We made it. Another rest day. I have to say, we deserve it. Yesterday's ride was epic. We originally thought it was going to be 112kms and it turned out to be 120km, but that in itself is manageable. The sad, sad part was that it took us 6hours and 11minutes to do that 120km. The 140km ride the day before took us 5 hours and 59 minutes. That's over 12 hours in 2 days. Impressive? Yes, I think so, for the average person anyways. Sore bum? OH, HO YEAH. Quads also knew we'd worked them for 6 days, but the bum....well let's just say that my bike saddle was feeling as small at it is!
The "problem" was that we had a decent, steady headwind the entire day. And that the vast majority of the day was spent pedalling uphill. What?!?! You say? Uphill? In the prairies? Yup. It may be slight (quite slight in some portions), but it was enough to be noticeable, particularly with that headwind.
Fact is, it took us just under 2 hours to get to Moose Jaw from the campground. A mere 38km distance. Fortunately, the team decided to hit the Tim Horton's for a good wholesome lunch break there which was a nice rest.
For some reason I was also feeling really low on energy during the first part of the ride as well. I tried to keep eating, but nothing seemed to help replenish the energy stores for long. Fortunately, the Tim Horton's stop managed to do just that and we were off again!
If I may go off on a tangent here for a moment... speaking of keeping eating, I have to say the amount of food I've been eating is astounding. I mean, I've been eating more than I thought possible for these past 3 or so weeks and yet, the seemingly impossible happened over the past two days...I was even hungrier than before. (I've been calling them "hungry days"...creative, I know) I eat and eat and eat....it's ridiculous. It makes sense given the amount of exercise we're doing, but still, I'm amazed. Warren thinks that I'm not eating enough at the right times...which would contribute to the next day being especially hungry. In his opinion, he doesn't think I'm consuming enough calories during the ride, then I'm starving at the end of the day and eating tons then. Needless to say, I'm going to try to eat more while riding to see if this helps.
Anyhoo, back to the Regina ride. We finally arrived at the western side of the city (after having seen it coming, slowly, closer for 2 hours prior), then rode through the city and joined back onto the TransCanada on the eastern side where our campground is.
Today, our restday, I haven't done much at all, which was just what I wanted. Although our campsite is the closest to the city, it's still quite far from the downtown core, thereby not making it particularly easy to go exploring. We could have ridden into town, as Tanya opted to do, but my knee was bothering me again (though it is MUCH better than it had been, hooray!), so I didn't want to bike or walk a whole bunch today so as to let it rest. To be honest, with the amount of travelling and moving that we're doing every other day, I really revel in just sitting on my behind reading or popping on the internet for a bit, if available, or just putting around for the restdays at the campsite.
As this day is quickly coming to a close, I too shall do so with this post.
Hope everyone is doing well, and that you're sending sunny, warm, windless weather our way!!
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Day 24: Swift Current to Besant Campground
140 kms today. Yeehaw. Our longest day yet, but totally worth it for finding a nice campground with trees, creeks and wildlife (such as beavers and perhaps a muskrat or something similar, other than the plentiful stuffed artifacts in the main office/store...) in the middle of the nothingness of the prairies. Don't get me wrong though, it's pretty cool to see for miles and miles and there only being fields. The lack of trees and shrubbery is odd to me since I've grown up with tons around me.
But I disgress. The weather was pretty good today. We managed to stay in this pocket of sunshine, or mild cloud cover and avoid the serious downpouring that some other poor folks were getting all around us. We thought about stopping in this place called Parkbeg at about the 120km mark, but there wasn't much there (read as anything) but an old, closed down gas station in which Mom and Dad had parked to wait for us. We were all still feeling pretty decent, so decided to push onwards toward the campground (the lure of showers is very strong) and we'd be closer to our rest day destination of Regina for the following day's ride.
I think it was a good decision...
But I disgress. The weather was pretty good today. We managed to stay in this pocket of sunshine, or mild cloud cover and avoid the serious downpouring that some other poor folks were getting all around us. We thought about stopping in this place called Parkbeg at about the 120km mark, but there wasn't much there (read as anything) but an old, closed down gas station in which Mom and Dad had parked to wait for us. We were all still feeling pretty decent, so decided to push onwards toward the campground (the lure of showers is very strong) and we'd be closer to our rest day destination of Regina for the following day's ride.
I think it was a good decision...
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Day 23: Elrose to Swift Current
We decided to start today from Elrose rather than to go experience the pleasure of driving back along that gravel road to the crossroad near Tyner. Turns out our travel distance would be the same anyways as we actually had to backtrack a fair amount to get to Elrose. Tanya, in particular, expressed her delight at not having to drive that road again. :)
The day's ride was about 115 km, which we rode in about 4 hours and 5 minutes. The vast majority of today, we had a massive tailwind making the ride much nicer.
We briefly met up with the RV once, then sent them onto Swift Current to the RV park. (Though we did surprise Mom and Dad awhile later when we caught up to them while they were taking a quick scenic tour of a tourist area in a park.)
Today was pretty uneventful overall. The terrain was pretty rolly for most of it, and we had one pretty decent climb out of a really neat Saskatchewan provincial park called Saskatchewan Landing. One other notable point for the day is that coming into Swift Current, I reached my fasted speed ever of 71 km/h. And yes, I was breaking. I don't think I ever need to see that again :P
We're currently in the Poderosa RV park located on the TransCanada Highway. The showers, though pretty claustrophobic as Warren put it, were the hottest we've had in days which is really exciting.
Dinner is just about ready, so I guess I'll sign off for now.
Until next time!!
The day's ride was about 115 km, which we rode in about 4 hours and 5 minutes. The vast majority of today, we had a massive tailwind making the ride much nicer.
We briefly met up with the RV once, then sent them onto Swift Current to the RV park. (Though we did surprise Mom and Dad awhile later when we caught up to them while they were taking a quick scenic tour of a tourist area in a park.)
Today was pretty uneventful overall. The terrain was pretty rolly for most of it, and we had one pretty decent climb out of a really neat Saskatchewan provincial park called Saskatchewan Landing. One other notable point for the day is that coming into Swift Current, I reached my fasted speed ever of 71 km/h. And yes, I was breaking. I don't think I ever need to see that again :P
We're currently in the Poderosa RV park located on the TransCanada Highway. The showers, though pretty claustrophobic as Warren put it, were the hottest we've had in days which is really exciting.
Dinner is just about ready, so I guess I'll sign off for now.
Until next time!!
Day 22: Kindersley to almost Tyner
Today was ....interesting. After slogging, yet again, with a northerly crosswind we decided to use the wind rather than fight it. We revised our route and headed south, aiming eventually to get to Swift Current, but to stop somewhere before that for tonight since Swift Current was about 218 km from Kindersley.
Anyhoo, we first came upon a field with about 6 or 7 horses in it. Unlike the bison and cattle that run away from us, the horses seemed to revel in our presence and ran to meet us as we rode by, then run with us for a short bit. Given that I'm a wee bit of a horse lover, this was absolutely awesome. We also saw antelope today!! Quite a few, actually. Jen and Pat had just mentioned to us the night before that these small deer-like animals were out and about in the area unbeknownst to us, so it was really cool to see them!
Oh, and the 20-25km/h (with higher gusts) tailwind was ok too :) Definitely beat fighting it.
We continued along came upon our next turn. It was a gravel road. Sadness. Fortunately, the RV had passed us and were awaiting instructions on the side of the road just ahead. We continued to the next crossroad and fortunately it was paved, so we turned down it. Hooray.
We ended our day at the most unlikely of places: a crossroad in the middle of nowhere. A teeny, tiny little town called Tyner was about 1 km to our left, but otherwise, all we could see was field upon field, upon field.
We loaded into the motorhome and headed off. Mom and Dad had read the campground pamplet and decided that an RV park in a town called Elrose appeared to be the most promising destination. Off we went.
We started on a paved road, but shortly there was a sign that trucks over a certain weight were to take the gravel road at the next turn, so being good tourists, we, or rather driver Dad, turned. Here's where the fun really began. The RV started swerving in the front and fishtailing in the back. Apparently it was like driving on marbles. And we weren't going fast. At all. Dad's bigger worry, he mentioned to us later, was that he was afraid the RV might get stuck. This unnerving dancing of a 34' vehicle continued for 10km. It was insane. Fortunately, I was absolutely exhausted from the ride and managed to fall asleep for some of it. Dad did an excellent handling job. Eventually, we did reach the end and turned up the highway towards Elrose.
We finally arrived, and found said "RV campground" which was located behind this smalltown sportsplex. We followed the road around back, as directed by the signs, where we quickly found out the "RV park" was a looser term here than in Alsask, and more to the point, it was very muddy back there. Once again, Dad did a phenomenal job of not getting the RV stuck in it (Oh but did we leave some massive impressions :P ), we turned around and headed back to the FRONT of the building.
Now the task was to find someone to see if we could stay there for the night. Dad wandered into the nearest building that looked occupied. Turned out it was the hospital (The public school was on the otherside of the parking lot too. Busy place.). The nurse at the hospital ok'd us to stay in the parking lot where ever (Dad mentioned the mud in the RV designated places and apparently she said "Oh yeah, it might be a touch muddy out there, it did rain". Ha. So we settled in. During dinner, we had a knock on the door and this wonderfully friendly woman stopped in (who apparently worked in the rec department) to see if there was anything we needed. She even let us into the pool showers, which was really kind. (We found out shortly thereafter that they were darned near ice cold which was rather sad, but a few of us set our jaws and sucked it up anyways) The lady also mentioned that tonight was the big heart and stroke fundraiser with the 30-seater bike...and you guessed it, it was all to take place in our homey little parking lot as well. Heh. Nice of her to mention it though as not long after, people started arriving. The event didn't last very long though, and we were soon left with peace and quiet to dream of what tomorrow would bring.
Anyhoo, we first came upon a field with about 6 or 7 horses in it. Unlike the bison and cattle that run away from us, the horses seemed to revel in our presence and ran to meet us as we rode by, then run with us for a short bit. Given that I'm a wee bit of a horse lover, this was absolutely awesome. We also saw antelope today!! Quite a few, actually. Jen and Pat had just mentioned to us the night before that these small deer-like animals were out and about in the area unbeknownst to us, so it was really cool to see them!
Oh, and the 20-25km/h (with higher gusts) tailwind was ok too :) Definitely beat fighting it.
We continued along came upon our next turn. It was a gravel road. Sadness. Fortunately, the RV had passed us and were awaiting instructions on the side of the road just ahead. We continued to the next crossroad and fortunately it was paved, so we turned down it. Hooray.
We ended our day at the most unlikely of places: a crossroad in the middle of nowhere. A teeny, tiny little town called Tyner was about 1 km to our left, but otherwise, all we could see was field upon field, upon field.
We loaded into the motorhome and headed off. Mom and Dad had read the campground pamplet and decided that an RV park in a town called Elrose appeared to be the most promising destination. Off we went.
We started on a paved road, but shortly there was a sign that trucks over a certain weight were to take the gravel road at the next turn, so being good tourists, we, or rather driver Dad, turned. Here's where the fun really began. The RV started swerving in the front and fishtailing in the back. Apparently it was like driving on marbles. And we weren't going fast. At all. Dad's bigger worry, he mentioned to us later, was that he was afraid the RV might get stuck. This unnerving dancing of a 34' vehicle continued for 10km. It was insane. Fortunately, I was absolutely exhausted from the ride and managed to fall asleep for some of it. Dad did an excellent handling job. Eventually, we did reach the end and turned up the highway towards Elrose.
We finally arrived, and found said "RV campground" which was located behind this smalltown sportsplex. We followed the road around back, as directed by the signs, where we quickly found out the "RV park" was a looser term here than in Alsask, and more to the point, it was very muddy back there. Once again, Dad did a phenomenal job of not getting the RV stuck in it (Oh but did we leave some massive impressions :P ), we turned around and headed back to the FRONT of the building.
Now the task was to find someone to see if we could stay there for the night. Dad wandered into the nearest building that looked occupied. Turned out it was the hospital (The public school was on the otherside of the parking lot too. Busy place.). The nurse at the hospital ok'd us to stay in the parking lot where ever (Dad mentioned the mud in the RV designated places and apparently she said "Oh yeah, it might be a touch muddy out there, it did rain". Ha. So we settled in. During dinner, we had a knock on the door and this wonderfully friendly woman stopped in (who apparently worked in the rec department) to see if there was anything we needed. She even let us into the pool showers, which was really kind. (We found out shortly thereafter that they were darned near ice cold which was rather sad, but a few of us set our jaws and sucked it up anyways) The lady also mentioned that tonight was the big heart and stroke fundraiser with the 30-seater bike...and you guessed it, it was all to take place in our homey little parking lot as well. Heh. Nice of her to mention it though as not long after, people started arriving. The event didn't last very long though, and we were soon left with peace and quiet to dream of what tomorrow would bring.
Day 21: Alsask to Kindersely
Brutal is a good word for today. It was cold, wet (and only got wetter as the day wore one) and windy. Oh the wind. (Doesn't this just make you want to be here pedalling along with us?!!?!) Our original destination point for today was Netherhill, about 21km past Kindersley, then we were going to hop in the RV and drive back to the Kindersley to stay there the night to visit with some family of mine.
Anyhoo, our plan was not to be. Quite early on in our ride, we unanimously decided to stop at Kindersley. Mom and Dad were leap-frogging with us a lot today. It was really nice to keep seeing that big, white beast in the distance waiting for us. By the time we arrived at the RV park, they had soup and hot chocolate ready for us, and even gone into the showers and pressed the button numerous times to get the water hot for us. Now that is dedication! It was wonderful.
That night Mom, Dad, Warren and I headed off to Jen and Pat's place (family of mine) for a ton of absolutely delicious food. These dears also let us steal their laundryroom and internet while we were there as well. It was so nice to see them again.
Jen and Pat: Once again, thanks to both of you for your wonderful hospitality!!!
Jen drove us back to our RV around 11pm, where we promptly fell into beds.
Hopefully the weather tomorrow is better!
Anyhoo, our plan was not to be. Quite early on in our ride, we unanimously decided to stop at Kindersley. Mom and Dad were leap-frogging with us a lot today. It was really nice to keep seeing that big, white beast in the distance waiting for us. By the time we arrived at the RV park, they had soup and hot chocolate ready for us, and even gone into the showers and pressed the button numerous times to get the water hot for us. Now that is dedication! It was wonderful.
That night Mom, Dad, Warren and I headed off to Jen and Pat's place (family of mine) for a ton of absolutely delicious food. These dears also let us steal their laundryroom and internet while we were there as well. It was so nice to see them again.
Jen and Pat: Once again, thanks to both of you for your wonderful hospitality!!!
Jen drove us back to our RV around 11pm, where we promptly fell into beds.
Hopefully the weather tomorrow is better!
Day 20: Richdale to Alsask
The ride to Alsask was pretty uneventful. I found it to be a pretty long day and was glad when we arrived. It was pretty encouraging to cross another border, though I admit that given said long day (I believe the total was 122km) it was rather anticlimatic. Mom and Dad had found a campsite for us. Though I do use the term "campsite" loosely as there was a concrete pad, old picnic table, and two pit toilets. That was about it. Though the one pit toilet was roped off as apparently it was falling into the hole provided beneath it.
Apparently there was quite a neat old ghost town not far from where we were located that Mom, Dad and Tanya all checked out at various times.
Other than that....off to Kindersely tomorrow.
Apparently there was quite a neat old ghost town not far from where we were located that Mom, Dad and Tanya all checked out at various times.
Other than that....off to Kindersely tomorrow.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Day 19: Rest Day in Hanna
As mentioned in my previous post, Warren and Tanya ended up stopping in Richdale (a place which seems to consist of a cluster of about 6 or so buildings). We piled the bikes inside the RV and drove back to Hanna, the closest town that had an RV Campground.
After a cold and very windy night (causing much lost sleep for everyone), we finally were all awake and semi-functioning by about 9:30 this morning. However, given the -6C windchill temperature and the 30, gusting to 50km/h winds from the SE, we decided to stay put and take a rest day.
Given that it has now rained considerably, and the wind hasn't given up a bit, I think we made the best decision. I admit I'm particularly happy as it's giving me a chance to get over my cold and rest my knee (which seems to be better today!) yet again.
Supposedly the weather is supposed to be better tomorrow with a decrease in wind, and change of wind direction so that it will be coming from the west (hooray tailwind!!). It's still supposed to be unseasonably cold, but we can deal pretty well with that via many layers.
We shall see what tomorrow brings!
After a cold and very windy night (causing much lost sleep for everyone), we finally were all awake and semi-functioning by about 9:30 this morning. However, given the -6C windchill temperature and the 30, gusting to 50km/h winds from the SE, we decided to stay put and take a rest day.
Given that it has now rained considerably, and the wind hasn't given up a bit, I think we made the best decision. I admit I'm particularly happy as it's giving me a chance to get over my cold and rest my knee (which seems to be better today!) yet again.
Supposedly the weather is supposed to be better tomorrow with a decrease in wind, and change of wind direction so that it will be coming from the west (hooray tailwind!!). It's still supposed to be unseasonably cold, but we can deal pretty well with that via many layers.
We shall see what tomorrow brings!
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