Day 46

So sleeping sucked. I barely had any last night. The crazy winds some blowing tents away and collapsing a couple others. Trains running what seemed non-stop overnight (I counted 4 different trains over night), and then I woke up again at 5:30am. But this time, I just hit the snooze and went back to bed.

When I woke up in the morning, I knew I had two choices.
1 – sucking it up, and getting on the road like any other day nice and early. This meant I would beat the heat, probably some traffic, and hit my destination by 1pm or so. Who knows, maybe I could even go further with all the day light I have left. But, doubtful because I was tired to start with, so I would’ve been dragging a piano behind me all day, probably averaging speeds of 15km/h (just shy of breaking the sound barrier haha), and probably would’ve felt worst like I did after Medicine Hat.
2 – sleep in, take my time and leave a little later and try and make the initial destination. Sure the heat will be hotter, the traffic probably 3 or 4 more cars than the morning, and I could’ve atleast pushed 20 km/h without feeling like I was going to die.
I will mention, I don’t like it when people say “I feel like I’m going to die”, or any reference to dying because of something they don’t want to do or something. I never really appreciated the “joke” before, and now, I feel stronger about it. Given this, I have said it before and will probably say it again in the future but when I say it. It’s because I actually feel awful.

I chose option number 2 and even squeezed in a bit of a nap before I got up and ate breakfast. When I did awake, the friendly neighbours were gone, and everyone else were packing. I just walked over to the bathroom, washed up a bit, then came back.
I had bought these mucous and phlegm plus cough suppressant syrup, but they didn’t suppress the cough at all. I coughed my lungs out last night keeping me awake.

At around 10:30am I hit the road. I rode for what seemed hours upon hours (only 29km’s in reality) when I reached Chaplin. Beside Chaplin is a lake with a natural salt deposit. It was pretty neat! I stopped and went for a walk on the white plains of salt stretching all the way from the road to the edge of the water (about 100 metres or so).
I was glad I had that break because my next stop was 40 km’s from there.

I came to a town called Mortlach which is the cutest little town I’ve been in. No more than 350 people the locals said and they were proud of it! I sat down for lunch at a little tea house and ordered chicken pot pie and eventually had 4 cans of soda. I wanted juice but they didn’t have any, and I was just craving the sugars again so I kept putting them back one after another.
I managed to have a nap on the patio there instead of the sidewalk and about 20 minutes later, I woke up, said good bye and took off for Moose Jaw. While I was there though, the locals who were jibber jabbering away were talking about a tornado that blew by just north of there and had just missed Moose Jaw. They asked me where I spent the night last night and I told them all about my experience. As they nodded their heads, they said yea, the tornado would’ve been 20 km’s or so north of ya. Woah. That’s lucky.

I made my way into Moose Jaw eventually and it was already time for dinner. I went called up all the inns, motels, and any accommodations I could find. I’m still feeling pretty ill, so I thought I better go inside tonight.
I contacted Dreamland Inn which was on the east end of the city so after a quick stop at the superstore to grab supper (watermelon and cough syrup), I headed that way.

Checked in, tv going, dinner ready. Not much better than this. I tried having a bath but the hot water ran out pretty quickly. (Yea I know, eww… That’s gross taking a bath in a motel. But this place is renovated and brand spanking new. And whatever. I’m going to see a doc tomorrow so if something starts to sprout, he or she will know).

Oh, I forgot to mention. I saw another pelican today haha. It was pretty cool. AND! 8 combines combing a field. Ya, 8! Crazy farmers.

Total time – 7hrs 44 min
Time on bike – 4hrs 59 min
Total distance – 121km
Caloric exp – 4031 kcal

Day 45

Today was a great day! Woke up full of energy surprisingly because last night I couldn’t get to bed til midnight. I tried putting on layers upon layers but I couldn’t fall asleep. Instead, I just dehydrated myself. It was actually kind of gross cause I went back to my normal bed time apparrel and by the time I laid in bed again, the sheets were cold, wet, the sheets stuck together, and ew. Not a good feeling.
Anyways, I did warm the wetness up before I went to bed by laying and watching Leap Year (its not a dirty movie), then zonked out.

So back to this morning! Running on five and a half hours of sleep or so, I shot up, did my duty, then brewed a mean old pot of coffee. Extra dark, 2 sugars. Again, not a coffee drinker, but I thought I could use it today incase I crashed before I wanted too. I popped two ibuprofen pills, and took off. Maybe it was all the drugs that kept me going today actually. Afterall, I did lay down about 170 km’s from Piapot to Morse – on an off day..?

I rode what seemed 15 km’s or so but really it was 45. There was a nice truck stop on the side of the road where I went in to grab breakfast. I skipped it this morning (just a scoop of peanut butter) because I just wasn’t hungry and didn’t really have the stomach for it, but after riding a bit, I was starving. I sat down beside two older women who were on their way back home to Winnipeg, from a little road trip of their own. We got talking when the waitress came by with my breakfast saying the two ladies are taking my bill. Boo ya! Thank you!
I took off down the road to do my final 60 km’s or so to Swift Current (where I was originally going to call it a day) but when I got there, the prices of accommoations were too high and the people were a bit misleading. I was looking for a free place to stay but no one offered. I even cracked a joke about me pitching a tent on the cashiers lawn (and now that I think about it, she may have taken offense by it cause she looked down and said sorry, no) – I was honestly just talking about me pitching a tent, on her yard. Whatever, the wind picked up so I filled both my water bottles half way with watermelon slurpies and mixed it with water (new, cost effective, and improved gatorade), and hit the road due east.
Also on the way there, it was cool because I swear I saw 5 pelicans. Necks cranked in against the body flying right above me. I slowed down to pull the camera out but they were gone… I asked the lady at the information centre and she told me pelicans have existed in Sask, but no one has reported any in years now so she assumed they were gone and what I saw were geese. What?! No. Geese don’t have long beaks and windspans as great as my bike and trailer. These were massive white birds, like you see on BBC life! This was one of the reasons I took off from Swift Current too. Come on lady at the information centre, take a little cruise down the Transcanada outside of the city once in a while.
AND! Whoever started the rummour saying the prairies were flat, was telling the fattest lie in the world. IT IS NOT FLAT! Not yet anyways. Rolling hills, foot hills, valleys between drumlins, etc are all a part of the prairies. Total bologna. Of course, in relation to the mountains, these are mere goose bumps surrounding the nipple, but still. Not flat. I just wanted to make that clear haha.

Anyways. I rode on when I hit the town Herbert. The information centre is an old train station and the people there told me to pitch a tent right beside the building! Beauty! I was making myself lunch when one of the ladies came out and asked me if I was going to the rodeo. Pardon? Yea, Herbert was having a rodeo this weekend. Now put yourself in my shoes for a moment. I rode 156km’s now, there wasn’t anywhere that opened earlier than 8am (so I could use the washroom), the town was no bigger than the west end of Hagersville (so they had nothing to do), and there was a rodeo going on. After my last experience tenting in a town with a stampede/rodeo going on, I took off down the road as soon as I finished lunch.
The cool thing though was that I could see the town of Herbert when I was about 11km’s away! No lie. I was on top of a, wait for it……….. HILL, and I could see the silos, grainery, and a cluster of buildings when I was 11 km’s away from the town which turned out to be Herbert.
With that said, there are few things that are true about the prairies such as – the sky is so wide, and today there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky. It was so cool to be able to see for miles and miles away – clearly. To put in perspective how far 11 km’s is, its about the distance from Jarvis to Hagersville.

So since Herbert was a bust, I rode another 15 km’s to reach the town of Morse. Reed Lake is right beside the TransCanada and its beautiful. Teaming with wild water fowls and guess what, I saw 4 more pelicans!! I saw the flappy skin and all. Confirmed. Saskatchewan do have pelicans! I wouldn’t of guessed in a hundred years that Canada would lay habitat for pelicans. But there they were.
When I reached town, I grabbed a milkshake then came to a volunteer campground. $15 for tent, $20 for RV. No one taking fees, or handing out permits. Everything taken care of by volunteers in the community. They even have a golf course here and showers! Sooo cool.
While setting up, the neighbours invited me over for dinner (two free meals in one day? AwwWWWWWWWhhh right). I happily accepted and washed up. I went to the convenience store and had an opportunity to use my korean tongue. The owners were Korean (which actually did come as a surprise cause most of the places out west (and east) have been owned by non-asians). We talked about what I’m doing, where I’m from, how long I’ve been in Canada for, etc etc. I reciprocated the questions and found out he was from Calgary and ventured out east a bit. He then warned me not to drink the tap water around here because of the high salt content and tried to sell me distilled water. No thanks mister, the taps are labelled “drinking water”, so I’ll drink the free stuff instead. The water is a bit thicker/heavier though and apparently its due to high natural salt deposits in this area.

Dinner was excellent although I couldn’t eat as much as I normally would. Not because there wasn’t enough food. But because I just wasn’t that hungry – I blame the bug. The food was delicious and I was so glad to meet them! Fantastic people. Thank you!
The forecast today called for clear skies overnight and a sunny weekend but the clouds have rolled in so I had to put the fly on in the dark. No big deal, but I was hoping I could fall asleep looking at the stars. Wait, they’re not just clouds, lightning and thunder too now. Yea…. Looks like I’m in for a wet night again.

Only crappy part about this campground is that the train tracks are just a hundred metres away or so and the train blows its air horn and races by every hour or two.
I made some ear plugs out of tissue paper, paper towls, and a little water by weaving them together and wrapping them around my pinna in hopes they are dense enough to reduce sound, and long enough to keep them in place over night.
Chills and fever were minimal due to all the drugs I’ve been taking today. I’m at the daily limit now so I shouldn’t take anymore. But I might take 1 for the night.
Woah! The winds just picked up intensely. Good thing I staked her down tonight. My bike might blow away though. Better lay it on its side tonight just to be safe..

Total distance – 170km
Total time – 8 hrs 23 min
Time on bike – 6 hrs 26 min
Caloric exp – 5774kcal

Day 44

Uneventful, but really appreciated rest day.
Woke up soaking wet. Kind of gross but I’ll describe it anyways. I had wore my thick sweater and splash pants to bed, with 3 additional layers on top (comforter, fleece blanket, and a sheet) and a a sheet below. If you are not Sean, or if you are not familiar with the way I sleep. I like to sleep in the nude. Fully out, stripped down to the very sock nude because I tend to get too hot and I don`t like the feeling of wrinkles (don`t worry Lauren, I didn`t sleep in your bed naked. I`d still wash the sheets though haha). I knew from previous experiences and also learning from school, fever is the bodies reaction to a bug or virus which increases your core temperature so high it kills the bug but not you (thankfully). So with all the layers on I felt like I was in a sauna and sweated away. I had plenty to drink so I wouldn`t have the hangover effect (dehydration) and I succeeded in sweating through almost all my layers (just couldn`t penetrate the comforter).
Disgusting. Yea I know.

I woke up feeling way better though. The headaches still there, I`m experiencing minor fluctuations in body temperature, and my vision is back to as good as it was (which probably isn`t that good to begin with). The muscles are minimally sore and are at an expected level for what I`m doing, and lastly, I wanted to eat. Ohhhhhhhh yaaaa…… I was starving! Such a good sign.
As promised (to mom), I made something hot for breakfast and just kept putting down hot/warm liquids. I had a shower right away though because I stank. I don’t notice it when I’m riding with the wind blowing by but boy oh boy, when I’m stationary for a while, look out!
At about 9:30am or so, Nicole came up with a little care package and a nice note wishing me speedy recovery. Love that lady!
The saloon wasn’t open til noon so I stayed up in my room a little longer and watched a couple movies, and family guy.
I went down, had lunch, did some laundry, and up I came to have a nap and watch more movies. That’s all I did today. Just relaxed. Apparently when I was sleeping, there was a fire just outside the building started by the train tracks! I had no idea til just now when I went down to say hello. Dang it, I missed the only excitement this bumpin town will see for the next 5 generations.

I would like to throw in here all the support I have been receiving via text, phone calls, facebook, comments, etc have been great and I thank you! I’ve been asked how I’m doing alone and if I am lonely but I can’t seem to produce a straight answer yet. I try not to think about it and of course at times I am lonely, and it is definitely different riding alone. But I just get up, get on with the day, then settle in for the night, and repeat. And like I’ve said, with so many people reaching me, it’s hard to feel so alone. I’d like to mention a quote a good buddy of mine Alex Mazar sent to me today – “there are no office hours for champions”.
I don’t consider myself a champion by any means, but its a nice quote to think about for today and for the rest of my journey.

Day 43

I’m writing this in the afternoon of Day 44. I’ll fill you in what’s been happening since I left Starbucks on Day 42.

I went back to my campsite and luckily everything was there. I read a couple pages out of my book and before I could sleep, a couple kids from the neighbourhood kept asking the tent if anyone was in there so then I finally replied. I think I spooked them though because I never heard from them and they never came back.
I doze off for about 3 hours when I was waken by a couple drunks wandering the trails of the new suburb. They even stopped to say hello. I tried falling asleep but then the sprinklers came on. I guess I was on the border of the two different sprinkler fields as the one side of my tent was getting doused, then the other right after the first side stopped. I could barely sleep that entire hour because it was so loud. I woke up an hour and a half later to start my day.

I guess the sleepless night, added to the effects from the bug I’m taking along on my ride, I was just exhausted from the get go. I went to Tim Horton’s to grab a peppermint tea (mother’s orders), and from there I took off. I got talking to a few locals while I was sitting there, sipping away at the hot tea, and they told me I should stay another day so I could enjoy the Medicine Hat Stampede. Boom! There’s the answer to my question. People were up drinking and what not on a Tuesday night because of the stampede! I politely rejected, saying I would but I need to get to Gull Lake, Saskatchewan.
I rode on for what seemed an eternity until I came up to Alberta’s last visitor centre. I snagged a few maple cookies, then went next door to grab a coffee in hopes it would perk me up a bit for the next 120 km’s. People there weren’t too friendly so I just sat quietly, reading the local news, then took off.

About 3 km’s down the road, I hit Saskatchewan. Yay.. Only I was too tired to celebrate and I wanted to take full advantage of the little momentum I had so I kept riding. Again, another 50 km’s or so and I hit Maple Creek visitors centre. The lady there was very informative and called in to Piapot’s Saloon and Guesthouse to see if they had any vacancies. Rooms go for about $30 bucks a night and at this point, I knew I had to be indoors tonight. Pretty much the entire day I had a long sleeve on because I’ve been cold but when I walked outside from the visitors centre, I could see storm clouds just a few kilometres west of me headed my way. I put on my rain jacket and started riding and I finally hit the golden temperature. I was becoming more exhausted but temperature was perfect. The rain clouds never did fully catch up although I did get a few drops here and there and then finally, I turned southbound to Piapot.
The saloon is on the south end of town on one of the only paved roads in town. A population of 50 (45 last year), with real buckaroo’s still kicking around (buckaroo – local slang for traditionally dressed, authentic cowboys using rope to draw livestock on horseback). There was a buckaroo sitting in the saloon when I came in, he was could’ve been on the cover of Canadian Cowboy Country magazine (I just googled that magazine haha).
The owners Nicole and Glen are the friendliest, and informative people telling me the history of how Piapot got its name (Chief Piapot who set up a tent back when they were laying railroad tracks to halt further progress), and told me the story of the Cypress Hill Massacre (basically a drunken gunfight). The saloon is beautiful, they kept it aesthetically original with photo’s of half naked women (Glen’s a photographer – and I think the photos are new and not original – good touch though), a rattlesnake skin, all sorts of guns, a 1957 teal Harley Davidson showcasing the front, and all the different cattle brands in the area are hung around the walls.

After lunch I went upstairs to put my stuff away but was having a hard time doing so because I felt I had lost control of my body. I felt so detached from the one thing I have relied on my entire life, it took me about 15 minutes to leave the stool and walk upstairs. Getting air was again a big issue and I laboured, catching my wind outside so Nicole or Glen wouldn’t see me. I grabbed a few things then Glen came to show me my room. I immediately threw my things down, and laid on the bed. Still wearing my rain jacket and long sleeve, I laid there and dozed off.
I woke up about 20 minutes later as my head was spinning and throbbing, my eyes glossy and dull, all the muscles in my body aching, and my pulse surprisingly rapid. I started transitioning from chills to a high fever, back to chills, and to a high fever again. All I could think about then was what would I be doing at home right now, when I’m so sick I can’t function alone. Would this last another day? Would this sickness last another week. What if this puts me behind so much I can not catch up. So far, this ride and this campaign has been done through confidence. What if I lose my confidence because of a bug I contracted almost 3 weeks ago that I can’t seem to get rid of.
I then realized I didn’t need to think about these thoughts but instead call mom. Haha no matter where you are, it’s always nice to talk to mom.

I had a nice warm shower after – a first in 3 or 4 days. Then I put on my warmest clothes and laid in bed all night, occasionally going down stairs to say thank you to the owners and asking for tea. I drank so much tea and hot liquids last night, even just boiling water in the coffee maker just to get my core temperature up and help sweat it out. Once I started transitioning into a fever again, I went under the sheets, fully clothed, put down a hot cup of tea, and went to bed. Feels good to sweat and over heat the bug to death – a cleansing if you will.
Today, I feel much better. A rest day which I will save for my blog later tonight.
Oh by the way. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be 45 km’s behind. Which means, I have some distance to cover in order to get back on schedule.

Total time – 6 hrs 6 min
Time on bike – 4 hrs 34 min
Total distance – 118 km
Caloric exp – 4042 kcal

Day 42

I’m sitting in Starbucks right now a couple blocks away from camp. I set up just behind a house in a new suburb with a nice pond (storm water collection pond) surrounded by a trail so hopefully when I go back, I still have all my stuff. I did see a hoodlum walk back but I’ll have to trust people are nice.

So today! What an exciting day for me.
Woke up to police sirens at around 5 am, and I thought it was for me, but when I took a peek, the RCMP had pulled someone over and couldn’t care less (or didn’t see me) I was on the lawn. I had breakfast, got changed in the Esso across the street then headed for Medicine Hat. It also didn’t rain overnight which was really unusual, so I woke up nice and dry. Oh! And also in the morning, I kept coughing up some nasties which to me was a good sign that my immune system was winning – I’m winning.

So I took off in a good mood and there were more awesomeness awaiting me. The wind was so bro today. It was behind me pushing me all day! I was averaging speeds of up to 45km/h and sometimes even held it for a few minutes going 55+km/h! Sometimes, it would have the odd cross wind and some small hills that would slow me down but over all, you did good wind.
I hit Brooks which wasn’t too exciting. I stopped in at Tim Hortons to grab a quick snack and to have a rest -48km mark. Shortly after, I hit the road again and really started bookin it. Again, hitting speeds I haven’t been able to maintain before (due to the tail wind), I was just loving the ride. The butt actually became quite sore today for some reason but I’ll have to get used to it I guess.
I came to Red Cliff, then right after, BOOM! Medicine Hat.
I went to the east side of the city looking for the visitors centre and they didn’t really help at all. They did show me where the grocery stores were though, so I headed there to get some food. The girl at the visitors centre told me the border to Saskatchewan was only 30-35 km’s east so I was considering doing the push. Ya right! When I checked myself, it said 54! Psh, women and directions. HAH! Just kidding.
Anyways, I went to Sobey’s, got some food and gandered over to the neighbourhood to see where I could pitch a tent for the night.
This is my strategy – stay near the new suburbs because they are usually new families, or elders who are both a really good generation to ask for stuff, such as pitching a tent haha. Also, at the same time, stay near any major stores with public washrooms so I don’t have to bother the people, but instead ride over and do my business.
With this in mind, I found a good spot as described above and set up camp. The lady I asked was the former and didn’t mind at all!
I went to the Home Depot just around the block and gave myself a sponge bath (with a cloth and wet paper towels) in the bathroom after eating lunch. Again, I had a gentleman looking at me a bit oddly but whatever. He won’t recognize me in the future anyways (nor will I to him).
I came back, cooked my pork and headed to Starbucks to upload my blogs, charge my electronics (including my trackem), and organize some media.
I hope these images and videos I am collecting will actually be made public. You never hear the phrase a word is worth a thousand pictures, but you do hear a picture is worth a thousand words. I’m trying to keep everyone reading updated so it’s as if you are with me on the trip but there’s more!
From this point on, I’ll probably wait until I everything is charged, then start heading back to camp hoping everything is still there.
They’re calling for rain tonight. But hopefully it stays clear and I’m able to stay just ahead of it again.

Total time – 6 hrs 28 min
Time on bike – 5 hrs 1 min
Total distance – 167 km
Caloric Exp – 4215 kcal

Day 41

Woke up at 6 am and was tired so I snoozed for another 8 min but didn’t really help. Not sure why, I even slept in a bit and I was tired. Mike was already up and made shakes to give me a good start today. Lauren came out to the kitchen when I was finishing breakfast and I had her sign the flag, and offered her gifts for their hospitality and company.
I left at 7:30am, as I planned after a nice hug and good bye. I was set to face the prairies, the elements, and my undermining sickness alone. First, the roads went over rolling hills which later turned into foot hills, and eventually flatter and flatter foot hills, that will eventually flatten out to nothing. The sickness seems to be making its way deeper into my trachea and into the bronchioles. When I cough, it feels as if the layer of skin protecting my airway is on fire and sharp, burning pains, radiate throughout my lungs. Even yesterday, when I went for a run, I could feel it a little, but I just thought I was out of shape and didn’t bring any attention to it. Today however, I find it hard to breathe, and when climbing the small foot hills, my heart rate jumps to compensate for the anaerobic way to get energy, instead of being able to use aerobic/oxidative methods. Tomorrow, I’ll be out of medication but I will be in Medicine Hat, so I’ll look into a clinic there.

Not a whole lot to say about the the ride really. I had a lot of time to think about different things, jumping from future projects, girls, tragedies, fantasies, and then complete numbness to the world. I remember thinking about these in the first week of riding when I was alone, but with Sean I had to be a bit more attentative and the presence of someone else deterred some of my thoughts – I guess.
Clare Webb and her mother were telling me how secluded the towns were and I should be aware of such remoteness, and they were right. I rode 124 km’s without hitting a town. There were signs to turn down a street for a town, but nothing on the road I was travelling on. At about 100 km’s, there was an Aboriginal Convenience Store and Gift Shop (Boy Chiefs), so I pulled in to get some water. I met up with Mona, the lady that brought our boose to Mike Crape’s place a few nights ago, as she was on her way with 4 other women to save dogs. Mona if you read this, I would still love to have a little buddy haha. One of the women took pictures as she was a photographer as they complimented me in my efforts – felt pretty good.. Haha.
At about 130 km’s I just wanted to get off the bike because I was exhausted. My glutes were sore, I was bored, super tired, and a bit frustrated the town wouldn’t come any sooner. As I went around the final bend to head for the town, I was hit with a strong head wind that slowed me down from about 25km/h to a whopping 10 km/h. It sucked. My final 15 km’s of the day riding into a strong head wind.
I had to get in town though, I needed to get some water, and some food. I have food with me, but I need water to cook it with. So regardless, I needed to hit Bassano.

I finally reached Bassano and stopped in at Emma’s Esso with Rosie’s Restaurant attached. The restaurant sucked and the waitress brought me apple juice instead of orange, and brought me soy sauce when I asked for malt vinegar. But the people in Esso were kind enough to tell me to pitch a tent just across the street. I washed up in the bathroom with my buff (piece of cloth), as an old man watched me oddly trying to determine if I was a bum or not – Sir, I’m a bum, living and washing on the side of the road. Whatever though, my long first day alonehas finally come to an end. Tomorrow’s ride is going to be 10 km’s shorter, but I’ll still get up early and hit the road as soon as I can.
They’re calling for rain tonight, and all day tomorrow. What a surprise. I expected rain when I was planning the trip, but not like this. It has pretty much rained every day that I have been on the road since we hit the West coast. I guess it’s better than riding in the blazing heat all day, but it’s not going to be doing me any good for my sickness.

Total time – 7 hrs 37 min
Time on bike – 6 hrs 26 min
Total distance – 166km
Caloric exp – 5925 kcal

Day 40

Woke up and tested out the bike. It needed a little adjusting so after a few spins up and down the street, I got it to the best as I could.
I think I may have woke the family up when I opened the garage door but I’m not sure.. They were up when I came back inside.
Lauren and I went out for a little run and she killed me. My average heart rate was at 186bpm, and peaked at 236 bpm. That’s about 37 bpm above my theoretical maximum. I guess cycling really doesn’t transfer over to running but I can’t believe I kept going. I did eventually have to take a short walk break right at the end and I feel like such a poncho but there was no way of keeping up with her. She’s got unreal mitochondria.
We then walked up a hill to get a great view of the mountains and it was nothing short of breaktaking.
I tell ya, I want to move out here one day. Maybe not permanently but for a few years atleast.

We went into town after a hearty breakfast and Lauren dropped me off at Clare’s so we could go to Salsa fest. Salsa. Fest. Was. BOMB! We didn’t get any nachos and salsa because the lines were unreal and it was super hot, but we were entertained with pageants, a strong man comp, and a street magic performance. Totally worth every dollar he made.
We walked down through the festival then had to ditch the crowd so Clare could get ready for lax practise. Lauren was already gone coaching the U15 girls so we caught up with her there.

I was jokingly asked to be a net minder, but I jumped up, put some gear on and went in net for practise. It was pretty scary actually because I didn’t have any protection down there (stupid in a way too). Whatevs, I’d rather do that than sit on the side and watch.

We drove back and had amazing ribs for dinner. Mike Crape’s special ribs, and made apple crisp/crumble for dessert. Sooooo GOOD!
Finally, to round out another day, we watched True Grit. I fell asleep for a part of it at the beginning but eventually caught on to what was happening later.

Tomorrow, I ride solo again heading back home to Ontario. I hear I have a hilly road ahead right before it gets super flat and my chest isn’t feeling all that better. I keep hearing Strep could lead to Flesh eating disease and I don’t want that either so if this doesn’t go away soon. I better get it checked out in Medicine Hat – the next “city” I’ll hit on my upcoming days.

Day 39

I woke up feeling so relaxed under the warm covers but couldn`t sleep any longer so I got up and watched Letters from Iwo Jima. I didn`t know it was two and a half hours long and after about an hour and a bit, I went and got breakfast.
Mike Crape and Sean woke up and while I did laundry, Mike had made a good hearty breakfast.

We then cleaned our bikes with all the tools and goods Mike had, and Mike (being a bike guru) helped us get the bikes prepared for Sean`s final tiny leg, and my upcoming leg across the prairies and back home to Ontario. My chain fell off when we were riding to Bragg Creek and dinked up a couple of spokes, putting the wheel out of tru so we had to take it into the shop to get it repaired.
Sean packed his ride, while Mike and I got ready to go pick up Lauren from the airport (she was in Vancouver for work but caught an early flight to come back). Sean and I said our short good byes and farewells and that was it. We are now officially distanced and Sean will be meeting Chelsea at the airport tomorrow, and heading up to Edmonton to go to his brother`s place.

After picking up Lauren, we went to the bike shop, dropped the wheel off, drove around getting Lauren`s equipment for lax and what not, and got dropped off at a potluck/bbq at Glen’s who is Lauren and Clare’s (also a good friend) training coach. The bbq/potluck was awesome and I definitely ate enough fresh fruits and veggies to last me another two weeks or so. (And enough chocolate to last me a life time – they had a chocolate fondo fountain, and Clare made ice cream sandwiches).
Mike came back at around 7:30pm to pick us up and we headed home. I don’t know about Mike, but Lauren and I (definitely me anyways) had that full and lazy feeling so we watched My Best Friend’s Girl. It was alright, I find Dane Cooks humour old now and kind of annoying with all the yelling and over done gestures but it was still good to watch.

I slept in Laurens room again although she was there and I did feel bad cause she had to sleep in her brothers room, but what the hey, that bed is awesome haha. Maybe I’ll be nice and do a switcheroo today lol.

I think the bug is deeper into my chest now. The medication can only go so far when I put myself through some cold, wet conditions (yes, Lake Louise too), but more the constant rain and chilling weather Sean and I rode through until yesterday. We even biked in hail and it was just awful. I do have some medication left, and I have been taking them regularly so hopefully I’ll get rid of it soon enough.
Sorry to say, but the weather here is gorgeous. I’m writing this in the morning of Day 40, and its calm, sunny, and not too hot. Perfect day for a little run with Lauren, and whatever else we decide to do today.

Day 38

Last night while reading, I heard the park guys doing the maintenance work and heard them talk about us camping. I just stayed in the tent as they didn’t call for attention or anything, but instead, just noticed our bikes, assumed we were travellors and off they went.
It started raining over night and the wind made it pretty chilly. Waking up was a bitter experience as I had to walk through the wet brush, climb a tree to get our food, then walk back. I got pretty wet and I was cold to begin with.
I ate my breakfast, read a couple more chapters then Sean and I finally decided to leave. We hit the town Exshaw right away and stopped in to get our bottles filled. I was so thirsty this morning I just drank right from the lake (Gap Lake) but I was happy to find tap water just down the road. By the time we finished and really started our day, it was ten to eleven already. Shoot, we better get moving.

There were a couple of hills today, nothing drastic or anything like the mountains but the plains were still quite hilly. In fact, we rode up to 1420m elevation which is higher than Roger’s Pass! And it wasn’t even a mountain! It was just a gradual plain that eventually graded down again. I lost Sean shortly after because I tend to speed up too much on the down hills and keep going – too fast to check behind me to see where Sean is, but we met up before we made the turn down Hwy 22 towards Bragg Creek.
I could see just south of me a major, heavy storm and lone behold, we were headed straight for it. We got caught right in the middle of the storm riding through rain and hail. The hail wasn’t anything big but just tiny ice pellets so we kept riding. We saw some other riders stop to put their jackets on and maybe just to get off the road, but I thought that would’ve been worse as it would’ve chilled us so we kept trucking along.
What seemed like forever, riding with numb legs, hands, and face (from the cold), we finally approached Bragg Creek! We stopped in the liqour store as today was Sean’s last day of major riding, we needed to celebrate. He’s doing a short leg into town tomorrow, but he’s not doing that with me, my bike needs a little work done. The lady (Mona) from the liqour store knew who Mike Crape (our host) was and was happy to drive up our beers to the house instead of making us carry it up there. – Gotta love the small towns eh. A little miscommunication led to me crawling through the doggy door with my headlamp on, searching for the switch to open the garage door to let ourselves in.
Remember, this is someone Sean and I have never met before, and we just broke in. I know his daughter pretty well, so I figured what the hey, I want to get out of this rain/thunder/hail storm, they’ll understand.

I called the family members right away and they were totally cool and told us to make ourselves at home. We ate an entire thing of lasagna, had a few brews, and played Xbox and Nintendo Wii while Mike came home. He did eventually come home and we sat upstairs watching tv, getting to know eachother. He made us caramel popcorn from scratch which we thought was pretty neat (and delicious), and now its time for bed.
I get to sleep in the best bed ever tonight. Just laying on it typing, I’m falling asleep.

Day 37

I may miss out on some things because I am writing this blog at 7:24pm. We are at a beautiful location (with NO mosquitos!) just outside of Enshaw, and a bit south of Canmore.
We woke to another rainy day but luckily we were inside. I woke up at 5 am because I can’t seem to get out of my routine now to go to the bathroom in the morning. We don’t have much water tonight so hopefully I won’t wake too early tomorrow.
Anyways, I skipped breakfast (just some peanut butter and jam in the morning), charged my electronics one more time, and headed south.
We took the Trans Canada 1 all the way to Banff, and taking a detour through the town to see what it was about.
All these places aren’t like what I had pictured them to be in my head, but instead they’re very oriented for tourists and money shaggers. Although, it was a very cute little town – the part we rode through anyways.

We hiked back onto the Trans Canada and slowly decended down and down the mountains, stopping here and there for a photo or two. There were signs cautioning travellers about wildlife and especially bears. We however didn’t see one, although we did ride through some areas where it smelt like an unattended barn. We’re thinking animals must’ve been around not long ago to contribute to the soil, then peaced before we came around.
We turned off onto Bow Valley Trail which led us to Canmore when I received a phone call asking if I could come in for an interview with the Rocky Mountain Outlook. He had actually left me a message, and we just happened to be in Canmore when I received it. Drew (the reporter) was pretty nice, telling us to check out Yukon sometime and that he was actually from the Niagara Falls region back home. He knew where Dunnville was, but didn’t seem to know where Jarvis (or Hagersville) was. I asked him where I could see some Big Horn Sheep, and he directed us down Bow Valley Trail (Highway 1A) because apparently, there are more wildlife out there compared to the major Trans Canada.
After a visit to Sobey’s to grab food for the night, we took off down Hwy 1A when we met up with a cyclist riding in the same direction. A friendly older man, just happy to be out riding shared a good conversation and then warned us about bears.

We kept riding, down through the never ending mountains when we came up to a Rocky Mountain Sheep and Elk Conservation area. I was sure I’d see one now! One had to be grazing on the mountain side or something and I’m still sure they were, I just didn’t see one..
I spotted a nice day use park area just down the street in front of a lake and thats where we decided to spend the night. The location is absolutely gorgeous but the wind is a bit chilly when the sun takes a time out. The lake is also that blue/green mountain water colour and sure enough, its cold like it too. I don’t think drinking from it straight at this altitude is a good idea so we’re going to have to give it a boil before we consume any. Too bad though, I’m really thirsty.
Regardless of the temperature, I wanted to rinse off so I walked in with a cloth and basically gave myself a sponge bath. It actually wasn’t that bad once you got your face and hair wet but I still didn’t jump in because it was still super cold.

We are finally able to enjoy camping and being outside again as we aren’t spending all our time fending off mosquitos. I think it may have something to do with the strong breeze thats keeping them away. Whatever it is, I’ll take it.
Tomorrow I hit Calgary, and may depart from Sean. I’m not sure what Sean’s plans are as he hasn’t really told me anything but I’m sure he’ll tell me last minute to keep me on my toes. Til then, I’ll assume we’re splitting up and it’s kind of sad now to think our journey together has come to an end. I hope to meet up sometime on Sunday to grab a drink before I head out Monday morning. When I decide to hit the road again, headed for Jarvis. I’ll be alone. From Calgary, through Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and finally Ontario, I’ll be doing this (physically) alone. Man, that’s a long way. Just another month or so.. Maybe I’ll be back in time for Cornfest? Probably not though, thats a week ahead of my original schedule.
Besides, all the heat people are crying about back home isn’t really giving me that motivation to push for home yet. Although it’s been wet here, I don’t mind the mild climate.

Total Time – 5hrs 3min
Time on Bike – 3hrs 36min
Total distance – 97km
Caloric exp – 2712kcal = easy day.