Wednesday 4 June 2014

Saskatoon

After five days cycling and 500 kilometres from Drumheller, we reached Saskatoon.  On the way we passed through Hanna, Oyen, Rosetown and Kindersley and, with a last day cycle of 118km, reached Saskatoon late afternoon on Monday 2nd June.

The Prairies have proved quite a different challenge from the Rockies.  First of all they are certainly not flat and we experience long rolling hills.  The weather is quite changeable and as we cycle in the sun we can see thunderstorms moving across the plains all around us.  Twice we have been caught and each time the claps of thunder were truly deafening and the forks of lightning too close for comfort.  We can see the storms approaching and have time to find shelter - once we found an an old gravediggers hut and, on another day, an abandoned barn.  Both were welcome refuges for 20 minutes until the storm passed and we could cycle in the sun again. 


Generally, the winds have been favourable to us.  We are glad to be travelling west to east and a slight tailwind is always welcome.  However, that doesn't mean to say the wind is predictable and, especially, across the Prairies, the wind can whip up from any direction.  

On our last 30km to Oyen there was a strong headwind and we struggled to make progress, arriving at our motel late in the day absolutely shattered.  The following morning the wind was again behind us and we set off confidently.  In fact for the first 2km I was surprised at how easy we were pedalling.  This is good I thought, no hangover from yesterday.  We tackled the first hill.  Wow this is smooth and we are in a higher gear than normal.  On we pedalled and cycling felt good again.  Another km later and I thought something's just not right.  No idea what it was but something felt different.  That's when it came to me and I quickly stopped the bike and turned around.  Where's the bl**dy trailer?

Yes we had left our room as usual, packed up the bike and positioned the trailer at the rear of the bike.  I thought Susan had hooked it up and she thought I had.  So when we pedalled off the trailer just sat there in the car park.  Honestly, if anyone was looking it must have looked like Laurel and Hardy. 

So we quickly turned around, cycled back and, fortunately, the trailer was still in the same place in the car park.  Thank goodness!  So we hooked up and set off again.  Immediately there was more strain on our pedalling, our legs were tired and that same hill took ages.  It didn't seem to matter though - we were glad to be back with our trailer.  

From Saskatoon we aim to push onto Winniepeg, a distance of 800km over the next week or so.  It will, however, be weather dependent as further storms are forecast in the region.

To date 2106 km.


2 comments:

  1. Nice one! A whole different slant on leaving the baby in the pram at the supermarket having returned home! Your relief must have been immeasurable! Glad you are back on the way otherwise intact. Linda and Frances just back from Rome after 18 hour return journey due to Ryan Air strike! Keep up the good progress and enjoy D-Day. Rxx

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  2. I think we could have cycled back from Rome quicker than that! :)

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