speed, kinda like the movie with Keannu Reeves except instead of 60 mph it's 15 km/h (and much less exciting to watch). It's frustrating going at a slower pace but I'm quite happy to do it if it means I can ride another day.

Later on, I got a flat. That's always annoying. And when I finally got to camp, I realized that my GPS track had not been recorded for the day. D'oh! Considering all this, I'm in good cheer. I still get fed (a lot) whether I'm first to camp or last.

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Day 19 - (party on,) Binscarth

Another hot one today as we rode out of Saskatchewan and into a new time zone.

Here, as most places on the prairies, we could see evidence of the recent flooding.

Most of these new water features are already populated with ducks and the like. One particular kind of bird (mostly black coloured) makes its nests around these little lakes and is very protective, swooping and squeaking at us as we ride through its territory.

Graham had some drama today when his rear derailleur got caught in his spokes and was catastrophically damaged.

He got a drive to the campsite and will try to get it replaced in Brandon tomorrow.

Ilan and I were riding together yet again. We've developed a system now whereby we take 10 km turns leading and pointing out obstacles. Whoever is riding behind tries to save as much energy as possible using the draft. Depending on the wind direction, this could mean riding directly behind or to either side of the leader. This is more mentally tiring than riding alone but I am starting to get used to it.

We set a fast pace for the conditions today - maybe too fast for me at times but of course I was too proud to say anything. For supper I stuffed myself with perogies, bean salad, pasta salad and cheesecake and quickly fell into a near coma. Despite the time zone change I am more than ready to go to sleep at 9:15.

Today's track

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Addendum

Actually, the day didn't get off to a great start. I locked myself out of my dorm room when I left to use the washroom (in my underwear) at 4:30 am. I had to get security to let me in. As an added bonus, I got lectured about where we were storing our bikes. You can imagine how receptive I was to that. I did whatever groveling I could manage in my semi-conscious state to get him out the door so I could get back to sleep.

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Day 18 - (highway to) Mel...ville

This morning started with an all-you-can-eat breakfast, just like Calgary (I'm enjoying these university rest days). Then, thanks to a route I mapped put last night, we had no trouble getting out of Regina. A good start.

The talking point of the day was another bad road with heavy traffic, the number 10.

Reportedly, Isabel was riding in the middle of the lane of this two-lane 100 km/h highway and nearly caused an accident. This triggered a visit from the RCMP. Rick and Graham also got some trouble from a "tough" guy in a truck towing a trailer of horses, who pulled over to tell Graham he was a sexually active mentally handicapped person (but not in those words). Ilan and I stayed out of trouble but did get more honks in that 30 km stretch than on the entire trip so far.

Aside from that unpleasant 30 km, it was a lovely day in the prairies. My shiny white arm covers performed well, keeping the sun off my arms while feeling cool in the 30 plus degree heat. We stopped in a nice town called Fort D'Apelle for a burger and rolled into the campsite at around 4. I felt pretty good considering the heat and the length of the ride (150 km). I think the rest day did a lot of good.

On Main Street in Melville, there was this cool statue dedicated to E. J. Motter, who founded one of the first shops in the town, a heating and plumbing business that his family ran from 1908 to 1979.

Today's track

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Regina Rest Day

I went on a shopping spree today.  At Western Cycle I got new booties and leg warmers for the rainy days, and at the Running Room I got cool white sleeves to protect my arms from the sun.  I also picked up some SPF 60 Coppertone.  Take that, Mother Nature.

I dropped into a clinic this morning to use a scale and found that I have not lost a significant amount of weight so far.  That's a good thing.  Rest assured that I've been eating my wheaties and then some thanks to our tireless support staff, Nieka and Chelsea.  They know who to turn to when there's extra food that needs eating.

My other goal for the day was to catch up with the Tour de France.  As it happened, the restaurant (the only restaurant within easy walking distance) had the coverage playing on the T.V. by our table.  Sitting in a comfy chair eating fettuccine with the rest of the gang and watching the end of the day's Tour stage was a nice way to recharge.

A housekeeping note:  if you don't see a blog post for a few days, it probably means I don't have Internet access -- not unusual in the out-of-the-way campgrounds we visit.  I write the blog entries every night but sometimes I have to wait a day or two before uploading them.  So don't worry, I haven't been eaten by wolves.. or gophers.  Also, thanks for the comments!

Day 17 - (the) Regina (monologues)

This was about as straightforward day as you can imagine. I woke up feeling a million times better than yesterday and Ilan and I left camp at 8:00 sharp. The temperature was about 10 degrees cooler than the 35 degrees we had yesterday, which was good because I had to wear my arm warmers to protect my badly sunburnt arms.

We had a tailwind for most of the day and averaged over 30 km/h, stopping only twice for snacks. It wasn't as fun as it could have been because we were still on the godforsaken number 11, but at least it was over quickly. We arrived at the University of Regina at 1:00.

We're in nice dorms here with sets if four rooms connected by a large common area.

This should be a great home base for doing very little tomorrow.

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Day 16 - (let them eat) Craik

After the hard day and late night yesterday, I was in no mood for an early start this morning. I "slept in" until 6:40 and slowly got ready, finally leaving on my own around 9.

I met Chris, Isabel and Jim in Kenaston (blizzard capital of Canada) and we ate at the only cafe we could find, run by a man from Laos. The Chow Mein was great!

The rest of the ride became an exercise in frustration due to the horribly inadequate shoulder and high traffic on route 11, the main corridor between Saskatoon and Regina.

This is really a worst case scenario for a cyclist. You either have to ride on the road and hope that no one runs you over at 110 km/h or test your bike handling on the unpaved shoulder (not easy on skinny tires).

For a while I tried the shoulder while shouting obscenities at Saskatchewan. This is the kind of thing I sometimes do when riding alone. In the middle of one of my rants, "Bunch of f...ing..." I looked over and there was the young woman I had met yesterday comfortably passing me on the road. "oh, hi!" I said sheepishly. She laughed awkwardly and from that point on I stuck to the road.

Now I'm lying in the tent as it is getting pounded by a vicious thunderstorm. So far I'm still dry and cozy, and very thankful it didn't happen a few hours earlier.

Today's track

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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.

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Day 14 - Kindersley (surprise)

The sky was still spitting at us when we got up this morning. Ilan and I waited until well after the others to get on the road, expecting the road to start drying out, and we were right. Here is Ilan chasing the rain out of Alberta:

The route couldn't have been simpler. We exited the motel and followed one road all the way to the destination. Along the way we saw lots of pretty yellow canola fields...

...and crossed into Saskatchewan at km 88.

Somewhere around km 120, we were blessed with a massive tailwind. At this point, everything came together. The temperature was perfect (low 20s), the sun was shining, the road was smooth and flat and the wind was pushing us along at 35 - 45 km/h. I told Ilan, "this is why I ride my bike." It was perfect. And Ilan made it to Kindersley just in time for a speaking engagement related to his charity.

To top it off, we were treated to a steak dinner and cheesecake (I had three pieces). All in all a satisfying day!

Today's track

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