Between the Lakes

From Minnedosa, it was a short and familiar haul. I was enroute to the Gingras Farm in McCreary, where I spent many weekends in University disconnecting from Winnipeg and relaxing.
About 100 km from Minnedosa to McCreary but it was some good riding, at last. The highways were familiar and decent, with little shoulder but smooth pavement and light traffic.
The sun stayed hidden most of the day so it ended up being very comfortable on the temperature front as well.
Made it into the farm around 2 pm and my favourite pup ever only barked once before recognizing me and launching into a series of excited yips.
As usual, Tammy and Ivan had a lot going on but invited me in and let me make myself at home.
Only a single rest day this time around. On Tuesday, I decided that a Wednesday departure would be for the best to dodge storms and make it into the city before my  Uncle Robert took off camping.
Wednesday morning I enjoyed some patio coffee before bidding the dog farewell and heading into town with Tammy. Another short and familiar 30 km into St. Rose du Lac before heading east to the Manitoba Narrows. Originally I had planned on only going a short ways past the Narrows, but Gimli and Winnipeg were farther than I had realized so I pushed through a 170 km day to Eriksdale in order to lighten my kilometers for the days ahead.
Met some other cross Canada cyclists named Vanessa and [name forgotten] at the municipal campground, and chatted with each seperately about the Cross Canada Grandpas and the insect forecast for Ontario, among other things.
Saskatoons were in season and abundant so I engaged berry picking mode and filled a ziploc to bursting before oozing into bed, ready to check out the Arborg Bakery and Gimli the next day.
Just as I was heading off to Sleeptown I wrested tick #3 from my armpit just as it was getting ready to bite. Nice try you little butthole.
Nice, sunny morning with some oatmeal, packed liberally with saskatoons, and then it was on the road by 8 am. The two other bike tourists were nowhere to be seen on the highway, so I can only assume they went into town first.
Ironically, the rural highway to Arborg was in much better shape than Highway 6. The shoulder had a decent amount of gravel, but was smooth and wide for the most part with some of the lightest traffic I've seen in Manitoba. Don't let the "Caution, flying stones" signs dissuade you! It was a great morning ride, complete with a light tailwind.
I made the 70 km into Arborg in less than 3 hours and took an early lunch at the bakery. Well, by lunch, I mean I ate 5 donuts on the patio. Next time someine asks me why I'm doing this bike tour, I'll have to tell them I do it for the 5-donut lunches.
Turning south towards Gimli (and Winnipeg), the wind inexplicably shifted 90 degrees and caught me as a headwind. There is no escape.
Adding in the 30 degree temperatures and the hour and a bit ride into Gimli seemed to take longer than the 3 1/2 hours of the morning. My first choice of pit stops in Gimli, an ice cream shop, seemed to be closed, so I contented myself with iced coffee and a shady patio.
With the severe damage done to my stamina and mental fortitude by the heat, I decided to just go another 17 km to Winnipeg Beach for the night and do a 80 km day into Winnipeg the next day.
I wasn't sure what to expect from Winnipeg Beach, as it is a provincial park campground and only has full service sites, but I got a nice spot near the beach and bathroom and it didn't break the bank at 25$.
I took a quick swim at the beach to get the day's sweat and dust off and opted out of the shower (it was coin operated, I'll need the beer money) to cook dinner.
After my customary dinner gorging, I read in the sun for a bit, drank some electrolytes and settled in for an evening, surrounded by the sounds of children playing, pups barking, and a motorcycle churning off in the distance.

Good old Alpine Archie

The ever present tick threat

Family resemblance?

Welcome to Manitoba

Edit: these posts are getting longer and longer. Time to start breaking them up? Still not keen on doing daily entries...
Let me paint you a picture.
It is 3 pm (maybe 4 pm, still not keyed in to Manitoba time), on a narrow back highway in Southwest Manitoba.
I do not know what the temperature is but even the locals told me I shouldn't be riding a bike today. All I know is that it is hot.
Sweat runs down my arms in a steady stream, leaving milky tracks as it carries away my spf 60 and bares my skin to the UV menace.
My hands are gloved in a perpetual layer of moisture, causing my grip to slip off my bars periodically.
A new run off of sweat forms on my brow and drips stinging into my eye.
As I labour down the road, I begin to dream of cool autumn days.

Anyways, today was frickin hot.
I awoke at 5:45, and on the way to the bathroom I decided that I may as well get an early start before the wind started up.
Good planning on my part, as today became consecutive headwind day #8.
Even though it's only been a couple days since my rest in Regina, the heat and constant wind are draining my stamina, so I take it easy in the morning.
I cross the border into Manitoba around lunch time and am sorely disappointed that I only get a tiny little "Welcome to Manitoba" sign. Not even a pullout!
As I approach my northward turnoff, the wind picks up to a steady 35 km/hr, as if to try forcing me back into Saskatchewan.
I take a long rest in Melita and appreciate the first of many giant statues of things. Every town in Manitoba must have a giant statue of something.
Intending on doing a long day to Souris, I push on north, but the heat and the buffeting crosswinds take their toll and when I roll into Pipestone, the thought of going another 55 km seems unbearable so I locate the campground and hit up the local cafe for dinner #1 and some cold ones. After dinner #2, I read, stretch my legs and retire to my sauna, I mean, my tent.
Despite my failure to reach Souris, Google maps informs me I have done 140 km today, and also the same distance yesterday. I guess the new saying is, "If you can't get tailwinds, just leave your humanity behind and crush 140 km into a headwind every day".

I woke up at the crack of dawn the next day, appreciated the blood-red sunrise over the fields and began getting ready for an early start, in order to beat the heat and wind.
Welllll, maybe just the heat. The wind was at full strength right from the get-go. Day 9 of tailwinds, woohoo.
The first 30 minutes or so were very tough. Probably some of the worst cycling I've had on this trip between the immediate headwind, muscle cramps and just general fatigue and lack of motivation.
Then, I must have gone over some mental plateau or had something just snap inaide my head, because suddenly I just stopped caring about the wind, or my legs, or anything except turning my pedals. I just fell into what was probably the ideal pace and completely zoned out for 2 1/2 hours into Souris. Maybe the constant droning of the headwind and lack of rest hypnotized me? Maybe I really am going crazy like the old ladies of the grocery checkouts acuse me of when I tell them I cycled all the way from the Yukon.
Anyways, I eventually made it to the northward turnoff to Highway 10, and finally got out of the wind heading towards Brandon. I also got my first section of seperated highway shoulder for 2 days, and the sun stayed behind the clouds so it was much more comfortable weather, bonus!
Actually, with the exception of the wind, cycling in Manitoba was nicer than Saskatchewan. I was even starting to see lots of wildflowers appear in what had formerly been roadsides completely dominated by alfalfa and brome. I was later informed that this is because Manitoba has stopped spraying herbicides in the ditches. Way to go Manitoba!
Anyways, with more flowers on the roadside I was taking more breaks and generally in a better spot mentally.
Back in the world of pedalling my bike, I continued on past Brandon another 50 km to Minnedosa, dealing with some gritty highway shoulders and gentle hills for a total of 155 km for the day. Long, hot days must be taking their toal, as my legs were uncontrollably shaking by the time I stopped to pick up some beers at the Minnedosa LC.
I secured a tent site at the Minnedosa Beach and was settling in for a night of excessive calorie consumption and writinh when a motorcycle tourist wandered over and introduced himself. I wasn't feeling too chatty but he was actually quite an interesting person and I ended up having a pretty long conversation with him.
A later bedtime than I planned before an easy 100 km day to the Gingras farm for some rest, planning and a reunion with my favourite dog ever. But more on that in the next post.

Saskatchewan Review

Not gonna sugar coat this, Saskatchewan suckkkkked (except Regina, which was nicer than expected).
Here's the roundup from what seemes like an eternity trapped in the Land of Living Skies.

Days spent in Sask: 8
Days pedalled: 6
Kilometers pedalled: ~680
Hours spent cycling: ~54
Hours spent cycling in headwind: ~48
Beers drank: ~ 14
Beers drank outside Regina: 3
Favourite small town: Carnduff I guess

What sucked the most:
Constant headwinds. And by constant , I mean literally every day I was in Sask. I had maybe 2 hours of various tailwind when I turned north briefly and about 4 hours of crosswinds.

What else sucked: It was hot, and the small towns and even some bigger towns (cough cough Kindersley) had very little interesting going on to see or do so I ended up just riding long days. The scenery was also quite monotonous, leading to periods of boredom and impatience.

The not so sucky: I came to develop an attachment to Coop gas bars. They were a fixture in most small towns and often had a great selection of reasonably priced snacks, clean bathrooms, and friendly staff. Best of all, they almost always had a place to refill my water bottles.
There were also some decent people in the small towns of the southeast, who showed an interest in my bike tour and weren't too overbearing.

Side note, municipal campgrounds: Just about every small town in Saskatchewan had a campground run by the local town. Amenities varied but usually you could get power, water and access to free showers for about 20$. I relied on these little spots both as overnight destinations and to top up my water during lunch breaks.
Some issues with the municipal campgrounds: Often situated 100 feet away from busy train tracks, expect sleep disruptions. Drinking water occasionally has a weird taste, never got sick though. And finally, these campgrounds are some of the most productive mosquitoe factories I have ever come across. And keep in mind I've been to the North Slope.

Overall thoughts: I have always tried to drive through Saskatchewan as quickly as possible on past road trips and decided to give it a little more patience this time around. However, my standard approach seems to be the best one; just get through Saskatchewan as quickly as you can, but visit Regina. Moose Jaw looked cool too but I was too pooped to explore.

Sweat and Blood

After a final attempt by Paige to fatten me up, I quickly tossed my gear on the newly serviced bike and hit the road. Paige had sent me off with pepperoni and several boxes of Muscle Mac, probably the most bicycle touring appropriate dinner I've seen yet. Add to this the groceries I had bought in Swift Current and I was looking pretty good for food so I just grabbed some more donuts at Country Corner (obsessed) and picked up some lunch stuff at Safeway on my way ouy of the city. Stopped to use the bathroom at Starbucks and actually had a nice chat with some of the folk sitting outside.
Then it was off down Highway 6. It wasn't long before I ran into some road construction and my old nemesis, the prairie headwind. The construction wasn't too bad; I was forced to ride with traffic at times but the police presence in the area forced my vehicular buddies to behave themselves.
Oh right, today was quite the holiday. Summer Solstice, Aboriginal Day, and apparently Selfie Day. Being the Summer Solstice, it was also the longest day of the year. It also happened to be the hottest day on the bike so far. By noon it was at about +28 and probably peaked above 30. I didn't actually notice the heat too too much until I realized how much sweat I was exuding and water I was intaking. Final water count for the day stands at 8.5 liters.
Anyways, I survived the heat and made it slightly past Weyburn to Nickel Lake Park. Huge campground, with apparently a lot of things to do, but I was drained from my day in the sun and decided that the ambition for the night only extended towards showering, eating, and writing a bit before bed. However, I had to extend that ambition to getting a small fire going, as I soon discovered the campsite was positively thick with mosquitoes. Many bites and one pot of Muscle Mac later, I extinguished the coals and scampered into the tent to strip down to minimum layers and unwind.
Rain in the forecast for the next few days but fingers crossed I outrun it towards Manitoba.
I woke up the next morning. I saw the wind rattling the leaves in the cottnwoods. Sure enough, another day in the headwind. As if that wasn't a bad enough start, a bird pooped on my tent overnight.
Once on the road I did my best to stick to an easy pace. The wind was fairly light but I am well acquainted with the habits of headwinds and knew it would only get stronger as the day wore on.
Adding to the rigor of the headwind, the sun was out and unimpeded today, so even three layers of spf 60 eventually proved inadequate to prevent light burning.
Road conditions were worse than usual. I encountered a 30 km stretch of highway where the shoulder had been replaced with loose gravel and so I was forced to pick between slipping and sliding in the shoulder or mixing it up with semis on the ashphalt. Oh yes, I also had a flat in the morning. Glorious day, wonderful day.
I avoided buying many snacks today as I was still panniers deep in Regina provisions, so I opted instead to use my pitstops to purchase gatorade in order to preserve my emergency water supplies and keep my electrolytes up in the scorching heat. I did spring for some donuts at the Tim Hortons in Estevan, but that was mostly just an excuse to use the wifi, after Country Corner donuts it just wasn't the same.
Doing some research on the Tims wifi, I saw that there was a campground in Alameda, 60 km distant. I had only gone 80 km so far, but there was still the growing headwind to contend with. The forecast for afternoon thunderstorms in Estevan eventually settled the matter and I struck out east. About an hour from Alameda, the 110 km in the heat and wind finally took its toll and I was hitting the wall like never before. I had some hard moments motivation and sanity wise but eventually made it into the campground for the night. Another dinner of muscle mac, a much needed shower and then the mosquitoes chased me into bed for the night. Headwinds for tomorrow and possible rain in the forecast but if all goes well I should escape Saskatchewan tomorrow and break free into my second homeland.
I'm coming for you, Manitoba.

They named a slushie after me

And these muffins are named for me too

Experience Regina

Regina. The Queen City. Pile of Bones. The city that rhymes with fun.
It goes by many names.
I have only ever passed the outskirts of Regina before this trip, so I was not very familiar with the city. I ended up being pleasantly surprised. I arrived in Regina Monday night via cousin rescue from Moose Jaw and settled in to stay three nights with Paige and Joel until Paige had to go back to work on Thursday morning.
As mentioned previously on the blog, I had done some pre-rest day research and discovered that Paige lived walking distance from three breweries. I would soon discover that she also lived right by an excellent donut shop and a bike shop.
I spent the two days in Regina hunting down fuel for my camp stove, rotating my tires and dropping off my bike for some hub maintenance on the rear wheel. Amazingly, the mechanic at Ducth Cycle offered to comp me the service and parts when he learned that I was going across Canada. I couldn't accept such a generous offer and forced him to take some beer money from me. I would later learn that the Cross Canada Grandpas had been in Dutch Cycle the day before, just missed them!
Anyways, Paige did her best to fatten me up, and I helped as best I could by making repeat visits to Country Corner Donuts and Rebellion Brewing. By the way, I highly recommend all Regina businesses listed in this post.
Many showers and hours of sleep later, the rest days came to an end and it was time to break away from the Trans Can and head southeast towards Manitoba. Didn't hike any mountains on this rest period but maybe its for the best, considering how hard I pushed myself from Calgary to Moose Jaw.

Side Story: Alberta Review

Well I was in and through Alberta super fast, so this will be a pretty basic review.
Total days in Alberta: 6
Days spent cycling: 4.5
Kilometers cycled: ~500
Beers drank: only 8! Missed out on the Calgary craft breweries.
Restaurants featured on "You Gotta Eat Here": 2
Mountains hiked: 1
Nephews met: 1

What worked out really well:
Highway 22 from Lundbreck to Turner Valley. I was warned about the shoulder and trucks but the shoulder was smooth and nice, and trucks not an issue. One rough and narrow section for 5 km heading into Longview.

What didn't work so well:
My rain gear! I am considering investing in a better rain coat and some waterproof socks in Winnipeg after getting drenched a few times in Alberta.

Overall impressions: Good highways, very sparse rest stops, unpredictable weather, and good coffee is difficult to find. Surprisingly good tap water in small towns.

Long Hauls on the Trans Can

Before I went to bed in Saskatchewan Landing, I decided to make good use of the firewood mountain and cook as many meals as possible without using my stove. After waking up at 6 am and making a quick trip to the nearest bush, I got a fire going and began making preparations for breakfast. A nice leisurely morning spent boiling water on the campfire and reading was followed by an 8 am departure.
It was straight up a 5 km long hill, and then ups and downs all the way to Swift Current, 50 km away. While the ride went quickly enough, I was having trouble with hunger and a general fatigue in my legs.
I decided that the happiest solution was to simply up my calorie intake and take it a bit easy for a bit.
So, I indulged in a nice lunch break at Swift Current, followed by some excessive grocery shopping (now carrying almost enough food to make it clear to Manitoba). Heading east again, I had a tickle of headwind but it was nothinf awful and I made myself ride to a comfortable pace, rather than a specific speed.
A nice (but hot) afternoon saw me into the town of  Morse just before 4 pm, where I settled into the campground. I took the chance to even out my tan on the grass of my site until a casual back scratch revealed the hidden tick menace (tick count up to 2 so far but no bites yet). I abandoned the sunbathing in lieu of actual bathing and took my first shower in  days.
As I started dinner, a group of fellow cyclists rolled in. They would eventually be introduced as the Grandpas Across Canada (I hope thats right). These guys have it figured out. They are supported and have an RV following them with meals cooked nightly and an astounding variety of booze. Luckily I was invited to join them for pasta and wine and beer and whisky.
And also some good conversation too.
Eventually though, the grandpas partied me out and I headed to a late bedtime at 10:30 pm.
I will definitely have to keep an eye out for these guys in the future. Beers on me next time!
Between the late bedtime and occasional trains going by 100 ft away, it took me a while to get into bike touring mode the next morning. Finally got on the road around 8 am.
The first 30 km weren't so bad, but then I hit the 5th consecutive day of headwind and began a slow, gradual, 30 km climb. Very interesting considering Saskatchewan is supposed to be flat and with tailwinds.
By the time I battled into Moose Jaw, my legs were just about completely drained. I accepted my cousin Paige's offers of a ride into Regina, partially motivated by the 30$ charge for tent camping I would have paid otherwise. Settling in at the Tim Hortons, I made use of the free wifi (I may have gone a bit overboard on mobile data...) to kill time and calculated that I have biked 775 km since I left Calgary 6 days ago, with most of that distance going into a steady headwind. No wonder I'm so demolished.
At least Paige lives walking distance from most of Regina's breweries, so I should have a decent rest in Regina before cutting away from the Trans Canada southeast into Manitoba.

The only pic I took in the last 2 days. Oops, too busy crushing kilometers.

Slow and Steady

Morning in Cereal found me at 6 am.
Peeking out of the picnic shelter, I saw a very waterlogged earth, but a blue sky with only a handful of wispy clouds.
As I started down the road, my legs felt more stiff and heavy than at any point on this trip. I chalked it up to catching a chill in the downpour the day before and settled in for a long day into Saskatchewan.
To my surprise though, I loosened up quickly and made the 28 km to Oyen in an hour. I stopped into A&W at the roadside for second breakfast (future side story on bicycle tourist mealtimes in the works) and was joined by an older gentleman by the name of Graham, formerly from Abbotsford. Not only did he know a colleague of mine in the Yukon, but he offered to give me a bunch of veggies he had with him. Finally, a random act of awesomeness on the roadside in Alberta! And only 30 km from the border.
With my veggie supplies topped off, I sunscreened up and took off for Saskatchewan.
I caught onto a good pace for a bit and then soon spotted another cyclist off in the distance. I applied my caffeine afterburners and chased him down to see if it was Curtis from Winnipeg. Nope! It was Joel (Joe???) from I assume Quebec.
I carried on the momentum from my chase and made it to the Saskatchewan border (34 km) in under an hour. Great pace!
The rest of the ride into Kindersley was pretty tame. I had driven that stretch of road many times in my old university road trip days and with my early wake up and the humidity, I was almost starting to nod off. I actually sighted Kindersley from about 30 km off, which is terrible, because it means I had to slowly creep closer for an hour before I finally got into town.
The highway and roads in Kindersley were inexplicably covered in dirt and pebbles, and it seemed like the two stores I would have wanted to visit were closed down.
I made do with a donut and coffee break at Time Hortons and a quick trip to a small Coop grocery for a grocery top off.
Decided to go on the advice of a dude I met in Fernie and get some pop tarts as snack food.
It was about 4 pm as I was preparing to leave town and I decided to head another 65 km south to Eston. I caught onto a slight tailwind and got onto some amazing shoulder for the first 30 km and got some easy kilometers in. The last 35 km was on one of the lumpiest, most heaved highways ever but luckily most of the ridges were the right size for bicycles and traffic was light and considerate.
Later realized that I had completed 185 km today, an all time record for best distance in a day, beating out the 175 I did in the Southern Lakes Gran Fondo last summer! Slow and steady is the key if you can't find a strong tailwind I guess!
Torn between going to Riverhurst or Saskatchewan Landing tomorrow but I'll just ride down the highway and see where my heart takes me.
Another early morning as I was woken up by just about every train in Saskatchewan going through town. Turning east onto the highway, I felt a wind tickling my face.
I frowned.
I continued frowing for 55 km and 3 hours until Elrose, when I limped into the grocery store for ice cream. Strange, everyone from Vancouver to here has been going on about the awesome tailwinds I would get on the prairies, but I've been wrestling headwinds for 4 days straight.
After a lunch break, I turned south down Highway 4, and got out of the headwind. Once I worked the stiffness from the morning's hard effort out, I was able to get some decent speed going and just took a nice, restful spin south. The sun was intense today! Not too too hot but just bright. It was a 3 layers of sunscreen kind of day for sure.
I settled into the Provincial Campground at Saskatchewan Landing, after 125 km for the day. A bit of an early stop, but I wanted to take an afternoon off to rest, swim and get to bed early. Between the literal mountain of free firewood and the quiet of the park, it turned out to be a good place to stay for the night. Cooked some dinner over the campfire, read for a bit and then called it an early night.

It's not all sun and games

After dinner at the campground in Hanna, I considered taking a dip in the lake. The discovery of a leech while scooping water to wash my cook pot quickly settled my indecision on the matter.
Shortly after cleaning up dinner and trading in a book at the little free library, I saw a large and ominous cloud rolling in towards me. Getting everything into a waterproof state, I settled in and read my book at the picnic table until the first drops of rain chased me into the tent. What followed was a strong storm that was mostly wind with a smattering of driven rain, that only lessened as I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up and was delighted to see sunlight filtering through the bushes. A quick glance around the horizon however, revealed another storm apparently on the way. I broke my fast on day old coffee and a quarter of an apple pie to save time and quickly got the camp packed up. I hit the road, intending to outrun the storm.
I soon learned that these prairie storms defy all ground rules for prevailing winds. I wrestled with headwinds and strong crosswinds most of the day while trying not to get blown off the narrow shoulder by gusts from passing trucks. Guess I'm still waiting on one of those legendary tailwind days of the prairies.
The morning's storm followed me down the highway until about lunchtime, where I finally got ahead of it at Youngstown. However, looking ahead, I could see that the highway was flanked on either side by some pretty evil looking clouds.
Setting out with the goal of making it to Oyen or even across to Alsask, I came up between the two cloud systems, now building to potent storms. Around 1 pm, I came under the leading edge of the smaller storm, and started to get sprinkled on. Eventually, these sprinkles became a driving deluge and I was quite thouroughly soaked from the rain and the spray generated by passing vehicles. As I approached Cereal, the rain stopped but I could see the bigger storm to my right getting quite dangerous. Lightning was flashing several times a minute and the landscape was totally obscured by the rain.
I decided to hide in the picnic shelter at the campground and watch the cloud to see what it would do.
This was probably the best choice. The nastier of the storms didn't come my way, but a new storm rolled out of the north and brought heavy rainfalls and chills for the rest of the afternoon. Even just sitting in the shelter in dry clothes was cold and miserable. I can't imagine how much it would have sucked to keep going, let alone the very real possibility of getting blasted by lightning.
At about 5 pm, after several hours of continuous downpour, it looked like I was stranded in Cereal for the night. I pitched my tent right in the picnic shelter, cooked dinner and some hot coffee to warm me up, oiled my chain and then settled in for an early bedtime in the hopes of a dry morning and early start to make up for the short and crummy day.

Visiting an old friend from my days of driving back from university

Marooned by thunderstorms in Cereal

New roads and old roads

Finally wrapped up the rest days in Calgary. Well, I did hike up a big ass mountain the other day so not a 100% rest day there I guess. Anyways, I took my sweet time leaving the city. I adjusted my new seat, did some grocery shopping, and sat around doing coffee and donuts for a while. Important thing you must tell yourself regarding all aspects of bike touring: it's not a race.
I did eventually get the point where everything was loaded up and I hit the road around 11 am. Quick pit stop to visit my sister and nephew on the way out of the city and take some pics with my and my nephew's matching outfits.
Only a kilometer later I was playing a rousing game of "what's making that noise" with my bike so I pulled over for some creaking thing diagnosis and a sandwich. Turns out I just needed to tighten the bolts holding my new saddle in place, so easy fix, quick lunch, and back on the road.
Pretty easy afternoon, spent half the day facing north and trying not to get blown off the road, and the other half facing east and flying down the road at 30 - 40 km/hr.
Set my goal for the day as the town of Carbon, and it worked out just right that I was starting to get tired right at the point I rolled into town. Despite only having a few  streets, it took me nearly half an hour to find the campground (blame Google Maps), but I eventually got settled in for the night.
Not really the best night of sleep though. Maybe I got used to sleeping in a real bed again, and maybe it was the coyotes howling in the valley, but I woke up a lot during the night. Nice and dry though, despite the thunder clouds that were threatening when I jumped into the tent fot the night.
Legs were definitely a bit stiff despite the rest days, and I had some dece hills for the first 10 km but the sun was shining, and I was biking a highway I've never been on before to Drumheller.
Few hours later, I was sitting outside the cafe in Drumheller, watching a corgi bark at a dinosaur statue painted like batman, sipping my free latte (Telus promotional event of some kind, jokes on them I don't even live here).
I decided over coffee to take Highway 9 into Saskatchewan, despite driving it about ten timea previously. I remembered it being relatively quiet and the camping and grocery options seemed good. It's also just a nice road to drive.
Leaving out of Drumheller, I expected some downhills towards the afternoon, since the prairies are supposed to slope away from the Rockies and I seem to keep going uphill. To my confusion, I seemed to be gradually climbing, albiet at only a 2% gradient, for about 35 km. Turning in to Delia for a water top-up and snack break, I happened to find a sign that kindly informed me that I was at the highest point on the old railline between Calgary and Saskatoon. Well, that explained a lot.
The last 34 km into Hanna went alright, aside from some headwinds, until I crested the last hill and saw the town off in the distance.
"Alright, almost there", I thought.
Then 5 minutes passed. Then 10, 15, 20 minutes. And despite the sign informing me that the town was only 1 km away, my own eyes (and later, my spedometer) suggested it was more like 3 or 4.
When I finally made it into town, I was hitting the wall pretty bad so I limped and stumbled into the grocery store for emergency pie and potato chips. Stashing my treasures, I hammered out the last 4 km to the campground on fumes and settled in for the night.
Nice enough campground, well maintained and quite busy for a Wednesday night.

When you gotta go, you gotta go

There's a lot to appreciate in this ad

Yet another beautiful campsite. Not free unfortunately.

Well timed rest days

Following my pickup and delivery into Calgary, I got settled into my aunt's home in Bowness, where my dad was staying for a short visit.
My cousin Kristal took me on the Bowness tour and we dropped into the local patisserie to purchase 50$ worth of pastry for the family dinner that evening.
Quick shower, quick trip to CostCo and then it was off to my sister's house for dinner and to meet my nephew.
Between dinner, pastries, beer and post-dinner munchie mix, I did an admirable job of refilling the calories from my big day the day before.
The next day brought a morning of steady rain and +8. Perfect timing for a rest day!
I mostly spent the day cruising around town with my dad, shopping for new shorts and a new bike saddle. My old shorts have been crotchless for about 1200 km, and the old saddle that came stock on the bike was just not cut out for cross Canada comfort. Another dinner with the sister, brother-in-law and nephew closed off a quiet day.
On Monday, I still had some last minute things to do and I decided to reach out to a girl I knew about hanging out for the day. My dad however, was due to drive Trudy the Travel Trailer north for my Aunt Zenna, so after going out for breakfast, he took off north and left me to my own devices.
Not long after, Gem picked me up and we took a road trip out to Canmore to hike Mt. Rundle. What a perf day for a hike too. It was super windy and a bit chilly, especially at the summit where there was a liberal dusting of snow and icicles. However, the sun made a number of appearances and we got to watch a ton of gnarly storms sweep past us without a drop of rain falling on us (little bit of driving snow though).
We shared a bag of wine gums at the summit (last of my snack reserves) and then scooted on over to Banff for dinner. Killed two awesome pizzas at some pizza place I can't remember the name of. Late return to Calgary meant I didn't get any pre-departure chores done but the stellar day was more than worth putting them aside for the next morning.

Almost regretted leaving the winter coat in the Yukon

Panorama from the peak

Out of the hills... and back into them

220 km from Fernie to Turner Valley in 24 hours.
I crossed over the Crowsnest Pass yesterday around lunchtime and caught a mega tailwind on the other side of the pass.
I flew down the eastern flank of the Rockies, stopping for the customary photo ops at the summit and Alberta border, and made a pit stop into Coleman to visit my great aunt Carol.
After a re-energizing lunch and some catching up, I checked out potential stopping points for the night and settled on Chain Lakes, 100 km distant. I had been doing easy days for a bit and the tailwind seemed to be holding so I decided it was time to crush a long day and get into Calgary by Saturday night.
Descending out of the foothills was insane! Between the wind and the downhill I averaged about 50 km/hr betwee. Coleman and Lundbreck. It was like riding a motorcycle, but if a motorcycle was slightly unbalanced and had 1.5 inch wide tires.
At the turnoff to Highway 22, Cowboy Trail, I stopped for a second to reflect on the last 4 weeks of riding and admire the wind-swept prairie. I made some awesome time for a while across the prairie, until I hit the section of highway that must have been planned by a visiting engineer from BC...
The road cut east and immediately took me up what would eventually be a 20 km hill. By the time I ground my way up to Chain Lakes, it was 8:30 pm so I quickly set up camp and made a quick pot of soup.
I knew that the weather was supposed to turn in the next two days and waking up several times during the night to rain falling on my tent did little to lift my optimism for the long day into Calgary.
Sure enough, I woke up to thick, overcast skies and a light drizzle.
However, by the time I boiled some water and got my brekkie on the go, the sun peeked out on me. Communicating with fam in the city, it seemed there was a discussion about whether to come pick me up. Since I was packed up by 8:30 and the Calgarians were still waking up, I hopped on the bike to at least do a few kilometers.
Through the morning I dodged and ran from rain showers with varying success. Eventually, the wind shifted to push me along and sweep the storms just ahead of me and I flew into Turner Valley by 11:30.
There I met my cousin and dad out of Calgary, had some lunch at the Chuckwagon and sampled some craft spirits and caught a ride into Calgary for the last 70 km to start my first set of rest days in three weeks.

Last of the mountains

Welcome to the foothills, try not to get blown off the road

Scenic, but ominous morning

Side Story: BC Review

Well, I passed out of BC and the mountains today so here's my quick, late-night roundup of good and bad in a very large province.
Days spent in BC: 28?
Kilometers pedalled in BC: ~ 1800
Beers drank in BC: lots

Best Brewery: Old Yale Brewing in Chilliwack

Best latte: Rock Salt Cafe and Restaurant on Saltspring (also the best lemon meringue I've ever had)

Best donuts: Safeways across BC. Honorable mentions to Harvest Cafe in Chilliwack for best apple fritter ever, and to Ferraro Foods in Rossland for inexpensive, large and good donuts. Ferraro was close to #1 but Safeways got em beat on price and variety.

Favourite town: Rossland (Runner up: Terrace)

Least favourite town: Coquitlam and the Greater Vancouver Area

Best road: The highway along the Skeena between Terrace and Prince Rupert

Worst road: The Vancouver Island Highway between Port McNeil and Sayward

Worst hill: Allison Pass

Best hill: Paulson Pass

Overal impressions: Expensive, lots of coffee and beer. Avoid Provincial Parks wherever possible and camp at private campgrounds or in the woods. Very accepting of cycling and bicycle tourists. The bar is set high for hospitality moving east into the Prairies.

The High Country

Woke up to a chilly morn in Yahk Provincial Park. Due to an underestimation of my own pace, I did not have to make it to Fernie, 180 km distant until two nights later.
Another strong morning too! Must be finally getting the hang of rest and nutrition. About an hour into the day, I was surprised to see that I was already into Mountain Time. I guess I am already in line with the border of Alberta only a little ways to the north.
Spent most of the day not really paying attention to the ride. It was hot, uphill more often than not, and something ib the air was giving me hay fever. This also happened around Princeton about a week ago and I have yet to identify the culprit.
Got into Cranbrook, which actually sits at a respectable elevation when I assumed it was in a fruit tree valley, and visited the local brewpub. Beers were decent but nothing spectacular.
Met a very enthusiastic cycle tourist from Quebec at the cafe, who insisted I sign his flag and get a local to take pictures of us with our bikes. Actually getting a bit tired of answering the same questions about my tour over and over so I'm kind of looking forward to a few days off duty in Calgary.
Was about to give up on reviving my phone from 4% battery life when I found a Starbucks. Sat and drank iced coffee for an hour and brought my phone back to life . Super caffeinated, I headed north.
The promise of free camping at a rec site off a side road on Google Maps led me to brave unknown road conditions and possibly running out of water.
Lo and behold! The rec site was on a small, but crystal clear lake and very popular with locals but relatively quiet. Honestly the most beautiful campsite yet, and free to boot. Swimming in the lake, finding new and exciting plants and watching the sunset, I felt like this was one of the nebulous experiences I was searching for on this odyssey.

Since I had a warmshower host scheduled for rendezvous at around 5 pm in Fernie, about 80 km away, I didn't want to go to hard the next day. For some reason though, I did. Oops.

Crushed the 80 km by lunch time and rolled into Fernie at about 12:30 Mountain Time. I was hurting a bit from my fast morning and rounded up some beers and groceries before poking around the main drag. Tons of bicycles in Fernie. It's crazy! I went by the McDonalds and saw about 10 leaned up outside and not a single one was locked!

While sitting at a cafe a bit later, I was engaged in coversation by a guy at the next table. Turns out he runs a website that tracks Cross Canada cycle tourists and links their journals, blogs, etc. Got myself in on that. Gotta promote the brand. 

Shortly after, I met up with my hosts for the night, Gail and Gary. As seems usual for warmshowers hosts, they lived at the top of a hill. Great conversation, dinner and the last period of the Stanley Cup Playoffs followed before I snuck in a hasty shower and some writing before bed. Originally planned on going out to town and checking into a bar but after the hot day, and weeks since my last actual rest day, I had to opt for a quiet night. 

Into Alberta early tomorrow and over the last mountain before the prairies. Wanted to write a BC review tonight but nope, too sleepy. 

Goodnight BC

Super Side Trip(s)

Waking up in beautiful Rossland, I enjoyed breakfast and coffee with my wonderful hosts before slowly packing up, finding my sunglasses and rolling into town to fill my thermos and buy groceries.  The grocery store, Ferraro Foods was a-mazing. Great bakery and so many cool little items I wished I had room and use for.
Eventually I got the prep squared away and hit the road. Long, long, and very steep descent into Trail. Glad I came in from the other way, I would not recommend trying to climb the hill from Trail to Rossland on a loaded touring bike. It looked pretty daunting. Luckily I was going down and scored some easy kms to start the day.
Crazy shift from the wet, cool, mountainous forest of Rossland down into the dry, scrubby, almost savanna-like valley of the Columbia River. I had another Warmshowers host waiting 65 km away in Nelson, so I took an easy day in the valley heat, and worked a little into a headwind up the valley.
Rolling into Nelson, my host was occupied until after 5 pm so I began the brewery tour with Torchlight Brewing. Decent variety and very bold flavours. Next up was Backroads which opted more for subtle flavours and good use of hop varieties. Backroads also had many german and wheat ales on tap, which I really enjoy.
I then hopped on my bike and slowly (I was carrying a lot of beer weight) biked over to my hosts place, where she cooked me an awesome steak dinner before going to bed. Thanks Laurie!
The next morning, I woke up, got caught up on news in the bike racing world and headed out for coffee and a trip to Nelson Brewing to complete the tour. Unfortunately, Nelson Brewing wasn't even open, so I had to grab a repeat beer at Torchlight. I'll just have to finish the beer tour another trip.
I took a super easy afternoon and pedalled along the lake to Balfour, catching a late afternoon ferry across to Kootenay Landing. By the time I made the crossing, it was already 4:30 pm so I rolled into the next campground, complete with hot tub, for the night. I ran into a mother and her two young sons who are biking across to Quebec, having previously met them in Christina Lake. Caught up with them on their last few days of adventures and traded notes on future plans
Waking up early the next day (today), I felt strong and fast and decided the side trips were over. Time to get out of BC.
Wellll, I still had about 350 km of BC so not quite that dramatic. I did however clock in a strong day to Yahk, BC (115-ish km). I have a host lined up in Fernie in twi nights so I can't get too crazy on distance tomorrow, but I hear Cranbrook has a good brewpub, so there might be some time to kill there...
Either way, should be crossing the final peak into Alberta in 3 days!
Side note: Talk to locals but don't trust them. I had several people tell me it was all flat from Creston to Cranbrook. Turns out its 100% uphill for 35 km to Yahk, with a fairly good kicker of a hill at the end. Jerks!

Decent palette of samplers at Backroads.Brewing

Gorgeous spot for a lunch break. Am I the only one who thinks it looks like Tagish/Atlin?

Mountains Beyond Mountains

Waking up in Christina Lake I still felt a bit unsure of my strength. I made some oatmeal and loaded it with dried fruit. A stop off at the small, local bakery for a nanaimo bar rounded out my preparations for mountain #1.
As I started out, was still feeling stiff in the legs, and I stopped at the bottom of the climb to have a snack and strip down to minimal layers, as the sun came out.
Once I revisited the climb, I found I was actually stretching into great form. The lower slopes were very gradual and I had a breath of tailwind tickling my back. I actually enjoyed climbing the lower slopes surprisingly and let out the legs for a few hard efforts. Towards the top, the gradient kicked up and I started to feel it in my knees, so I toned it down until the peak.
Took a quick lunch next to an apparently very hungry raven, who kept hopping right on up to my side trying to cajole food from me.
Then it was turnoff time to peak #2 of the day on my way into Rossland. I feel like a lot of cyclists skip Rossland and Trail after coming over Paulson because they are intimidated by the big sign at the turnoff that says "Strawberry Summit - 1575 m - Expect Weather Changes".
Their loss! Since I was already at about 1200 m, it was an easy climb and then all downhill into Rossland. And what a ride! Beautiful scenery and there were so many amazing waterfalls and wide vistas.
When I rolled into Rossland, I got into touch with Vic and Caroline, my hosts for the night. I was in luck, and Vic took me for a tour to the coffee shop and left me to my own devices for a bit before bringing me to a potluck dinner for the local trail building group. I got to absolutely load up on delicacies oft denied to bike tourists, such as salads, freshly bbq-ed chicken and two kegs of beer. I even won a brand new, clean tshirt in a drawing. Overall excellent stay in Rossland and super glad I made the trip.
Only one more major pass and it's a softie at only 1300 m.

One of many gorgeous waterfalls on the way to Rossland

Side story: Conversations

A Conversation with a BC Parks Employee
Backstory: I had just ridden up 5 km of steep, narrow roads to camp in Sasquatch Provincial Park, only to discover it was full. I approach a BC Parks Employee about setting up my tent in a day use picnic area.
Me: "Hello, I just came down from the park and it seems like all the spots are full could I-"

Her: "Oh, I'm sure some spots are going to open up"

"Uhhhh, this bike is kind of heavy, I don't want to go all the way back up there on a maybe. It's getting kind of late, and I don't want to bike back to the highway to start looking for other spots. Would it be okay to put my tent up for the night over at the end of the picnic area?"

"This is a Provincial Park. It's here to protect the environment, we can't have you camping wherever you want."

"Yeah, I'm actually a conservation biologist in the Yukon, I totally get that but this is literally a planted lawn. What are you protecting?"

"Well if you camp here, then we need to reseed the grass."

"I'm only setting up my tent for one night? There's a family of 7 having a picnic and playing soccer over there that you don't seem to care about."

"Well if I let you camp here then everyone will think its okay and then this whole area will be a wasteland."

"But it's a picnic area. It probably has people running on the grass every day all summer. It obviously isn't doing much harm."

"... okay, but this is a Provincial Park. It's here to protect the environment".

It was at this point I realized I couldn't win this argument and biked away. I realize that the Parks do serve a conservation purpose but this experience and several others, along with the exorbitant fees charged for basic tent camping (40$ a night in some parks!!!) have led me to believe that the Provincial Parks closer to Vancouver are mostly just there to milk money from tourists and urbanites. I have had some better experiences with Parks staff in more remote, out of the way parks.

A Conversation on the Roadside with Tourettes Woman
Backstory: Biking along the highway with little traffic when I see a woman walking towards me in the opposite lane. As she approaches I can hear her quite loudly ranting.

As I get close to her:
"Shit, you look like a killer fucking clown!"

Me: "uhhh good morning"

Her, in a normal voice: "Good morning!"
Her, very loudly: "Cop fucker!"

West Kootenays

Rolled out of Keremeos a few mornings back. Determined to start facing some hills. Luckily for me, the BC highway engineers routed the road over pretty much every hill in the valley.
Caught my first flat of the trip just outside Cawston and almost caught my second flat of the trip 5 minutes later when I chnaged my tube without seeing the microscopic nail that had pierced the first one. Rookie mistake but tube #2 seems to be holding up.
Had a decent, but easy climb up a hill to get into the Osoyoos valley, and an awesome, 10 km downhill with hardly any traffic, so I was able to bomb down the hill in the car lane at 60 km/hr (my early jitters about handling a heavy touring bike are gone).
I took an extended lunch break in Osoyoos, which is becoming the norm it seems, and had some coffee and cake before heading over to Robert's Gelato. I had heard via word of mouth that he gives free samples to bicycle tourists. Sure enough, he provided me a 'sample' larger than most double scoop cones I've paid good money for. I had a brief chat about my trip and signed his bike tourist logbook. Looked like there weren't that many of us on the road yet.
Haha not really though! Half an hour later I was grinding up Anarchist Mountain in the hot sun when I met Curtis at a viewpoint.  Curtis is also cycling across Canada, leaving from Victoria. We have identical rear baggage and not only that, he is also from Winnipeg (no mutual friends on Facebook though, amazing).
We had a short talk and then headed up the hill, where I eventually got by him.
Shortly after the top of the mountain, I saw signage for a Mexican Cafe. It seemed like a bit of an odd place for one so I was skeptical. Swinging in, I found it to be an awesome little place, where the owner was super psyched about my trip. No free tacos but I did go for a very reasonably priced enchilada lunch.
After the hills and the enchiladas my legs were starting to lose power so I stopped into Johnstone Creek Campground for the night and found... my new friend Curtis.
He was debating going further for the day but I sweet talked him into splitting a campsite for the night.
Woke up the next day feeling pretty good, and parted ways with Curtis around 8 am. However, by about 10, I hit a major wall, I just felt super weak and couldn't get any power going. Not even a cafe stop in Greenwood could mend my ills. I struggled on to Grand Forks and took a long break there to charge my phone at the local visitor center, and left at about 2:30 pm. I had to fight a killer headwind all the way into Christina Lake and wasn't feeling much stronger at that point so I called up the Christina Pines Campground for an estimate on tent camping. 20$ for a campground with a pool and running water sounded very reasonable so I rolled in. The wonderful owner was a treat and even set me up in an empty RV lot so I could be right across from the bathrooms and charge my phone on the power outlet. Amazing!

As I was setting up my tent I felt the first drops from the storm I had been running ahead of from Grand Forks and thought "I better get set up before it really starts coming down". Sure enough, that was the cue it needed for the skies to open up and drench me. Seems like all my baggage is as waterproof as advertised though!
After a bathroom mirror assessment of my body fat level (roughly 0% bmi), I had a suspicion of where my poor cycling that day came from. I consumed a disgusting amount of calories and went to bed to prepare for my last big mountain day for a while.

Hmm looking through for pics to add and I'm realizing I only take pics of plants... might need to mix it up a bit.

Looking back over Osoyoos

Humping this beast up hills like its nothing