"you're gonna cry ..."

About a thousand years ago when I was prepping for this trip back in Toronto a helpful fella at a bike shop near my apartment pointed at south western Saskatchewan on a map and talking about prevailing winds said "Man you're gonna cry when you get there." Well I'm in Swift Current right now but those aren't tears ... I got something in my eye alright?

Okay well it's not as bad as all that but a mean headwind can sure make for a slow day. I've been on the road eight hours today and covered just under 50km. The terrain out this way has gone from every direction reminding me of The Wizard of Oz that Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan offered to every direction reminding me of a Wile E Coyote cartoon. Oh yeah and I witnessed an honest to goodness stampede! A herd of cattle grazing near the highway as I passed just up and decided to haul ass for no reason I could see. Scared the crap outta me, but cool to see up close. No idea what would compel a person to try to control that though. Maybe cowboy hats do something bad to cranial blood flow?

Among many things I totally missed in school I'm thinking there was something about there once being an ocean out here in one of those lessons. This isn't snow, it's salt, and there's tonnes of it out here. I also found sea shells at my camp site last night which I'm pretty sure weren't driving through.

Anyway I should be crossing into Alberta on Monday and arriving in Calgary sometime late next week.

from the Peg to Regina

I left Joel and Tammy's place just outside Winnipeg last Sunday and yesterday I arrived in Regina, that's 641km in a week, much closer to my goal of 100km / day and I'm pleased with that. I haven't stopped to see much in that week but I have met some interesting characters, including a couple touring cyclists. One fellow who specializes in the roads less travelled was on his NINTH crossing of Canada and let me photograph his highlighted map of routes he's cycled. Pretty impressive.

I also met this guy at the information center as I crossed into Saskatchewan. His English wasn't great but it was better than my Japanese. Not sure what the face is about, I wasn't trying to scare the crap out of him but that's how it looks. He's on his way to Toronto so if you see him on the road pass with care, he spooks easily!

I'm going to hang out here for a couple days and see what I can get up to before pushing on again. Oh and thanks to Jen for reminding me about the meteor shower Saturday night, I was up late watching them stream in in a small town just East of here and really enjoyed the show.

mmmmmmm beeeeer

Departure brews at casa del Joel.

working and playing in the Peg

After crossing into a new province about a week ago I quickly made my way to the next stop on my trip, visiting my old friend Joel and meeting his wife Tammy and son Kayden in their rural home just outside Winnipeg. I happened to arrive a few days before a surprise party and family reunion Tammy had organized for her mother's 65th birthday, so Joel and I set about making ourselves useful picking up supplies and setting up for the bash. I got to meet a lot more family than I expected and was happy to be treated like kin while my family is far away.

After the bday celebrations were over Joel offered to bring me along on his daily commute into Winnipeg so I could see about arranging some work while I'm here to pad the travel fund. I've spent the last few days toting, loading, and hauling and enjoying the contrast of a different routine from the riding.

I'll be rolling on again this weekend. Next stop is Calgary to visit more friends and family!