So back to Youngstown where I woke up to RAIN!!!!! Oh no - I don't mind the rain, but I hate to pack up the tent in the rain. Well those that slept in the hall will be laughing at us!!!! I unzip my tent and WHAT?????? There is NO RAIN!!!!! It was the wind whispering through the tree tops. I am not kidding - it sounded like rain and I wasn't the only one that thought that!!!!!! Well - that puts a whole different outlook on the day!!!!! We called it a DRY RAIN!!!!
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| The last couple of days Myra has been having some trouble with her eye. She seems to have gotten something in it and it was red and quite swollen. Clarke (on the left) is a doctor (OK - so he is now a psychiatrist (in case any of us lose it on the trip), but he was a GP) - anyway he had a look at her eye |
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| Michel is assisting (Michel on the left, Myra with her back to us and Doctor Clark). Clark cleaned out her eye and she is NO LONGER looking like a pirate. Well we thought she was going to need an eye patch, but it has cleared up nicely!!!! |
Another long day - the first 50 k were a breeze. We had a tail wind and then we had to turn north where we had a lovely head wind.
Let me tell you a bit about the trucks. At this point we are riding on a two lane highway so we get to experience traffic passing us and the traffic coming towards us. Cars are not such a big deal, but when one of those transports go by - well that is a whole different story. If the truck passes us (going in the same direction) and we have a tail wind - well you can literally see your speed increase by several K as that truck goes by. Too bad we couldn't stay in the slipstream for a couple of K.
If the wind is in the opposite direction - well it can pull you back. The worst is the trucks that are coming towards you. If there is a head wind - well that can cause a LOT of wind around you. You can see it coming as the wind hits the grass along the road edge. You just make sure you have two hands on the wheel and hold on!!!!!!
My bike is heavy and I do have some meat on my bones, so I don't find it that difficult, but it can create havoc - so the lesson here is PAY ATTENTION!!!!!! But many of the trucks and cars have given us a wide berth and I haven't had any close calls. Again it boils down to PAY ATTENTION.
And in some cases, the shoulderof the road was crazy. More of that narrow shoulder with the rumble strip incorporated into it. Not the most fun road that I have ridden on, but we made out just fine.
I need to get pictures of the group so you know who I am talking about. But we have people who ride together on a regular basis. Megan and Greg (who are BOTH competitive, young and strong) will ride like the wind every day. They always make it into camp first unless they stop for ice cream or something. But they have been know to get into camp HOURS before the rest of us arrive.
Danny is also a strong rider. He leaves camp later and will ride up beside you - say hello and then gone like a speeding bullet. The rest of us usually end up playing tag team. Well since we hit the prairies - when we were in the mountains, that didn't happen as much. I don't know why.
A number of us ended up in Oyem together. Michel, Mr. PR had a friend of his track him down at the gas station in Oyem. Pretty funny!!! Actually - it is so neat the way people are connecting with us across the country. We are meeting so many friends and family of the group. I LOVE IT!!!!!
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| Adam - filling up the truck with gas. I can't imagine what the gas bill on that truck is like!!!!! |
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| Some of the bikes lined up at Oyem |
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| The riders |
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| Michel's friend, Michel, Neal and ME!!!!! |
We had a pretty ugly head wind for a long ways today. While I am getting stronger, it just makes for a slog of a day. We could see a bend in the road ahead and were praying that the slight change of direction would be enough to get us out of the wind. While it wasn't a perfect change of direction, it made a HUGE direction and gave us the mental strength to get to camp.
So we arrive at camp to find a baseball tournament going on right BESIDE our camp area. They played all afternoon and into the evening. Then the music came on!!!! However at 11 PM, they did turn it down. But then I could hear a generator on all night!!!!! Why the generator was on - I have no idea, but anyway - I did manage to get some sleep.
And for those that think Saskatchewan is flat - think again. While it is flattish - it is NOT flat.
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| And the BEST news of the day - we hit a NEW province. We are now in Saskatchewan |
Our cook team (which I need to get a picture of) was on duty tonight. Stir fry was on the menu and it was EXCELLENT as all the food has been. We commandeered Megan to make rice krispie squares. She is the queen of making rice krispie squares - YOU ROCK MEGAN!!!!!! So we owe her cook team a favour!!!!!! Thanks again.
There you have it - another successful character building day on the road. I will try to collect some stats and post them (now that I am in a comfortable spot and have good internet access)
Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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