Day 45: Clear skies

I didn't sleep much last night - the trains were noisy and the wind picked up and made my tent flap around. When the rain let up, I got out and tightened the guy ropes. But by then the birds were awake and making sure I was too.

It was a beautiful morning - the sky was a cloudless expanse of blue haze and the strong wind that came from the west overnight was replaced by a breeze from the east. Yesss.

I set off with the wind at my back, past ponds and flooded fields filled with ducks and their ducklings, moorhens and their fluffly red-headed chicks. The wading birds joined the red-winged blackbirds in flitting around my head and chirping at me.

After about 12km I saw a cyclist coming the other way and crossed the road to say hello. Martin is riding for charity and we had a nice chat about our journeys so far.

A corner took my tailwind and turned it into a crosswind for most of the day, so by the time I was two hours from my destination, the mosquitos were out and they were hungry! I was riding at almost 20kmh in the sun with a strong wind from the side and they were all over me on my leeward side, chowing down greedily. I was trying to slap them on the go but mostly without success. I went past my first oil wells - must be getting close to Alberta!

Finally I made it to the relatively mosquito-free Gull Lake campground after 120km. Once I was set up, another touring cyclist arrived. David is going across the country in 35 days, the lunatic! That's some crazy daily milage. We were chatting with two other guys from the campsite then David went to bed early (because he leaves at 6am) and I stayed up talking to Geoff the snow plougher / gravel road maintainer and Jason the derrick hand. Geoff went to bed too and I went to the pub with Jason.

The pub was closing but we bought a case of beer and went out to a field on the outskirts of town to have a drink and a chat with a view of the stars. It was a beautiful evening with a strong wind keeping the bugs away and the milky way shining bright. 

I ended up back in my tent around 3am with the promise of a tour of the drill rig in the morning - awesome!

Day 44: Salty prairies

The past few days have been lonely and not much fun. I think the weather is partly to blame, but it's not the whole story. The highway is boring, there are no viewpoints or picnic benches, and I've only had two proper conversations with people I've met since I left the hostel in Winnipeg. I was hoping today would be an improvement.

When I woke up, I couldn't hear the wind. Good start. By the time I'd got up and opened the curtains, it even seemed a little sunny! Hooray!

I had a pint of chocolate milk and set off out of town. Then after 5km I saw a breakfast diner and stopped for pancakes and eggs. On my way out, I chatted with a nice couple about my journey and the storm that has just passed.

So it was 10am by the time I actually set off. There was still a breeze coming from the north and there was quite a bit of gradual uphill, so I wasn't much faster than I was yesterday! But it was a lot more pleasant in the sunshine. Every time I saw a 'summit', I'd get there to find that it continued to go up after it, just less steeply. So despite being in the prairies, I'm now at the highest point I've been in Canada so far - about 700m.

I was stood by the side of the road having some trail mix with my bike between my legs when I saw a touring cyclist coming the other way! I happened to be at a section of highway where the two carriageways were connected by a short road so I waved and gestured for him to come over for a chat, but he pointed ahead and carried on, which made me a bit sad. Touring isn't supposed to be about being in too much of a hurry to chat!

Later, I saw a hitch hiker trying to go west. I stopped to say hello and learned that he's from Monteal going to BC. He was in the middle of absolutely nowhere! At least 40km from a town. And he had no water because he'd had to camp out the storm yesterday. So I gave him a litre of mine and wished him luck.

The wildlife was out and about again in the sunshine. I saw a fox, an otter, a falcon, bees, butterflies, crickets, frogs and birds. The red-winged blackbirds are back to flying around my head, "chht-chht-chht brrrrrr", presumably annoyed at me for being near to their nests. Quite a few yellow-headed blackbirds around too.

In the afternoon I saw a sign for the international centre for seabirds, which I thought was odd, 2000km from the sea, so I pulled in. Two bikers outside smoking cigars said hello - Bill and Doug live in Victoria and are on their way home after failing to get to a wedding in Thunder Bay because the highway is closed just east of Regina due to flooding! I must have come through just in time.

The seabird centre had information on the salt flats, lakes and salt marshes in the area that are important for migratory birds. There were webcams of plover feeding on the marsh and nesting in the grass, their little fluffy young ones having survived the storm. Once back on the road, I saw huge piles of salt ready to be processed and sold. The brine lakes here are 7x saltier than the ocean.

With 20km to go, I was getting fed up but then a turn in the road gave me a tailwind on the home straight and I breezed into the little town of Morse having ridden 120km today. My cheeks are slightly sun burned and I'm pretty tired but happy to be camping again. I went to the only restaurant in town and ordered a steak sandwich, which turned out to be a steak on a slice of white toast. Then I read my book at the campsite for a while as the sun set and a sliver of crescent moon became visible high in the sky. My tent is about 50m from the railway line. The rumbling clackety-clack sounds like 50 jet planes taking off one after another, and that horn is pretty damn loud! 

Day 43: Stormy prairies

The storms and floods in Manitoba and Saskatchewan are all over the Canadian news. Some puddles are so deep that you can just see the roofs of parked cars!

It didn't look quite as bad outside today. I got up after a great sleep (I gained another hour yesterday) and got myself ready to brave the outdoors. I had washed my clothes last night but it was still humid and they were wet this morning. Putting on wet socks is the worst! But they weren't going to get any drier once I got outside.

I rode 5km out of town with a tailwind before I reached the highway and headed west. The wind was coming from the north so I had a fierce sidewind, complete with horizontal rain to the right side of my face. At least it wasn't coming from the south, I would have had facefulls of road spray from the traffic too!

It was slow going and after 30km I was tired and hungry and in need of a toilet / tree. There was a town but it was 4km north of the highway - at least a half hour trip into the wind! So I carried on. I finally found an abandoned building to go for a pee behind but it was horrible stopping in the driving rain so I crammed some soggy trail mix into my mouth and kept cycling until I reached a roadside restaurant for a BLT and soup. And my second pint of chocolate milk today. 

The forecast had said the rain and wind would be less severe in the afternoon but that didn't happen. After lunch, the wind was coming more from the north west and it was absolutely savage. I was swerving around on the (thankfully wide) hard shoulder as the gusts came and went. It was so slow and hard work but every time I stopped for a rest, I almost got blown over so I soldiered on.

By the time I got into Moose Jaw after a 70km day, I was tired and fed up of being soaking wet. I checked into a travelodge and peeled soggy, dirty clothes off my pale, cold, wrinkly skin. I really hope the storm is over by the morning. 

Hitch hike

The wind wasn't doing 40kmh today as predicted. It was doing 60kmh with gusts of 80kmh. I woke up at 6am because the wind was howling in the window and the rain was hammering against the back of the curtains. I already knew I wouldn't be riding my 100km today.

So I Skyped Dave for a few hours, packed my stuff and didn't go out into the storm until the checkout time of 11am.

It was howling! The rain was horizontal, the trees were flailing and I could hear a few car alarms going off in the distance.

I starting riding towards the highway. I was doing 10kmh at first - not bad! Until I got out of the shelter of the buildings and into the farmlands... then the wind really hit me.

It took me two hours to ride the 15km to the highway with my head down, checking my mirror and pointlessly sticking my thumb out every time a car came past. I've never hitch-hiked before but I found it depressing. Empty pickups rolled by, stony-faced drivers ignoring my plight. I felt angry at them, which I know is silly - they don't owe me anything. 

So I got to the highway and stood with my bike resting against me and my thumb out, occasionally being almost blown over by a gust of wind. I had decided to wait an hour but after 10 minutes I was cold and decided 15 minutes would have to do. Zoom, zoom, zoom. Then... a couple pointing and talking... deciding... and pulling over! 

"Where are you heading?"
"Regina"
"Okay, get in."
Woo!

Lauren and Elaine are an Indian couple from Saskatchewan and they told stories, taught me about traditions and told me I should try and go to a Pow Wow whilst I'm in Saskatchewan and Alberta. We drove past another cyclist on the way and he looked like he was having a hell of a time. I hope another kind person stopped for him! Lauren and Elaine took me the 350km to Regina, dropped me off right at a motel door and sent me away with a pair of handmade earrings. It was lovely!

Tomorrow, the forecast is bad again, but not as bad. I might be able to make the 75km to Moose Jaw. On Tuesday, things are looking up! I can't wait for some sunshine.

Day 42: Rainy prairies

I packed up then headed to the town hall for the community pancake breakfast before I hit the road. It was overcast, misty and humid with not a hint of a breeze. My pace was good and as the breeze came this afternoon, it helped me along and I did 20-30kmh all day.

It started raining around lunchtime and in the absence of traffic to worry about, I put my music on and pedalled along, singing at the top of my lungs, enjoying myslef in the downpour. A couple in a pickup pulled over and offered me a lift but I was having fun so I declined but thanked them for the offer. There have been days when I would have had my bike in the back faster than he could say 'do you want a ride?'.

So I was in Brandon not long after lunch, having clocked 95km. I wanted to go a bit further but desperately needed to do laundry and didn't want to risk another unserviced village campsite and yet another day of picking the least gross t-shirt out of my laundry bag, so I checked into a cheap motel and sorted my stuff out. The only problem now is that I can't go for dinner because my clothes are all wet except my pyjamas.

The forecast for the next few days is rain with a 40kmh headwind. Gulp.

Day 41: Prairies

Someone moved into my dorm room in the middle of the night. This morning me and Zoe had a chat and breakfasted together before we set off on our ways. She's going to work on a ranch in BC this summer guiding horse riding tours!

I loaded up my bike and wobbled off down the road. It's been a while since I rode it with all the luggage! But after 20km things were back to normal, complete with all the old aches and pains. 

It took a while to get out of the city and onto the relatively less busy two-lane highway but there was a wide shoulder all day so I only had to worry about the farm traffic that was sharing the shoulder with me. One tractor that I pulled over for and one monster of a machine that could have driven straight over the top of me and I wouldn't even have to duck! Thankfully he drove around though. 

I'm sorry to say that the landscape was boring. Not as flat as I was expecting of the prairies, but pretty flat. And just fields everywhere with woodland in the distance. Nowhere to stop but the hard shoulder and no trees to go behind for a pee.

Between the road and the fields, there's a 10 meter strip of uncultivated land. There are grasses and reeds all shades of green and rusty brown; wildflowers in white and yellow; birds, frogs, groundhogs, chipmunks and musk rats. The wind plays in the grass, bringing out its colours. Behind that 10 meter strip of relative wilderness, fields of monoculture. I imagine the natural prairies were beautiful.

Lots of trains went past today and I have finally seen them stretched out unobscured by trees, corners or hills. They can be 100+ carriages long, stacked two sea containers high! And blasting their horns all the way.

I stopped for lunch at Portage la Prairie then continued to MacGregor, totalling 125km. I had a tailwind all day, which was glorious and it was overcast but still 26 degrees and insanely humid. I'm dreading the day I have to ride into a headwind in the baking sun with no beautiful views to distract me!

After pitching my tent, I went for a beer and cooked my dinner then got pretty bored lying in my tent in the muggy humid heat listening to the angry, dysfunctional family in the trailer a few pitches down. A few bouts of thunder and a bit of rain but it hasn't cleared the air and even at 9pm it's still 26 degrees. Maybe a storm is on its way.

Getting ready

I'm struggling to get back into the swing of things. After spending two weeks out in the bush with Dave and living with his family, it's strange to be on my own in the city. I feel out of place in my outdoors clothes around all the clean people. And the city sights are getting me down - it's grimy and busy and there are lots of desperate looking people and homeless people.

I moped around a bit yesterday, doing a few chores and not getting all of them finished. Then I went to the cinema in what surely must have been the dodgiest part of any town anywhere, and came back to the hostel to find the owner Bill and his friend Stu drinking in the lounge. So we all stayed up until late chatting and drinking wine from a box.

This morning, Stu took me for pancakes. That cheered me up and I went back to the hostel to skype Dave and then my family.

I finally got all my chores done that were possible to get done in Winnipeg. I can't say I'm excited about getting back to the ride, but I will be glad to get out of town.

I only have 27 days to make it to Vancouver before Dave arrives (woohoo), so I'd better hope that my new saddle is comfy and my legs are rested. And a tailwind would be useful, but maybe that's asking too much!