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!

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Day 13 - (the) Youngstown (and the restless cyclists)

Another long ride through the prairies, though again it was not what I'd call flat. Ilan and I rode together in tight formation, which saved a lot of energy when we rode into the wind from the north.

The scenery was much the same as yesterday: vast expanses of green fields. Our route guide said there would be a water tower in Hanna feeding a gravity-fed water pipeline, meaning that the rest of the ride would be downhill. We were eagerly anticipating a huge water tower, but were a bit underwhelmed when we got there.

The downhill was a bit of a let down too. It was better described as up-and-down with a slight bias towards down. Also, the road surface became rough with creases across the road every 10 meters or so sending shocks through our already weary bodies. The last 20 k were definitely the hardest. When we reached the Windmill Motel I felt like I'd just been through the spin cycle. It felt great to lie down.

As I lay there and started to dose off, the sky suddenly opened up. Some of us went out into the hallway to watch the thunderstorm.

Unfortunately, this rained out the meal preparations that had been going on outside. Instead of chicken sandwiches, we ordered pizza from a local joint. My gut could only handle two pieces, but we did get treated to awesome deserts by the motel owners. Hopefully that'll get me through another long day tomorrow.

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Day 12 - Drumheller (high water)

A loooong day today, my first century ride ever (100 miles is a century) and in fact I ended up doing an additional 20 km for a total of over 180 km.

In the morning we all loaded up with an all-you-can-eat breakfast at the university. I had a bagel with jam, cereal, french toast, scrambled eggs, hash browns, fruit salad, two flavours of yoghurt and orange juice. The scary thing was that I was hungry again by 1:00. Goes to show that we're burning through a lot of calories.

I rode with Owen for the first half of the ride. After a very convoluted route out of Calgary, we hit the flatlands where the roads run due east and due north.

You can see miles of road ahead. It's there, waiting for you, taunting you. The hardest part about these days will be controlling our pace. It's tempting to go as fast as you can to eat the miles up. That's what I did for part of the day today, but I'm not sure of my body could handle that day in and day out.

The Red Deer River valley was a very cool sight. After taking a ferry across the river, there was a nasty climb up the east side of the valley.

It's supposed to be a 12% grade, and I was definitely huffin and puffin by the top.

After I got to camp, I visited the Royal Tyrell Museum and checked out the dinosaur bones. A classy establishment, for sure. Rawrrrr!

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Calgary Rest Day

Rest day is a bit of a misnomer on this trip, since there'd usually lots to do. One nice thing about being in a new, empty residence building is the abundance of washing machines. Now all my clothes are lemon fresh.

A few of us went downtown to MEC, since there's always something there that you need. I got a chain cleaner and got my drivetrain nice and shiny, while making my hands disgustingly grimy.

Wandering around the U of C campus, I came across this sculpture, tucked away behind some trees:

The plaque says it was a gift from the steel fabricators association or something like that. Seems like one of those gifts you open and say "oh, isn't that... interesting!"

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Day 11 - Calgary (stampeding)

A longish ride from Banff to Calgary today. The plan called for 145 km but we all took a more direct route that shaved off 10 - 20 k. Well, my route was a little less direct because I went the wrong way leaving the campground and did an extra tour of the town. It was a good day to have GPS.

The day started out cold. It was about 6 degrees as we ate breakfast and got our bikes ready.

After my navigational mishap, I made good time along this nice bike path that follows the trans-Canada through Banff national park...

and caught up with Chris and Jim, who I rode with for the rest of the day. Eventually, we cleared the mountains and entered the foothills. A welcome change of terrain, accompanied by a welcome increase in temperature.

Now we're in a beautiful new residence at the University of Calgary, getting ready for a well deserved day off.

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Day 10 - Banff (de soleil)

A short ride today, only about 70 km over the lovely Bow Valley Parkway. For the first time, I spent the entire ride on my own. I was hoping that I would bump into the others so we could check out Johnston Canyon, but it was not to be. Alone and without a bike lock, I only made it to the trail head.

It reminded me of 5 years ago, when I was stuck in the same parking lot with a flat tire. The curse continues.

Due to light rain, I didn't get a lot of pictures. The ones I did get all look the same, at least on my phone. Lotsa mountains. Here's one:

My internal soundtrack for the ride was "Here I Go Again" by Whitesnake and "Weather With You" by Crowded House. Both were appropriate. Riding in the tailwind, it really did feel like I was taking the weather with me. The trick was to find a nice sunny spot and ride at just the right speed so I was always in a spot of sun. It sounds far fetched but it really worked.

In Banff, we set up at a massive camp ground with a view of a massive piece of rock. Here, a contemplative Graham gives a sense of scale:

For supper, we were treated by one of Ilan's connections at an Anglican church. It was funny to see everyone on their best behavior. I felt like letting loose a flood of F-bombs the minute we left the place to relieve the tension. Not quite in my character though.

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