Sick in Saskatchewan

June 22: Swift Current to Chaplin (90.24 km)
Well, I've come across the trip dulldrums. I knew it would happen at some point that the trip conditions would get me down. I was surprised in fact that it didn't occur in BC when it was cold and rainy. Rather it is occurring in Saskatchewan when the sun is shining.

Don't get me wrong, the trip is going well, but the challenges of the past few days have been trying on my morale. As mentioned in my previous posting, two days ago I was basically riding while sick. Yesterday was a day off and I thought all day that I would take today off as well. After I ate supper however, I felt better and decided to try riding today. Well it didn't go so well. I feel fine except that I'm nauseas toward many foods and the food that don't make me sick don't have enough calories to sustain me during a long bike ride. So, in sum, today I was riding with very little fuel in the gas tank and it was a struggle. By the time I got to Chaplin, I knew that continuing would be unwise. So I stopped. Tony wanted to continue as the day was still young and I encouraged him to go on since I suspect I will be dragging my feet for the next few days. We said our goodbyes and he left.

Twice during this trip, Tony and I have said our goodbyes (at Castlegar and Maple Creek), but today was the first time that it felt real and final. From this day forward, I would be riding alone and it got me down a bit. In addition to this, the realization that there is a long stretch ahead of me brought me to the dulldrum state that I mentioned earlier.

I want to reemphasize that it is not a big deal and that I fully expected something like this to happen and in a way I'm glad it did, because the whole purpose of this trip was to experience such challenges and if it would have been too easy, well I would have felt somewhat robbed.

Anyways, I'm spending the rest of the day resting and trying to refill the metaphorical gas tank.

Cheers

June 22: Chaplin to Moose Jaw (24.58km)
Today, I cheated.

I woke up today feeling as I have for the past few days. Not sick as such, but nauseas and not able to eat much and having diarrhea. I ate as much as I could, but I wasn't sure if it would be enough for a long bike ride. I had a two options: 1) stay in Chaplin for another day and try to wait it out or 2) try to make it to Moose Jaw which was about 80km away. Since Chaplin is very small and the little that it had to offer would not be open because it was a Sunday, my preference was to try to make it to Moose Jaw and get healthy there. I thought if the conditions were favourable, I should be able to make it.

So at 9AM I set off. The conditions were not favourable. There was a strong wind from the south – not exactly a head wind, but the angle that it hit me was not helping. In addition, the shoulder conditions were not kind to bikers. After about 15km, I was getting hungry, but could not stomach any of my food. I realized that I could probably make it to Moose Jaw, but that it would take a lot out of me and therefore delay my recovery. I was also a bit concerned about dehydration as I had had diarrhea upon waking. I could have returned to Chaplin, but it had nothing to offer that could help me. So I decided it was wisest to hitchhike.

I know, it violates the trip principles, but I still think it was the right decision and that I needed to get healthy as quickly as possible and that over-exertion was postponing my recovery. A nice farming family picked me up in their pickup truck and I could put the bike in the back. They were going to Moose Jaw to bring the kids to the fair and dropped me off at the visitors information.

I'm now in a motel off the trans Canada and feeling not too bad, but the true test will be how my body reacts to a meal. I will likely stay in Moose Jaw until I am confident that I have my strength and stamina back and that I can eat food freely.

June 23: Moose Jaw to Moose Jaw (0km)
Woke up this morning and still had diarrhea. I'm going to stay here today and maybe go to the clinic to see if they can diagnose what I have, but I suspect that it should pass soon, because aside from food aversions and diarrhea, I feel fine.

I only took one picture in the past few days. It was supposed to convey how there were hills in Saskatchewan, but in looking at the picture, I think it conveys more how flat it is:)