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Day 11: Saturday July 10, 1999 - Kicking Horse Campground to "Hoodoos Campground" (wrong name) outside of Banff

Distance: 79 km (We actually rode 96 km due to map error.); Climb: 448 m; Drop: 484 m

It felt very cold when we got up and Leo told us that his thermometer indicated 4C. The sky was cloudless and we felt very lucky because this day we would be riding to Lake Louise and Banff. Our day commenced with a very steep (11% grade) 7 km ride up to Kicking Horse Pass. I caught up with Dave, Jackie and Jonathan. After riding 4.5 km to the famous Spiral Tunnels built by Canadian Pacific Railways to enable the trains to cross the Rockies, we were joined by Gilbert and Eva who had ridden in the truck out of deference to their knees. Our group of six slowly wended its way up to the pass where we duly took pictures of each other in front of a mirror-calm lake with a backdrop of spectacular mountains.

Kicking Horse Pass

Then we turned on a road to O'Hara Lake where followed the old highway 1 that would lead us to the Great Continental Divide, the watershed dividing British Columbia and Alberta where one branch of the river flows towards the west and the other towards the east. We had trouble finding the proper road to take as the directions on the map were not at all clear. Once we found it, however, the going was wonderful because the road was shut to motor vehicles. There were a fair number of cyclists on this route.

The Great Divide

After taking pictures at the Great Divide, we continued on to picturesque Lake Louise where we took the traditional pictures in front of the turquoise coloured waters. Leaving Lake Louise on a steep, curved hill, we headed for the quiet Bow Valley Parkway on which we continued to the very beautiful Johnson Canyon. A most pleasant ride. Towards the end of the afternoon, as we came into Banff, we had two series of Texas gates to cross. These are 4 in. diameter, round pipes placed in the road surface perpendicular to the road with gaps of about 6 inches between them to prevent cows or other hoofed animals from crossing a particular section of road. The first set, I walked cautiously across, but the second set had a spot where we could ride across. It was such a bumpy ride, I thought that the fillings were going to be jolted out of my teeth.

Lake Louise

We parted with the group in Banff and went to the YWCA to send a short e-mail to our friends and family. Here's the message I sent.

Sat, 10 Jul 1999

Bonjour/Hello,

We have just spent two wonderful days cycling in the Rockies under sunny skies and it's warm. We are presently in Banff and about to leave to go to the campground to set up our tent. Gilbert cycled just about the whole two days and his knee seems to be much improved. Going over Roger's pass in the rain and cold was very difficult but the weather improved on the other side.

Got to run. Bye, Claudia

Then we left Banff and continued along Tunnel Mountain Road looking for the Hoodoo's Campground. Well we never found it because that is not the correct name! (Grrr. Again those inaccurate maps.) After we had ridden more than 7 km too far, we asked directions in a campground and were told to retrace our steps to the serviced section of this campground. We arrived at last and set up our tent under the trees before enjoying a new drink (for us) called Mike's Hard Lemonade that became our favourite beverage for most of the rest of the trip. The showers in this campground were considered by some to be the very best on the whole trip.

Caroline and Megan had made a huge batch of rice krispie squares and while Megan, seated on the ground, was holding hers in one of her hands, a cheeky ground squirrel climbed up on her legs and snatched it right out of her hand. The grounds were infested with ground squirrels who provided lots of entertainment for the group during our evening meal. Leo's daughter arrived at camp with some delicious walnut squares for dessert so no one went to bed hungry that night. We phoned Madeleine and Natasha but they didn't seem to pleased that we had called at that particular time.

Several of the group wanted to visit Banff so took off for a couple of hours in spite of the long day ahead. Most of us were disappointed that we hadn't had longer to visit this fun place and our disappointment was compounded over the next couple of weeks when our travel itinerary only took us through backwoods prairie towns, many of which were in the process of closing down.

Day 12: Sunday July 11, 1999 - Banff to Beiseker

Distance: 187 km; Climb: 836 m; Drop: 1360 m

Several days previously, we had started to sleep with earplugs and we did so again because there was a noisy group of teens camped in the group site next to ours. Gilbert and I left camp at 7:50 a.m. preceded by Eva and followed by Jonathan, Megan, Caroline, Jackie and Dave who were riding sweep that day. Leaving the campsite, we saw several elk grazing under the trees close to the road. It was another sunny day and the first 40 km were pretty well downhill with a bit of a tailwind blowing for a change. We stopped in the pretty town of Canmore to phone Montreal to conduct some important business related to Gilbert's condo. Then we followed the Bow Valley Trail along Highway 1A, a very quiet road with a good surface at first but then which deteriorated as we continued along it. It was amazing to look back and see the mountains disappearing in haze behind us as we headed along flat lands towards rolling hills in the distance.

At the 100 km point, we came to the town of Cochrane. By this point it was hot and Gilbert's leg was tired. We stopped at the local A & W for a delicious chocolate milkshake to accompany our peanut butter and jam sandwiches. At Cochrane, our route changed direction and we had to ride up a very steep hill on Highway 22. Gilbert's knee started giving him real problems about halfway up. As it was almost 3 p.m. and there was still a distance of 83 km to go, we decided that he would try to hitchhike and I would continue to ride. I pressed on at a good pace for the next part of the ride which turned along the 567 through fields of wheat and sweet-smelling canola for the most part. Now, a headwind was blowing and you would climb one steep hill just to see two or three similar hills waiting after you had gone down the other side. This sort of boring and difficult terrain - difficult because we already had more than 110 km under our belts by this time - continued for at least 50 more km.

Ten kilometers out of camp, I caught up and passed Eva. I was very hot and tired when I got into the municipal camp ground in Beiseker at 6:30 p.m. To my surprise, Gilbert had not yet arrived. Jen told me that she had received a phone call from Caroline saying that he was riding with the slowest group. When they arrived, he told them that he had been trying to hitch, without success, for almost half an hour when the last group of cyclists passed him on the hill. He decided to catch up to them because his knee felt a little better and he thought he just might be able to ride. Dave suggested that he lower his bicycle seat, and by doing so, he was able to pedal without hurting his knee! If only we had known this before!!!! Not only was he able to pedal, but he also gained power in his legs. He also had an uncomfortable stomach and diarrhea for part of the afternoon but he managed to complete the rest of the trip with the group and actually arrived at camp at 8:30 p.m. before they did.

At this site, some of the local residents greeted our cycling group with a hamburger and hot dog barbecue. We all appreciated the gesture but the staunch vegetarians cooked up a tomato vegetable pasta meal as an alternative and this is what Gilbert and I ate, not feeling like a heavy hamburger in our stomachs. We talked about how long a day it had been and I honestly couldn't see the point of riding 183 km in one day. I didn't find such a distance enjoyable although I was perfectly able to do it. I had set up our tent and after eating and showering, we hit the sack, satisfied with having successfully completed this day in spite of the difficulties that we had had to face.

Day 13: Monday July 12, 1999 - Beiseker to Drumheller

Distance: 78 km; Climb: 276 m; Drop: 492 m

No one rushed to leave camp early because it was an easy ride ahead of us and a beautiful day. Gilbert and Don started the day by changing their flat back tubes. Then we set off at about 8:50 a.m. Sixteen kilometers later, we had to stop because Gilbert's tire had gone flat again. Vicky and Don, the sweeps, pulled up and we heard "phoosh" as Don's back tire went flat again too. Vicky and Dave Foss gave them each a new tube because we hadn't all started carrying spare tubes yet, but Don pinched his and had to repair the new tube.

Our ride along Highway 9 took us over small hills and through rolling farmland. There wasn't too much traffic as we were continuing our travels along secondary roads rather than major highways. We made a stop at the picturesque Horseshoe Canyon glimpsing the terrain we would see at Drumheller and we ate lunch with Vicky and Don at a picnic table.

Lunar landscape near Drumheller

Several kilometers later as we prepared to descend into the city of Drumheller located in a valley, I heard "phoosh, phlap, phlap, phlap" and thought I had a flat back tire. Although the tire was no longer hard, it hadn't gone completely flat and it was still hard enough to continue riding without making a repair. Then I ran over some discarded gum and both tires continued to pick up all sorts of debris from the paved shoulder. In Drumheller, we stopped with Don first at a sports shop and then a café where we had a moka chip milkshake. Don decided to continue his ride into camp which was another 9 km. or so but we headed to the civic library where we were able to spend a free hour on the Internet. Then it was onwards to camp where we set up our tent, patched tires (my tube had a slit in it), showered ($1 a piece) and patched tires. That evening we walked around the camp that was swarming with kids. There were rabbits roaming around all over the place. The site with its pool, play area, and paths up and down lunar-looking dunes was just perfect for families.

Day 14: Tuesday July 13, 1999 - Rest day in Drumheller

Distance: 8 km

Cacti grow in Canada!

Once again the rest day was sunny and fairly warm. We got up at 7:15 a.m. and headed to the laundromat to get our laundry done before breakfast. Then we took our bikes and headed back down the highway to the world class Tyrell Museum specializing in dinosaurs and fossils. The displays were informative, interested and very well presented. After a most enjoyable two hours in the museum, we had lunch and then went walking along the paths in the weird, lunar-like landscape behind the museum. In this strange setting, which seemed straight out of science fiction, I imagined being back in the time of the dinosaurs. We were amazed to discover flowering cacti growing among the hills as we had never imagined that any cacti would grow in the wild in Canada. A great walk.

I got yet another flat in my back tire on the way back to camp - that's two for me and two for Gilbert in the last two days. Hope we'll get a break. At camp, the second group of cyclists had arrived and were sitting with Don Peddie (TDC 96) who had brought us wonderful cakes for dessert. Don, who would camp with us that night, spent the rest of the evening shuttling small groups of cyclists back and forth to Drumheller. Before retiring, we enjoyed the wonderful desserts and gave him a hearty round of applause.

Day 15: Wednesday July 14, 1999 - Drumheller to Youngstown

Distance: 139 km (rode 124 km); Climb: 420 m; Drop: 308 m

It rained during the night but it held off during breakfast and Gilbert and I were ready to leave at 7:30. The rain started just as we left camp and headed back towards Drumheller and then north on Highway 56 until we turned east on Highway 9 that we would follow all the way to Youngstown. Twice we pulled over to give moral support to Ray King while he fixed a flat and we did the same three times for Don that day - I finally found a glass shard embedded in his tire that was causing the problem. We have learned how useful it is to carry a spare tube - actually, not just useful, but rather, a necessity.

The day proved difficult because we rode with headwinds and near headwinds all day long and they gradually increased in strength so that the fastest we could travel was only about 18 km per hour. During the whole day, we only had one downhill coast. At Hanna, not far from the halfway point, we stopped with Don for a break and a lady from Kindersley, Saskatchewan told us that strong storms were expected in the Youngstown area that evening. We struggled on throughout the afternoon with Gilbert riding mainly in my shadow for most of it. We saw three of the slower cyclists pass by in a pick-up truck at one point.

As we looked across the Prairie, a small black cloud got bigger and bigger until it hid us from the sun. We were heading straight for pitch black sky against a very strong headwind.

Wind and black sky near Youngstown

I figured that there was no point in getting soaked again so I asked Gilbert if he would like to hitch hike and he seemed to welcome my words. We stuck out our thumbs and not more than ten minutes passed before a man in a pick-up stopped for us. He turned out to be the principal of the school that was supposed to provide us with showers (and didn't because the people hadn't been informed about our group, only the second one the following day). He seemed quite sad and a little bitter as he told us that his school which ranged from kindergarten to grade 12 had only 95 students and was losing some every year. He had just had to lay off a teacher because of the drop in numbers.

We arrived at the curling club in Youngstown just as the rain started to pelt down. A great potluck supper awaited us (lasagna, deer sausages, mince casserole, salads and a variety of desserts) and we were told that we could sleep indoors which most of us decided to do as the weather looked really rotten. What a great stroke of fortune to be at a place where we could stay indoors! We took our tent down in the wind and rain as rapidly as we had put it up and settled on the second floor for a good night of sleep.

Day 16: Thursday July 15, 1999 - Youngstown, AB to Kindersley, SA

Distance: 154 km (rode 0 km); Climb: 436 m; Drop: 556 m

I awoke at about 6:50 a.m. and after getting dressed in my biking gear went downstairs to check out the weather. It was so rainy, windy and cold, that various members of the group were discussing the possibility of hiring a schoolbus to drive us to our destination that day. Only seven hardy souls prepared to actually ride that day: Dave Hammond, Ray, Ngaire, Alison, Vicky, Adélard and Martin. Bravo to them all for enduring all that the elements wreaked upon them that day. The rest of us with Burt as the leader went about finding someone to drive us and finally someone from the Catholic school board agreed to do it. While we were awaiting his arrival, we got caught up in our journals, correspondence and reading.

In Calgary, the previous day, the temperature had gone down to almost 0C and it had snowed. Unbelievable for mid-July. A local lady, informed us that more rain had fallen during the previous night than falls usually during a whole year! The bus arrived at 11:15 and the 15 of us piled in with three bikes in the aisles and the others in the truck. The wind howled in gusts from the northeast that ranged from 37 km to 58 km per hour and every time a tractor trailer passed - or even a car, for that matter - our whole side of the road was sprayed. We could see that several of the cyclists that had started out were holed up at a gas station restaurant that we passed at the 45 km mark. We later overtook Ray, Adélard and Dave but none wanted to climb on board.

Finally, an hour and a half later, we reached Kindersley and the bus drove us through the town then down a road to the regional campground. Our spirits sank as we looked at the campsite. What a desolate place full of puddles but mainly full of muck. As soon as you got off the bus, the mud started clinging to the soles of your shoes until it had built up to over an inch thick. It was a horrible-looking day and place and Gilbert and I were among the first contingent of people to decide to rent a hotel room at the nearest hotel about 2 km down the street back towards town. We walked there and took a room for the price of $63 plus $9 tax but in the end, it only cost us $26 because we shared it with Megan, Caroline, Jackie and Dave (all none-snorers). We ate our sandwiches at about 2 p.m. in the hotel room and then went back to the camp to cook supper for everyone in the cooking shelter. What a day it was to be on cooking duty! I had planned a pot of chicken stew and a second of tofu stew accompanied by salad and garlic bread but first we had to boil the chickens because they had not been deboned. We spent the whole afternoon in this "Kitchen from Hell" getting the meal prepared under difficult conditions trying to keep everything out of the mud. We had been there for more than two hours before the other two members of the kitchen crew made an appearance. Although we had placed a tarp in an opening to block the howling wind, the stove burners must have been blown out 100 times.

When Adélard rolled in at about 6 p.m., he was almost hypothermic and we had to pull off his gloves. I gave him a piece of hot chicken and then fed him stew and then Gilbert immediately took him to the shower where he placed him under hot water. He told us that he had been so cold at times that he couldn't see! Dave Hammond had ridden with him and came in next followed by Ray, Martin and Ngaire. Last but not least were Ali and Vicky who were the only ones with Ray not to suffer from hypothermia. However, Ali and Vicky had been blown bike and all into the ditch by an extra strong gust. This really scared them and they had elected to walk the rest of the day but realizing this would take too long, they screwed up their courage and got back on their bikes. A truly awful riding day!

After everyone had been fed, I left the cleanup duty to the three others because I was really feeling the cold and I took the truck with several others heading to the hotel. In the end all of us except for Jen and Dave Foss slept in one of the four rooms that we had rented. After picking up my bathing suit, I headed to the hot tub in the hotel where I relaxed for some time before Gilbert arrived. Then we went back to the room and sent an Internet message using Dave Faingold's portable computer. Here it is.

Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1999 00:43:06 -0400 (EDT)

Subject: Terrible day

Hi, just a quick note. The weather was so cold, so rainy and so windy that most of the group rented a bus to get from Youngstown to Kindersley, saskatchewan, 154 km away. Only 7 people rode and two came in with hypothermia. It snowed in Calgary and the wind chill made it -5C here. A totally horrible day. The wind was blowing and gusting from 34 to 57 km from the northeast which made riding very difficult. Two of the riders were blown off their bikes into the ditch but after getting up and walking for awhile, got back on their bikes and finished. Tonight we are all except two, staying in a hotel with 6 or more per room.

Got to run because it is 10:30p.m. and time for lights out. Hope tomorrow weather will be better.

Bye, Claudia

Day 17: Friday July 16, 1999 - Kindersley to Outlook

Distance: 160 km; Climb: 280 m; Drop: 436 m

Our team didn't prepare breakfast because everyone, except Dave Foss and Jen, slept at the hotel. It took us a long time to get started because just getting everything back onto the truck through the mud took ages. To our surprise, we set off in the sun and the wind had dropped. Gilbert and I were sweeps.

At Rosetown, we first bought some delicious cherries and ate them on the spot and then we found the renowned bakery where we met and chatted with the mayor of the town who would like TDC to stop there next year. A very nice town and one of the few that we saw in Saskatchewan that seemed to be actually thriving.

We had caught up to Jonathan, Dave and Jackie just before arriving in Rosetown and the latter two had decided to try to hitch. They got a partial ride and then we caught up with the three of them later. After Rosetown, the weather turned cloudier and cloudier and we could see scattered showers here and there in the distance.

Typical Saskatchewan scene

As it got darker, swarms of flying insects rose from the fields and pelted us all in the face. In order not to breathe in or swallow too many bugs, I figured out a new way of breathing with my upper lip stretched out over my lower one. Eventually, the showers did catch up to us and we were glad to have flagged down the truck earlier in the day to pick up extra clothes. We rode into camp in Outlook just in time for supper which included fresh corn on the cob and our stews from the previous day reheated. We showered and went to bed after another tiring day. It rained during the night.

Day 18: Saturday July 17, 1999 - Outlook to Nokomis

Distance: 144 km; Climb: 336 m; Drop: 336 m

We set off fairly early but next to last out of camp after a pancake breakfast. It was a gorgeous sunny day with little traffic. Five kilometers out of town, my back tire went flat again and Dave Foss helped us change it - he and Ali were sweeps.

Dave Foss helps fix a flat

Twenty-two kilometers out, I had been riding hard against headwinds with Gilbert behind when I turned my head to say I needed to pee and wanted to stop at the next crossroads. Gilbert had earplugs in his ears and I must have slowed without meaning to. He hit my back tire and crashed on the highway though I didn't feel him touch my bike at all. I stopped immediately, turned and he managed to get to the side of the road while I pulled his bike off the highway. Luckily there was no traffic at all. His helmet had cracked slightly upon impact and he had a scraped knee and banged up shoulder. We washed the wounds and put on bandages; then I washed the blood off his jacket. The sweeps arrived at this moment and we continued to ride until the truck passed and we flagged it down. Gilbert decided to get in and Caroline got out to make room for him because we had decided that I would ride behind her on the tandem. The day before Megan had fallen down some stairs and hurt her back so she was going to ride in the truck until he back felt better.

The truck took off and after only a couple of minutes, I realized that it was going to be a "ride from Hell." First of all, my style of cycling is to pedal and rest and not to spin that much. On the tandem, I had to keep pedaling all the time with no stops. But worse than this was the fact that the seat proved extremely uncomfortable. I just couldn't find any comfortable position and would have to tell Caroline periodically that I needed to stop pedaling just to stand up for a minute or two. Then we missed the only town en route and passed several other TDC cyclists. We pedaled as if we were racing and often traveled at more than 30 km per hour. We hit a few hills midway and passed many fields of wheat and canola. There were lots of abandoned farms too. Then the roadway deteriorate and we crossed several patches of broken surface and gravel. I discovered that Caroline was a very strong rider (stronger than I). I appreciated her company but not the ride.

We finally arrived at the arena shortly after 5 p.m. after making excellent time. This arena had kitchen facilities indoors and the crew felt privileged to be able to use a real stove and oven. I liked the arena with its clean showers, and after supper, Gilbert and I walked down to the local ice cream shop where I filled up on ginger ale rather than ice cream because I was still so thirsty from the ride. Gilbert had gone to the local clinic but there was no doctor, only a nurse who wasn't interested in even looking at him. He told me that he was so fed up at that point, if there had been a doctor, he would have asked him for a letter for insurance purposes and then he would have returned to Montreal. A very low point in the trip. I felt badly and hoped that tomorrow he'd see things in a different light. While we sipped our ginger ale, we watched a youth who looked not a day over ten do wheelies on his motor bike up and down the main street.

We were pleased to have slept inside that night because a gang of local youths came by in the darkness and loudly slapped each of the tents pitched outdoors. Small town Saskatchewan is very desolate with many towns in death throes.

Day 19: Sunday July 18, 1999 - Nokomis to Fort Qu'Appelle

Distance: 160 km; Climb: 252 m; Drop: 316 m

Gilbert felt much rested in the morning and felt that he could bike. Several people would have ridden in the truck this day - saddle sores or sore knees - but Megan and Caroline had staked their claims because Megan had not slept due to her back pain. We had to ride a different route because of the scheduled road being under construction. We set off in the rain and most of the day, rode against fairly strong headwinds. Soon we passed Dave Foss who stopped the truck to be picked up and then caught up to Dave, Jackie and Jonathan. Sweeps Ray and Martin, riding with Eva, caught up to us before we stopped at Strasbourg for ice cream and other goodies at about 11 a.m. After a brief sunny period, clouds moved back in bringing rain, a storm and headwinds later on. The weather was freaky all day.

I found Ray and Martin to be excellent sweeps as they rode together trying to shield us from the wind at a pace that accommodated the slowest. We all rode together until the town of Earl Grey where we stopped for lunch. Everything was shut and the place looked dead. Ray wandered behind the community centre and discovered Rudy and his amazing museum. He brought us over to a huge rundown building that looked like it had been some sort of warehouse. Once we passed the threshold, however, we discovered first one amazing room filled with three gleaming old horse-pulled carriages and two restored cars and a second one with six or seven more cars in it, all beautifully polished. Mannequins and other odds and ends accompanied the cars in the second room. There were several 1917 Fords, Chevrolets and Buicks as well as slightly older models, all in mint condition. I thought to myself that the museum was truly a hidden treasure on such a dismal ride and this visit made my day as well as that of the sweeps. I was sad to see that both Jackie and Jonathan were so despondent that they didn't even come to look inside the museum although we told them it was wonderful. Rudy had us sign his guest book and we took his picture.

Rudy and his car museum

Jackie and Dave decided that they had had enough and would try to hitch from Earl Grey. The others rode together, stopping to walk every 15 or 20 km or so. When we reached Lipton, it was already 5:30 p.m. and Ray decided to call Jen to let her know where we all were. At this point, Gilbert and I decided to ride on ahead because the rain was getting stronger. After a longish stretch on a major road and then a fast descent into the town, we finally arrived at the campground at about 7 p.m. A great veggie stir fry dinner with rice and salad awaited us and we ate immediately although we were soaked right through. Luckily it was warmish and the rain stopped long enough for us to get our tent pitched. We took a shower and then climbed into our welcome sleeping bags. We were in Indian territory and there was a well-attended noisy baseball game taking place not far from where we were. Afterwards, the spectators revved up the engines of their older cars and as they left the campground, it sounded as if they were circling our tents in a sort of modern war dance.

Day 20: Monday July 19, 1999 - Rest day in Fort Qu'Appelle

It rained during the night but cleared up as the morning wore on. We walked into town to do the laundry and I was able to dry my wet shoes in the sun. We both cleaned and arranged the clothes bins and Gilbert cleaned and oiled both bikes. I caught up in the journal and later sent the following e-mail message.

Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 21:26:50 -0400 (EDT)

Today we are having a rest day in Fort Qu'Appelle in Saskatchewan just north of Regina. The usual routine is that everybody gets up at a leisurely pace and then goes to the local laundry to get all the clothes washed. As with our other two rest days, it was a beautiful sunny warm day. It's too bad that our biking days can't be the same. We still have not had a decent tailwind to push us along and have been bucking headwinds or almost headwinds everyday since I last wrote except one. And we still get rained upon. Yesterday, we were absolutely soaked to the core (but at least we weren't cold) by the time we had ridden the 160 km. We have been riding very long distances all the past week.

Two days ago, we had an accident. I was riding in front of Gilbert and we were going about 24 km per hour when I slowed down to tell him that I needed to pee at the next intersection. I should have made a hand signal because he was closer behind than I thought and he ran into my back wheel and fell. It was a good thing that he had a helmet on! (we have to get a new one because it is cracked). He had road rash (as they call it) on one knee (thank goodness not the one he was already having problems with) and a shoulder and hurt his wrist too. Luckily the truck was behind us and passed about ten minutes later and picked him up. He would have left for Montreal if there had been a doctor at the clinic in Nokomis to sign a letter for insurance purposes, but there wasn't. Yesterday after a good night of rest, he was back to his old self and in good spirits and managed to ride the whole day.

I rode the rest of the day on a tandem but it wasn't a very comfortable experience. I found the seat very uncomfortable and the pace not my own. I like to pedal and then rest a little and on the tandem I had to keep pedaling all the time. But it was a good experience and we made excellent time that day; two powerful ladies pushing those pedals hard.

We do have our first departure from the group though, a fellow in his fifties from Orleans near Ottawa. Bad back and totally discouraged by the conditions. We are hoping that the weather will improve. Hope you are all well.

Claudia

Our campsite was a pretty location near the edge of a lake. Off in the distance you could see rounded, grassy hills with few trees surrounding the valley. The weather cleared up and we realized that the second group had a tailwind to get to camp. We were all rather envious. I bought a bungee cord to give to Vicky who had lent me hers. Gilbert was in good sprits and ready to continue the ride.

We realized sadly that both Leda and Don would be leaving us in Winnipeg as planned. This was also the day that Roger announced that he was heading back to Ottawa because he was fed up with the poor weather and riding conditions. He also had a bad back and sore backside. Actually, it has been a tough challenge for us all (well, most of us) I'd say; tougher than expected.

That evening we all went to Bubba's, an excellent pizza place for supper and bid our farewells to Roger. Then we stopped for an ice cream and walked back to the beach to watch the sun go down. An ultra light aircraft with a rainbow-coloured rectangular parachute passed overhead. We skipped stones and observed white pelicans and Canada geese off in the distance. Hit the sack early at 9:30 p.m.

Day 21: Tuesday July 20, 1999 - Fort Qu'Appelle to Carlton Trail Regional Park near Spy Hill

Distance: 172 km; Climb: 224 m; Drop: 232 m

We awoke at 5 a.m. and Gilbert thought it was raining, but no, the sky was clear and the sun coming up. We were ready to leave at 7 a.m.

We finally had a perfect riding day: a warm 28C, sun and an almost dead-on tailwind for 85% of the distance. We flew past fields of golden canola, small ponds with little water hens and fields of blue alfalfa. Now this was more like it; a truly glorious day for a ride on very good roads with wide shoulders. This is what I had dreamed of.

Golden canola field

Saskatchewan grain elevator

We stopped at Dubuc, a dying town of less than 100 people with only a post office, gas station, credit union and a hotel for sale where we ordered a cold soft drink on ice. Thirty kilometers further down the road, we stopped at Esterhazy for a chocolate milkshake. The highway runs through Esterhazy, unlike the other towns in Saskatchewan because it is more recent. We passed two big potash mills with mountains of slag; potash, Saskatchewan's dream of wealth that never materialized. Gilbert recalled visiting this town over twenty-five years ago.

Typical lunch: peanut butter and jam sandwich and a banana

Towards the end of the afternoon, we could see a huge black cloud converging on us at an angle and we decided to race it to camp. We made it but in the end that particular cloud passed off to one side and it was another one that dumped a little rain on on us. Camp was set up at the Carlton Trail Regional Park on a wide grassy area next to a little lake and a golf course. Wally made several wrong turns this day and ended up riding 205 km but he didn't beat Dave Foss's record of 210 km when Dave had got lost on his way to Beiseker.

Day 22: Wednesday July 21, 1999 - Carlton Trail Regional Park SA to Minnedosa MA

Distance: 157 km; Climb: 296 m; Drop: 280 m

We got up at 5:45 a.m. under a clear sky and could see it would be a warm day. We packed up our gear, ate a bowl of oatmeal, drank coffee and were off at 7:15. It was beautiful and cool as we rode back down Highway 8 in order to turn onto Highway 22 going east. We cycled behind Ray and Vicky for some time and stopped to take a few pictures.

Not long afterwards, we reached the Manitoba border and the road surface became rough. We rode down into two picturesque valleys that made a nice contrast with the flat lands that we had been riding through.

A short time later, we reached Highway 16 known as the Yellowhead and which is an alternate trans-Canada route. This highway was a busier one than those we had been traveling the last several days, with large trucks and many campers; we decided to ride with Ray and Vicky because we felt that we would be safer as a group. There was no paved shoulder on this highway and parts of the road were being resurfaced but there wasn't all that much traffic. We made good time because Ray, who had assumed leadership of our little group, didn't stop before we had completed 90 km. Then we ate lunch at Shoal Lake and when we got back on our bikes, we felt overloaded and rather bloated with weak knees. Later we realized that we should stop more frequently and nibble rather that eating everything at once. At the 100 km point, I would have liked to call it a day but there were still 57 more kilometers to do.

Ray took off because to our surprise when we left the town a little further along the same highway, the road suddenly had a very wide, smoothly paved shoulder to ride on so safety was no longer a consideration. Gilbert seemed to want to wait for Vicky and I didn't feel like dawdling so after I had waited for them for a few minutes, I started riding and then I gradually increased my speed until I was literally sailing along. After several kilometers, I caught up to Ray and we were just about to leave when I noticed Gilbert in my mirror. The poor guy had ridden up to 35 km per hour in the heat in order to catch up to me and he was exhausted. We stopped under a tree to eat an apple and then continued into camp where we quaffed down a Mike's hard lemonade, took a quick swim in the muddy river and then started preparing dinner because our team was on duty: we were serving spaghetti, salad and garlic bread with a special treat of ice cream for dessert.

Gilbert was quite unhappy about the way the day had gone and very tired so we went to bed early at 9 p.m. local time. This was really only 8 p.m. because we had just advanced our clocks upon entering Manitoba as Saskatchewan does not go onto daylight savings time in the summer like all the other provinces. This had been a half good, half bad day for me.

Day 23: Thursday July 22, 1999 - Minnedosa to Portage La Prairie

Distance ridden : 138 km; Climb: 0 m; Drop: 0 m

We heard thunder and lightning during the night but the rain had ceased by the time we got up. We made French toast and as we were sweeps and wanted to be last out of camp, had to wait 30 minutes for Eva to be ready; actually we didn't mind because we had decided to take our time after the previous day's intense rush. Moreover, we were lucky to have left late because the wind became more favourable. Eva had problems this day riding against the wind and didn't manage more than 20 km per hour.

At the 30 km point, we reached Neepawa, the home town of author Margaret Laurence. She portrayed this town as Manawaka in her books and we decided to visit her home which has been turned into a museum.

Author Margaret Laurence's house

Then we split up with Eva who wanted to consult a physiotherapist and made our way to the local library to use the Internet. Here is our e-mail from that stop.

Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1999 12:54:06 -0400 (EDT)

Subject: Neepawa, Manitoba

Bonjour/Hi everyone,

We're in Neepawa, home of Margaret Laurence, famous Canadian author (died in 87). Visited her house. Taking it easy today because we are the sweeps. We are on our fourth consecutive day of fine weather altho we had a thunder storm during the night. The riding is difficult tho because of the very long distances : 150, 160, 170 km per day so we have long hours to pedal. We really prefer under 100km per day so that you can visit and do internet etc.

The group is still a lot of fun and there is a good spirit among its members. Gilbert's knee seems to be behaving and he is able to ride every day. Got to run, have a good summer, back again soon,

Claudia

After the Internet, we stopped at the bank and by that time it was noon. There was a small group of people giving out free hot dogs and iced tea in front of the bank, so we had some and then left on our way. A little farther along in the town, free hamburgers were being distributed but we were no longer hungry.

We rode at a leisurely pace but got rather hot as the afternoon wore on. The map suggested a quiet route along 13 km of gravel road but we opted for Highway 1, the so-called " dangerous " alternate because it was a four-laned highway separated in the middle. Although there was no shoulder, the riding was pretty safe because the traffic was light. I felt that we had ridden on a far dangerous stretch of highway the day before. Due to a strong tailwind, we were able to ride at over 30 km per hour along this ten kilometer stretch of road and got into Portage at about 5:30 p.m. and to the campsite twenty minutes later. We had lots of space on the Island Park site near the stadium to pitch our tents. It was Don Hooper's last evening with us and we had a lovely meal of noodles, stirfry, fresh raspberries and ice cream. We took our showers and then went to bed.

Day 24: Friday July 23, 1999 - Portage La Prairie to Beauséjour

Distance ridden: 164 km; Climb: 252 m; Drop: 316 m

Today when we got up, there was no dew on the grass for the first time. We left camp at 7 :20 after a pancake breakfast. We enjoyed a strong tailwind the whole day and this enabled us to ride at a speed from between 35 and 40 km per hour, once even cruising at 45 km for awhile. The terrain was really flat with absolutely no hills and just slight inclines. We passed fields of wheat, oats, yellow canola and blue flax in bloom. Sometimes the flax fields actually looked like lakes. We stopped to take a couple of pictures and rode like the wind the rest of time, averaging 29 km an hour for this day's ride.

The map was inaccurate at several points and it was hard to know which way to go. The distance was also off by over 10 km. We stopped at the town of Stonewall, not even on the map at all, for a thick chocolate milkshake. A young man told us that winters in this region are often very cold with temperatures of 30 and 40C below zero. We continued our ride and then stopped later at Lower Fort Garry, also not on the map, which we entered through a side gate. We were asked to get off our bikes and pay the entrance fee at the Welcome Centre but we had seen part of the grounds already so we didn't bother. We ate lunch in a cool breeze behind the Centre and then ran into a small TDC group of cyclists whom we joined for the most part. We left the group on the main road to ride into Garson where we saw the quarry from which the stones for the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa were carved. We joined up again with the group until arriving at Beauséjour which they decided to skirt but we wanted to ride through.

In Beauséjour, we made an Internet stop at the library. Here is the message we sent.

Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 16:47:04 -0400 (EDT)

Subject: Beausejour, Saskatchewan

Hi everyone,

We have been having a fantastic ride today because the terrain was mainly flat and we had our first real tail wind. We have just ridden over 150 km (from Portage La Prairie to Beausejour) and averaged more than 28 km per hour. The roads were mainly secondary ones and the surface varied from slightly bumpy to pretty smooth. The terrain was a flat as they come and we know that from now on, we will start getting into more hilly regions. Once again, we are having beautiful weather with a temperature of about 29 C and blue skies with nary a cloud.

We saw mostly fields of grain (wheat, oats, canola in its golden splendour and flax with its delicate blue flowers. We stopped at a small village about half way along for our traditional chocolate milkshake - what's really great about this trip is that you can eat what you like because of burning all the calories, so we eat ice cream, drink milkshakes, eat chocolate bars, etc. It'll be hard to stop when we stop cycling!!!!

We stopped at Lower Fort Garry for lunch (peanut butter and jam sandwiches and a banana - it's the same fare every day) and met up with some other members of the group. It was a perfect cycling day.

Yesterday after I wrote from Neepawa, they were giving out free hot dogs and iced tea - their annual lily festival - so we had something a bit different for lunch. If we had been hungrier, we could have had a hamburger at another spot. The end of the day was long, though because we didn't make very good time and we were pretty hot when we arrived in camp at about 5:30 p.m.

Well, that's it for today.

Claudia

After the library, we headed into camp, took a shower and ate a supper of perogis, potatoes, onions and peppers, salad and chocolate cookies from Costco. This was Leda's last meal with us. During supper, we learned that one of the cyclists in the other group had had an accident and was not expected to ride the rest of the trip. No other details. It was very dry and hot with the sun still feeling very powerful at 8 p.m. I found this campsite a very mediocre one with the water, toilets and showers very far off; the owner couldn't seem to fathom why we would need a water source near the truck!

Day 25: Saturday July 24, 1999 - Beauséjour MA to Kenora ON

Distance ridden : 172 km (165 Bad klics); Climb: 448 m; Drop: 440 m

There was more lightning and lots of wind during the night but day dawned with a clear sky but cooler than the day before. This proved to be only temporary and ended up as the hottest day so far with the temperature reaching 33C that afternoon. Several of us had heat rashes in varying degrees on our legs and arms.

We started out before 7 :30 a.m. and soon the road turned through the White Shell Provincial Park. What a change in scenery! We had gradually left the plains and started seeing more trees and small outcrops of granite. Gradual hills became real hills throughout the day and the park looked really familiar because it was part of the Canadian Shield, country that we have known for many years. Apart from the horseflies that flew circles around us periodically as we rode and mosquitoes that swarmed when we stopped - we had to use Muskol at lunch - I found the ride in the park a peaceful and fairly relaxing one.

We made a brief stop at the Canada Goose Interpretative Center and saw many geese in a flotilla and two loons cavorting. We also stopped several times for drinks: juice, cokes, milkshakes, water. We had never drunk so much during the day. It was only our second time using our camel back water pouches and we found them most useful.

Just before crossing the border between Manitoba and Ontario, the route we were following, called the LaVérendrye Trail, became the TransCanada (1 in Manitoba; 17 in Ontario) with a wide paved shoulder all the remaining 55 km to Kenora. Our maps were not clear at the transition point either. I found the approach to Kenora very scenic and there were lots of hills as we came into the city.

Lake of the Woods coming into Kenora

The Lake of the Woods reminded me a little of the Thousand Islands near Kingston, both very pretty regions. In Kenora, we stopped in at a bike shop just ten minutes before closing time at 5 p.m. (it wasn't open on Sunday) and Gilbert purchased a new helmet while I got myself another cotton biking jersey on sale.

We rode back to camp with Fast Dave, set up our tent, had a supper of cold perogis, fajitas, vegetables, rice, salad and chocolate/caramel pudding for dessert. We heard more about the previous day's accidents for there had been two. Phyllis Entremont had rolled off the pavement onto some loose gravel and plummeted over her handlebars cracking two vertabrae. She was in hospital in Winnipeg. A second rider named Dave had been riding in a pace line and touched the panniers of the bike ahead. When he fell, he dislocated a shoulder and couldn't expect to continue the ride so he had already gone home. What a shame for them both!

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