Merry Solstice

Sorry for the tardiness in my post, but the weather has turned in our favour and we have decided to bike as much as we can while the going is good. Today is my first day off since Nelson, but more on that later.

June 14: Cranbrook to Fernie (94.83km)
Today was the first time along this trip that I can say the roads were not good. So far I have really been impressed with the biking conditions in that the shoulders are wide and the drivers courteous. The ride to Fernie was twisty-turny in parts and the shoulders were really rough. In addition, it being a weekend, the traffic was quite heavy. So I basically had the choice of riding on the rough shoulder or go on the road and keep an eye on my rearview mirror. Since the roads were twisty, I figured there might be some “surprise traffic” that I didn't see in my mirror that could hit me. I therefore opted for the shoulder. After about an hour of this type of riding, my bones felt rattled, but I made it to Fernie safe and sound.

Fernie is a tourist destination especially for its skying and there was still quite a bit of snow in the mountains. In preparation for my travels, I read about Fernie I expected it to be a mini-Nelson and considered staying a day. Was I ever surprised when I went to the main street at 8PM and there wasn't a soul – and it was Saturday night no less. It felt like a ghost town and I fully expected a guy in black cowboy hat to turn the corner and challenge me to a gun fight. Suddenly at 9PM the movie ended (Kung Foo Panda) and 3 people came onto the street from the theater. Not exactly what I expected. Needless to say, I didn't think a second day in Fernie was required.

June 15: Fernie to Lundbreck (94.71km)
We crossed into Alberta today. I had visualized in the days leading up to today that I would stop at the border, turn around and yell at BC. Don't get me wrong. What I have seen of BC has impressed me greatly. It's stunningly beautiful and the people are generally very cool, but the province did cause me a lot of grief. What I had hoped would take 2 weeks took an additional 5 days and the conditions were very trying.

In the end, I didn't yell at the province. Parked at the border was a truck with a driver inside and I didn't feel like looking like a complete moron.

Today's ride was possibly the most beautiful so far. We were riding along lakes and the surrounding mountains were spectacular. I had this funny feeling however during the whole ride that I didn't want to stop. Even though several spots were picture worthy, I just wanted to get out of BC as quickly as possible. Tony, on the other hand, was relishing this last chance to see the mountains and stopped to take many pictures. As a result, I was way ahead of him and stopped to wait at a little town called Frank. While there I spoke to a few people and met Elna – a South African lady now living in Lethbridge. She told me to call her when we were in Lethbridge and we could go for lunch or she could offer a shower if we needed one.

June 16: Lundbreck to Lethbridge (128.51km - 10 of which was going in circles in Lethbridge)
We are now out of the Rockies and I am as surprised as I was in 1991 when I first saw the mountains at how fast they flatten out. We were riding parallel to the mountains for a little while and it was beautiful to see them from a distance. The contrast to the flat ground made them that much more dramatic.

The ride today was good and comparatively easy now that we were out of the Rockies. There were a few climbs, but they were essentially speed bumps in comparison to what we had done in the previous weeks. The only hard part of the ride was arriving in Lethbridge. As much as the highways in Alberta are very generous to cyclists, the cities are completely ill suited to our needs. Several roads don't allow biking and the signage that could show alternatives are lacking. We arrived in the city at around 4PM and it took us literally 90 minutes to figure out a way to cross a river. Everyone we asked had suggestions, but they led nowhere. I even called Elna who I met the day before, but only left a message.

By the time we got to the city campground it was about 6PM. Before paying for the site we walked around and we met another touring cyclist. He's going to Winnipeg to go to the Folk Festival. I forget his name, but he must have been around 60 and from the sounds of it he bikes everywhere. I don't know how he actually rode his bike because he had 4 pannier and a trailer. I have no idea what he was carrying, but it must have been between 80 to 100 pounds of gear. Anyways, while we were talking we noticed that there were catepillars everywhere. His small tent was covered in them and in the five minutes that we were there, I had 4 climb up on me. Tony and I decided to splurge and go to a motel.

June 17: Lethbridge to Medicine Hat (167.50km)
Today was a perfect riding day. The sun was shining and the wind was in our back. I got a late start at 10AM. Tony left before me and we agreed to have lunch in Taber – about 50km away. As it turns out, I'm glad I left after rush hour. The roads had no shoulder and I was anxious to get out of town ASAP. My average speed going to Taber was 32km/hr. That is smokin' fast for me, especially when fully loaded. Seeing how good the conditions were, I told Tony over lunch that we should try for Medicine Hat. He felt a bit sluggish and didn't know if he could make it. We agreed that we would meet up in Bow Island and make a decision whether to camp or go on to Medicine Hat.

I learned a lesson during that ride. I usually have a very healthy appetite and my appetite is even greater during this trip. But the heat is an appetite suppressant. So I didn't eat as much as I usually would have during my ride to Bow Island. As a result I felt sluggish upon my arrival. Tony on the other hand was keen to proceed to Medicine Hat. I thought I still had it in me. So we pushed on. Before leaving, however, I ate a ton of food and drank lots as well. After a while on the bike, my energy returned and I made it to Medicine Hat will a full tank of gas in my legs and feeling good.

This was my longest riding day ever. I had done 148km without panniers before, but this was well beyond that threshold. I hope to do a 200km day along the trip.

June 18: Medicine Hat to Maple Creek (94.41km)
Even though Tony finished the previous days ride full of energy, he was sluggish today. It didn't help that we got a late start because we desperately needed to do laundry. In the end, we were on the road by noon (I know, shameful).

Today we crossed into Saskatchewan. Now I had been promised flat ground and tail winds in Saskatchewan. Neither was the case today. After crossing the border, we had a hill to climb. What's up with that? I wasn't supposed to see another hill until Ontario. It should be said that the hill was very minor, but still when you expect to coast through a province, you are surprised. The wind was an even bigger challenge. it wasn't a super strong wind, but it consistently blew on us and that gets to you after a while.

Since the shoulders were so wide and I didn't have to worry about traffic and there wasn't too much scenery to look at, I brought out my ipod for the first time since my trip started. It was fantastic! I was belting out songs along the highway and at times pumping my arms in the air to the beat of the music – by the way, I must say that I have impeccable musical taste. I must have looked so foolish to the drivers that passed me, but so be it.

We finally reached the campground and met up with another cross-country cyclist. Mark is crazy (but in a good way). He's a 33 year old Vancouverite that wants to cross Canada in 6 weeks and he's riding a fully loaded racing bike. His wheels at the start of his trip only had 8 spokes each (mine have 38). He's making very good time and we won't see him again unless he has problems along the road, but he has had to do so many repairs on his bike so far that it would have been cheaper to buy a new touring bike.

Small anecdote: When driving to the Saskatchewan border we saw a sign for Maple Creek of 41km. We ride another 5km and cross the border and a new sign indicates that Maple Creek is 46km. Darcy, are distances measured differently in your province:)

June 19: Maple Creek to Swift Current (138.18km)
Today could only be politely described as a character building day.

I woke up at 2AM and had an upset stomach. It took me a while to fall asleep, but I finally did. I woke up late and still I felt quizzy. I had a small breakfast of oatmeal, because I couldn't stomach anything else. During this bike trip, my breakfasts are usually quite substantial so that I have enough energy for the day – oatmeal wasn't going to cut it. Ideally, I would have taken the day off, but I was in the middle of nowhere and there were no grocery stores or anything around. I figured I would bike as far as I could and settle there for the evening. Tony's plans were to go to Swift Current. I seriously doubted that I could make it that far. So we said our goodbyes.

The towns in Saskatchewan are far apart. As such, the first town of any consequence was over 50km away from where I started. That was a horrible 50km. I felt awful and I had very little energy. I was grunting the last 10km into Tomkins. I took an Advil, stopped in town for lunch and thought I would decide afterwards whether or not I would stay in town or push on.

Tomkins is an incredibly depressing town. For the movie buffs among you, imagine the Last Picture Show, but remove all the giddy optimism of the movie. The restaurant had not been remodeled since the 1940s and the music hadn't changed either. I did not want to stay in this town and after I ate lunch I felt better. So I decided to soldier on.

Another challenge about today was that I had noticed while packing up that I had lost a screw on my pannier rack. My rack is held up by 4 screws and I was down to three and since my rack has a lot of weight on it, I was constantly wondering if the whole thing would collapse on me 20km outside of nowhere. That was another motivating factor to get to Swift Current, because it being a fairly large city, I could get all the supplies I needed.

My shoulder was in a lot of pain all day, but I finally made it at around 6:30PM and gave Tony's cell a call. He was surprised that I had made it. He had already rented a motel room and I went over to join him.

My theory as too why I felt so bad today was the water. We stopped for lunch in Walsh Alberta yesterday and I drank a lot of water as I had been running low earlier. The water was heavily chlorinated and I think my body didn't react well to all the chemicals. I can't back this up of course, but it's my best guess and from now on, I'll be drinking bottled water throughout the Prairies and likely into Northern Ontario. I don't like the idea of using all those plastic bottles, but unfortunately, it's better than the alternative.

June 20: Swift Current to Swift Current
Today I'm doing as little as I can and letting my body heal. I will clean my bike, get a few supplies and visit the town. I may even go see a movie tonight!

Cheers. Sorry for the long post, but it's been too long since I posted my last entry. Oh yeah, here are my photos.