Day 19

It's crazy how many abandoned properties there are along this stretch. For every gas station or motel, it seems like there are three that failed. Some look really interesting though, and I am sorely tempted to camp out in one. They're all so close to the highway though..

Today was another perfect day; nice weather, beautiful views along the edge of the lake, some nice hills, and interesting little places every now an then to fill up water. At one break area I had a woman who was driving across Canada come say hi and chat, and he ended up giving me some frozen water bottles and muffins which were freaky appreciated.

Later in the day, with maybe an hour or so of riding left I spotted two loaded bikes outside a truckstop and pulled over to say hi. I ended up meeting Sebastien and Raymond, from Toronto and Vancouver, respectively. Both had been riding solo and teamed up, and now it looks like I'll be joining as well.

Day 17

It's so nice to be back amongst the hills and trees! Definitely feeling like I made the right decision heading out here; the weather is nice and the scenery is beautiful. I went and checked out the Terry Fox memorial, then puttered along just taking in my surroundings. Lake Superior is so nice! And so big, it's unreal. Today was mostly uneventful outside of riding, but I found a beach access down a long gravel road around 8pm and camped out on a beautiful sandy beach overlooking the lake. So serene.

I guess my highlight would be meeting a guy who was walking across Canada with all his stuff on a push cart. He was 75 days in and was adjusting the plan to finish in Toronto. He didn't speak too much English, but after a brief chat I left feeling pretty inspired. Also his tan was unreal.

Intermission pt. 2

Eighteen hours later I disembarked in Thunder Bay, drowsy due to the bumpy roads but well caffeinated and ready to get back to it. My bike made it through in better shape than I did, so I set about unpacking and rebuilding in the Greyhound parking lot. I had barely begun when a guy strolled over from having dropped off a package and started chatting about the trip. As it turns out he had ridden cross-Canada last summer and was chock-full of helpful info and interesting stories. He hung out for nearly two hours while I tinkered, and right before he took off for work he asked if I had plans for the evening, and invited me back to his place for dinner with him and his girlfriend, and one last shower and food sleep before setting off in to the Ontario wilderness. Such opportunities are too good to pass up, so I said of course and exchanged numbers. I then killed off the day with a nice movie (Brave, very enjoyable), found a bulk food store and stocked up on dry goods, then surfed the net on my phone in Starbucks. It was nice to have a relaxing day- also it was crazy hot.

When Trevor got off work, we bikes back to his place and grabbed curry makings on the way. He was a little ways out of town, so I got to see quite a bit of Thunder Bay throughout the day. He and his girlfriend Tanya were very welcoming, as were their multitude of pets (cats, dog, snakes, and chickens). After a lovely dinner and some much needed socializing with chill people, I curled up to sleep and then slumbered for around 12 hours, totally missing any semblance of an early departure time. Also when I was packing a cat peed on my sleeping bag, necessitating the purchase of a replacement (which now matches my tent- so snazzy). Overall a great time was had, this was my first chance to stay with kindly strangers. Only made it 40km out of town before settling on a campsite on the water, it was beautiful but I'm pretty sure I wasnt supposed to camp there. The locals who found me said I should be able to camp where I want if, so maybe it balances out.

Pictured: Trevor building a new skunk-proof chicken coop

Intermission

Taking today as a rest/prep day. Booked a second night in the hostel, then took off to get everything I need to ship my bike. I settled on Thunder Bay as a good spot to pick back up; I should reach lake Superior after my first day of riding. I'll be shaving 1200km off my route, but I'm still feeling pretty good about covering 6300km total.

Covered most of downtown Regina running errands on foot: groceries, used book store for next book in Dune series, took my shorts in to get the shamois sewn back in (not impressed), and got a bike box from a local shop as well as a pedal wrench, then made my way back to the hostel to try my hand at bike disassembly. Turns out I'm pretty good! Got it all taken apart with the help of directions on the iPhone in about an hour, and packed tight in another thirty. Great success! Catching a bus out at 1030am tomorrow morning, hopefully everything makes it in the same number of pieces as were packed, and putting it all back together goes as smoothly as taking it apart.

Day 16

Today suuuucked (for the most part). Slept in late, ants on everything, and my achilles tendon is swollen and sore. Thankfully my morning was brightened by a cute little fella who joined me for breakfast, and I couldn't stay bitter or long. After packing up, I had yet another slow hot day against the wind. This is day five or six at this point, and it is getting old. Today's end destination is Regina, and I called ahead to hold a bed in a hostel. Toolk a break in Moose Jaw for some Timmies and got a pic with the giant moose before pressing on. As I slowly grinded my way towards a bed and shower, I spent a good chunk of time reflecting on the previous few days and what my touring philosophy will be. I finally settled on one that felt right: enjoy the ride.I have not been enjoying the prairies, so when I get to Regina I'm going to catch a bus and leave them behind me. Ten more days of slowly grinding against the wind with nothing to look at but farms has lost its appeal; I'm ready for the woods again.

Got in to Regina at 9pm, took a shower, at half a kilo of spaghetti, and crashed.

Day 15

The three of us (Sebastien and Maxim for reference) were back on the road fairy early with a plan to push out the 180km it would take to get to Moose Jaw. However the wind was still dead-set on imprinting the lesson that pre-planning is for fools, and we had yet another day of having to push to maintain 20km/hr. Between the slow pace and numerous short breaks in sub-thousand person towns for water and snacks, it was shaping up to be a long day. It was nice to have company though, and I have been really enjoying trying to communicate exclusively in French. I am had my first flat, I ran over some frayed metal wire-spike from a worn truck tire. So so far one flat per 2000km traveled- not bad at all! Got it changed pretty quickly on the side of the highway and took back off, but my left Achilles tendon was starting to get sore and it was becoming increasingly clear that today's goal may be a bit over-ambitious for me. When we reached 140km around 830pm I decided to bow out into a regional campsite while they decided to press on to Moose Jaw. We said out goodbyes and on they rode.

Despite our ride together being pretty short in the grand scheme of things, I feel like rising with Seb and Max really helped me settle on my personal touring style. They were very driven to complete a certain distance each day, didn't take make breaks, and had a fixed end date (to be fair Max was much less intense in his approach, but he was along for the ride). I prefer the opposite of all those things, and most of all I realized my priority is to have an adventure that I enjoy, not a physical trial that I have to suffer through. I am rethinking some of my plan.

Realizing now I didn't get any pics d the guys, but here are some crazy salt flats we rolled through.

Day 14

After a good sleep in what has been the loveliest campsite to date (Eagle Valley), I packed up to take off for yet another day of slow tedious riding against the westbound wind. I crossed over in to Saskatchewan pretty wary on the day, and while I stopped to snap a picture with the provincial sign I saw two cyclists on the horizon! I hopped back on my bike to go out and meet them, and not only were they québécois (quelle surprise), but they were my age as well! Turns out they had left the day after me, so we had been rolling along at a similar enough pace that it took nearly three weeks to meet up. We rode together for the day, stopping in the municipal campground in Swift Current for the night. It was interesting to see how they split up get, but I'm not so sure I'd be keen on staying two to a tent- having some space is not at all overrated. Speaking pretty much exclusively French, and am painfully aware of how rusty I am. Feels good to get the practice in though!

Day 13

The wind teaches cruel lessons. After the beautiful tailwind out of Bassano, I was making all sorts of grandiose plans about 200km days and how I would devastate the Prairies with my breakneck pace. Cue to waking up this morning to find that the wind had pulled a total about-face while i slept, opting to crush my plans rather than lift my spirits.

Balance in everything I guess, only fair that after such a perfect day I should have something to contrast it against. Going against the wind is like biking uphill, except you never get to bomb the other side once you reach the summit. Combing that along with clear skies and summer finally having arrived made for one of the most grueling dad to date. I must have pounded back at least 7L of water over the day, with plenty more when I got to camp. Also there is no shade anywhere, I found maybe one or two tiny patches every few hours, and they were total mosquito-fears. Bleh. Took my breaks in the shade of road signs. Speaking of, here's the one pic I took all day showing the prevailing Albertan attitude to finding deer 'round these here parts.

Day 12

Fastest day yet; woke up to a hardcore eastward wind and was propelled along all day. I averaged over 30km/hr for just under 5 hours (this is fast for me). Made in 150km in no time! I was tempted to keep going since the wind was so perfect, but I stumbled across another municipal campground just outside Medicine Hat that was too good to pass up- hopefully it is back tomorrow!

I have included a photo essay of the things I have seen in Alberta, as well as a shot of my cooking set up. I am an eating machine.

Day 11

I've just realized that I have only been numbering days where I had been riding, so day 11 will include a total of four days. The first two were spent staying with a friend in Calgary. It was great to have a visit, and we spent most of our time rolling around Calgary. So much urban sprawl, it was an interesting place. Met a bunch of cool people, and hopefully got my moneys worth at an all you can eat korean BBQ/sushi restaurant. They brought raw meat to fry in the middle of the table as well as so much Japanese food. It was awesome. Also went to check out the ludicrously ballet mansion his parents were building, and I must admit I was blown away. I missed it being ready by a month! Will definitely have to make my way back out down the road.

So after two days of rest, his family packed me some pasta and homemade trail mix and I got dropped off on the other side of town (I had been warned by several cyclists to how ridding though Calgary a miss if at all possible). It was nice and sunny, and I rode about 125km to a little town called Bassano. I got my first taste of riding against the prairie wind along the way, and then after a direction change I got to enjoy a nice tailwind. I stayed at the Bassano municipal campground which was crazy nice: soft flat grass, power, and most importantly showers. There was also another cyclist from Quebec on his way home, but he turned in early and was gone before I woke up. I also tried washing clothes in the shower, which was a total success. Oh! I also manages to break my glasses, but super glues them back together. Thankfully I pretty much live in my sunglasses.

It stayed windy through the night, and the next morning it started raining. Having been spoiled with nice weather to date, I opted for yet another rest day, which I spent curled up in my yet with a book. It was very restful. When it cleared around 130pm I decided I was too late to make it to the next site, went on a grocery run, then hunkered down for the night (after a second evening shower, of course). It was neat going to the grocery store to get an idea of small town living, everyone knew everyone by name, and the cashier asked if I was the guy in the campground. Word gets around.

Day 10

The ride out of Banff was awesome, rolling hills with a downhill bias which amde for some brisk riding. Unfortunately my legs were starting to suffer a bit from keeping up with Robin over the past few days, and I was lagging behind. So after an hour, we said our goodbyes and parted ways. It was really cool to get to see the Rockies fading in the the distance behind me, and the route was significantly flatter compared to what I had been doing. Looking forward to the full on flatness that I should find on the other side of Calgary! The ride in to Calgary was nice and smooth with wide shoulders, but as I approached the urban sprawl became worrisome. How do you navigate? Thankfully the friend I was staying with offered to come out and grab me at the edge of town, so I didn't have to find out. Planning on taking a rest day tomorrow to have a visit and let my legs recover.

Day 9

 Robin and I took off out of Golden and immediately began the long uphill climb out of Golden. The surrounding mountain chains are gorgeous, and riding along the wetlands has been great. As we crossed the border from BC in to Alberta, we were able to ride on to highway 1A out of Lake Louise, which was unreal. Beautiful rolling hills, well maintained roads, minimal traffic, and a ton of wildlife. Despite having laughed about how tourists got way too close to bears to take pictures the day before, when we rode past a black bear having a snack right by the side of the road I proved to be no better, stopping for a photo op without a second thought. We also saw several elk (pretty sure), as well as a few deer. Overall it was an amazing stretch of road, although the texas gates on the way in to Banff were a little rattling.

Decided to grab a hostel in Banff since it is a bear capital of Canada, and because it is a pretty chilly place. Robin and I went out for spaghetti at the Old Spaghetti Factory, then headed to our respective places for an early bed. Tomorrow: on to Calgary!

Day 8

Today took us from Revelstoke to Golden, via Rogers pass. It was a longer day at 150km , especially considering it was all through mountain passes. On the bright side I had two people to ride with and all my gear in the van, so it went by pretty quickly. Mike (the father) rode with us for the first half of the day, but after a few longer climbs he retired to the van while Robin and I pressed onwards. It turns out Mike was in his seventies and had been pushing for a third consecutive hundred plus kilometer day. I was awestruck. The climb up Roger's pass went by way faster than I had imagined it would, it was actually pretty underwhelming. Coming down the other side through the tunnels was absolutely amazing though: several minutes of 60/km+ riding through black-out dark tunnels. Definitely a highlight so far. We rode past plenty of snow, and thankfully managed to stay ahead of the rain clouds, which were constantly on our tail throughout the day. Pulling in to Golden with no gear, and a hot meal waiting was wonderful. Tomorrow Robin and Heather are heading back to the Okanagan, while Robin and I will ride out to Banff, and then on to Calgary. According to Mike and Robin there is a parallel route to get in to Banff that is basically empty, so looking forward to a day of no-traffic riding, even if I do have to carry my own gear again.

Day 7

After having been diverted to Salmon Arm due to flooding, today I rode onwards past Enderby and Sicamous, ending up in Revelstoke. The next few days are going to be through mountains again, and in to prime bear territory. And apparently moose territory as well; the deer signs have been replaced with moose signs, so looking forward to seeing some of those. So far riding through the forested valleys has been beautiful with lots to look at, and a surprising number of people to meet. I met four other cyclists today: two other loaded cyclists as well as two riding unencumbered. The two loaded riders were on total opposite ends of the spectrum, with one fully kitted out with all matching everything, the other with a few mismatched bags bungie corded on the back, but both seeming to be enjoying themselves.

The other two cyclists I met were a father and son team that were also heading through to Revelstoke, and said to come say hi when I got there. When I arrived they said it was ok to pitch my tent along with them, and I was invited for dinner as well. They have touring figured out: the two of them ride through the while mom drives from campsite to campsite in a van. Tomorrow they're riding on to Golden, and have offered to carry my bags in the van if I want to ride with them. Not sure if I'm more excited to have people to ride with, or to be 50lbs lighter through a day of mountain riding!