Month: May 2015

Day 16 – Gull Lake

Day 16 – Gull Lake, SK (May 17, 2015)

I got up and cleaned up camp while it was snowing lightly.      Nature couldn’t really decide whether to rain or snow so I ended up with a bit of both. It was miserable!

I was on my bike by about 6:20am and worked my way through the drizzle to the restaurant and the gas station on the Transcanada.   I was disappointed to discover that it didn’t open until 7am so I found refuge in the lobby of an old run down motel.

When the restaurant eventually opened I struck up a conversation with a talkative Korean waiter. He was an electrical engineer who quit his job to work in a restaurant in the middle of nowhere.  He explained but I couldn’t quite figure it out!  He mentioned that he had traveled across Korea and back on his bicycle and complained about chaffing. (luckily I’m probably too skinny to have his problems)

It was a miserable day; cold, windy and wet. The forecast called for a low of -3 which would put my sleeping bag to the test. I decided, given the wind it would too risky to count on making my destination at Swift Current. Instead I initially decided to stop a Tompkins.   Tompkins resembles a town out of a western movie.   I had lunch at a diner that appeared to be the “respectable” town hangout. Then at 3pm made my way down to the hotel.   The hotel had better days. In any respectable city it would have been torn down. There was an old pub down stairs and a sorry looking bar maid that also looked after the hotel.  Her kids apparently had been sleeping in rooms 1, 2 and 3 so she was forced to give me the suite.

I settled in, took a shower, and was taking precautions from bed bugs when the electricity went out and I decided that the next town may be a better bet.

So I thanked the lady, packed up my things and took off for Gull Lake 24km East. As it turned out the electricity had gone out in a large area of Saskatchewan and Gull Lake didn’t have power either. The town was only marginally better but I was happier in a small motel room.   Because there was no electricity the restaurants were closed and I had mixed nuts and beef jerky in my cold room before hitting the hay.

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Day 15 – Eagle Valley

Day 15 – Eagle Valley Campgrounds, Maple Creek, SK (May 16, 2015)

I left Medicine Hat a little before 7am and like the previous day made good time for the first hour or so. It occurred to me that perhaps at last the forecast wind direction was wrong. I started making plans to go further that Eagle Valley. Alass before too long the wind picked up.

All I can really say about the day is that the wind was the worst yet. The wind gusts were well above 30km. There were no places to stop and eat along the way. At one time I stopped for a short break and was catching up on the texts to Michelle when the wind took my bike and rolled it right over so it was upsidedown momentarily. All the contents of my handlebar bag were left on the ground.

I made Eagle Valley about 2pm, setup my tent, had a shower, did the laundry and then relaxed over a good meal with salmon and shrimp. The campground was very well organized and well maintained. I likely should have gone further today given the time but the wind takes a lot out both mentally and physically and I couldn’t beat the spot.

BikeTracking, BikeRoute

Day 14 – Medicine Hat

Day 14 – Medicine Hat, AB (May 16, 2015)

I left Brooks with almost no wind and for the first hour or so made relatively good time.  After that the wind picked up but I managed to make the most of it with a good rhythm that kept me from getting too frustrated with the lack of speed; stand-up, sit down with my hand on the bars, sit down upright with the hands on the risers, and repeat every 15 minutes or so.

I decided I’d stop at Suffield.  I think it was the only stop between Brooks and Medicine Hat so it was a no-brainer. I almost missed it. I have to remember that if there is a clump of trees with a number of buildings that’s likely the town.

I had the worst burger for years in Suffield. As I was leaving the cook who was taking a smoke break asked me how the burger was. I lied and he smirked. I can say with some surprise that it didn’t make me sick.

The wind abated as I approached Medicine Hat. I think it may have reversed. It was as if Medicine Hat sucked me in to a vortex.   In the last hour I made very good time.

I stayed at Best Western in Medicine Hat. It was more than I wanted to pay but the campground looked a bit sketchy. The receptionists were nice. Not knowing whether the bike would fit in a normal room they gave me a suite for the same price.  I don’t fully appreciate a suite but I appreciated the place to shower and sleep. I would be happy with a place to

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Day 13 – Brooks

Day 13 – Brooks, AB (May 14, 2015)

After tidying up my camp site and eating my breakfast I was on my bike by about 7:30am. I stopped by Pete’s Cafe to get rid of my garbage and was checking the pressure of my tires when the Mayor lady came out with a cup of coffee. She reminded me that Pete’s doesn’t open ’til 9am. There you go – Cluny an isolated little place with some friendly people living a life.

After that I set on my way heading into the wind all bundled up for the 4 degrees C morning.

Beside the obvious open space the prairies may appear at first uninteresting. However I have found a few interesting things:

  1. When you are on flat land a pessimistic cyclist like myself looks around and sees the horizon as hills in every direction.
  2. In order to draw attention to the mundane the department of highways occasionally puts up “Important Intersection” signs. I could not for the life of me figure out was important about them.
  3. Cattle, like gas molecules, take all the available space. In one expansive area there appeared to be one cow/steer (whatever) per 10,000 square meter. There were hundreds of cattle as far as the eye could see.
  4. In low lying areas the ground looked white from some salt or calcium deposits.  I imagine that this was from irrigation runoff and had very little vegetation.
  5. Cattle are about as dumb as fish. A few times one started running for no good reason that I could tell and they all started running for miles around.
  6. Most of the land doesn’t appear to be used for anything. They should roll up east and west together until they need it. This would make the distance shorter for bicyclists.
  7. There is nowhere to pee without being seen.

I made it to Bassano by about 10 something and knowing that I may not stop until supper I had a second breakfast. More french toast.

The wind had by know put me about 2 1/2 hours. I planned to stop for the night at Brooks effectively making what would have been a two day ride in three days.

I completed the ride to Brooks by about 3:15. I was happy that Brooks resembled a real city. I had supper at Boston Pizza and met a cyclist in his 50s who reminded me of cousin Ken. He too had issues with the roads in Ontario and suggest a route involving a ferry across Lake Michigon. I think it’s out of the way but I will take a look. I ended up staying at the Lakeshore Hotel. I was in good time to relax and purchase a few things including a pair of replacement ear buds. I am now depending on music to get me through the daily ride.

Day 12 – Cluny

Day 12 – Cluny, AB (May 13, 2014)

I packed up at the hostel in Calgary and was on the road a little before 7am. Apparently the hostel served breakfast at 7:30am as part of the cost of the room. It would have been nice to take advantage but I find the continental type breakfast insufficient (waiting 40 minutes translates to too long) and I wanted to get started.

Eventually I had my breakfast at a retro Harley Davidson place and ordered the breakfast staple, “Pain dore”. Katie would appreciate it.

After breakfast I weaved my way through the bicycle trails that followed along a dyke of one of the canals.

When I left Calgary the wind started to pick up from the East by South East I as predicted. I knew that if the wind continued I was going to have a hard time making Bassano.

As the hours wore on working against the 20 km head wind a number of things occurred to me.

  1. There is this ‘stinking’ effect somebody came up with. I think it was Beroulli or some other sick person. Basically it says that the air travels faster over a hill. I’d like to tear that out of the text books.
  2. Truck drivers are too nice in Alberta. Imagine this: I get this huge shoulder lane all to myself on the transcanada. Along comes a truck pushing air and the drivers, thinking they are doing me a favour, pull over the passing lane increasing the distance between the truck and me to about 30 feet.

As the day wore on making it to Bassano became a bigger and bigger obstacle. At the first sign of a gas station I stopped and bought some chocolate bars and beef jerkey – no real food.

In Cluny, about 50km from Bassano,  at about 4pm, I decided to call it a day.

The was a gas station at the corner at the trancanada. A restaurant was advertised  but the restaurant area was cordoned off. It looked like it had been that way for years. The lady at the counter explained there was place to eat at Pete’s Cafe in Cluny “just down the hill”.   That worried me since hills in the prairies are up to 5km long but I took the risk.

The population of Cluny was around one hundred. Pete’s Cafe and Bakery was in the center of the town. I was served by a friendly girl in her 30s who scurried about with a low center of gravity.   Another lady came by explaining I could camp down the road and wouldn’t be charged. She was a kind magnanimous person who seemed to run things.  She could well have been Cluny’s mayor (or should have been.)

After chatting with some local guys about bikes I settled in for the night in an open field by a baseball diamond (the town camp site.)

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