Day 22. Tues May 15, 2001. 174 km. Total 1940 km. Rosetown.
Chasing the shade.

First, my route. Hwy 9 turns into Hwy 7 as it crosses the border. One of the problems with these secondary roads is that they aren't too concerned with things like making border crossings memorable. There was just a plain green highway sign saying "Saskatchewan: Naturally" so I didn't bother taking a picture. I just paused at the town of Alsask (what committee of high school students came up with that name?) to buy some batteries.

My trip today was divided into two equal stages. First, Kindersley, where I stayed several hours, and then on to Rosetown where I stopped for the day. So, it was a pretty good first stride into Saskatchewan.

Terrain as you enter the province is mostly hilly. Big hills! Steep hills! But, at least I finally got some really nice weather. It's still partly cloudy, but the clouds look like real clouds -- puffy cumulus with crystal blue sky behind them. At last, some beautiful skyscapes! I haven't been really satisfied with a lot of the pictures I've been taking, because the hazy sky just sucks all the light and color out of everything.

Plus, the wind was finally more-or-less behind me (it angled south a bit). So, riding along, I could see the clouds passing overhead, disappearing into the distance in front of me. It was like being between two highways, one below, one above. Several times I could see the shadow on the road just 40 feet in front of me, just out of reach no matter how hard I pedalled. You haven't lived until you've 'chased the shade.'

If anyone else wants to pedal this route, you'll find lots of nice farmhouses. The town of Flaxcombe looked particularly promising. I would far rather have ended a day's cycling here than in seedy Sibbald!

Kindersley is the first semi-major town in Saskatchewan (where 'semi-major' means having a mall and the standard fast food franchises). I spent some time at the library, fixing up the photo section that I hadn't had time to finish in Calgary. I also went back and read the sections of Trevor's site where we were taking the same route. It was interesting to compare.

There's a fine line for me to walk here. I don't want to have too much repetition between what he wrote and what I write, but at the same time I'm having a lot of the same experiences. One thing we've both experienced: everyone I meet tells me the prairies are boring. Where Trevor and I differ in our experience is that I'm finding 'everyone' to be right. It is pretty boring. Except for a few highlights (and a smashed porcupine can count as a highlight after a few hours on the road) pedalling across the plains is mostly just plain tedious. Out here, it's the people I meet at the end of the day that I'm looking forward to more than the things I see during the day. I seem to be mentally dividing my trip into different 'phases.' BC was the 'scenery phase,' and the prairies are turning into the 'people phase.' I expect that Ontario will be the 'relative phase,' since I have so many relations to visit, and the Maritimes will probably be the 'I'm-almost-there-let's-get-this-over-with-and-go-home phase.' And Quebec? The 'Karen phase' hopefully! It's funny, but I originally wasn't planning on even going to Montreal. I'd been there on a French exchange in the twelth grade, and didn't have any particular fondness for it. Quebec City I fell in love with, but Montreal I could take or leave. Now though I'm really eager to get there.

Anyway, tedium. With the constant hum of the tires, I drift into what is variously termed highway hypnosis, white-line fever or road rapture. Sometimes I have to resist drowsing. I even think I've been mildly hallucinatory at times. My Walkman is a big help, although radio stations are catch-as-catch-can. Yesterday it was a station that played an eclectic mix of banjo tunes, folk songs, Spanish ballads, African instrumental, etc. Today I listened to an all-news station, and there were only a few major stories that they kept at all day. Basically, it was the finding of the body of Jessica Koopmans and the revolt within the Alliance party. Strange not to hear a peep about the BC election or the NDP. Oh, and I've learned more about canary seed futures than I ever cared to know.

One other bit of news I picked up on the radio: The area I just came from, around Beiseker and Drumheller, is now under a tornado watch! I've been saying all along that I started too early, well this is the first time I've ever been glad to be ahead of the crowd.

After Kindersley the road is flatter, though I couldn't shake the impression that I was going ever-so-slightly but consistently upwards. In Rosetown, I got a yard, but it was a little harder than out among the farms (where I guess they know that if they turn you away, it's a fair distance to the next place). Some folks were in the back yard with their kids, so I asked and they said OK. I pitched my tent and went into town.

Rosetown is the sort of place where the 7-eleven is like the social hub of the whole town -- I was in there reading magazines and I swear half the teenage population must have come through there.

Around nine, I was riding around aimlessly, wondering if anything might be going on. At a gas station, I saw a couple of girls sitting at a picnic table out front, so I went over and introduced myself (something I would probably never have done back home). Their names were Megan and Nicole, they were 16 years old, waiting for a ride home from Nicole's dad. We talked about life in Rosetown, which they didn't seem to think much of, and they grilled me about my trip, which was fun. Nicole asked me if I was a journalist, which in a way I guess I am. She's also into computers, so I told them about my site and gave them both cards. I do this magic trick where I take a blank business card and make words appear on it by passing it through my hand. They were the first ones who have found that trick impressive -w-.

Both of them wanted to know if I'd mention them on my site. Of course! I just want to say it was nice meeting you both. You're the real prairie scenery!

Interesting how I've gotten spoiled. This yard in Rosetown; the people may have let me pitch a tent, but they didn't make any other special gesture, so in the morning I didn't feel any particular need to record their address or give a card. Now I've forgotten their names. They were gone when I got up, so I just left.

It was a funny day. Usually it's calm in the morning and the wind picks up later. Today it was reversed. Right off the bat I made a bad decision. From Rosetown, I went south on 4 briefly to get back to Hwy 15, then went east again. By the time I realized what a mistake I'd made, I was too stubborn to turn back.

This was a bad road for three reasons. First, again, it seemed to climb consistently on the way to Outlook (who would have thought that a town called Outlook would be high up?). Second, the road itself is terrible; lumpy, cracked, shredded shoulders, etc. It did get better after Outlook though. Third, I was headed right into the wind again. I also got some serious rain. It wasn't a good morning -- it took until 2 just to get to Outlook. But at least there was a chance for some Internet access in their youth employment center.

One of my pet peeves is when people keep talking after they've finished saying anything. Approaching Kenaston with the sun getting low, I was having terrible luck finding a place to camp (another reversal of the norm). Finally, one lady said it was ok, but as I was setting up my tent, her husband came home and told me he didn't want me to stay. Well, fine, that's his right. But after telling me to move on, he just KEPT TALKING! "I don't want to be the ogre, but..." "We've had problems living along the highway..." "My wife is the most important thing to me..." and on and on and on. I couldn't turn around and get repacked until he shut up (although maybe I should have...maybe the only way to deal with someone like that is just to turn your back on them). I just wanted to say "Look, if you want me to go, I'll go, but every word out of your mouth now is just a waste of my time." Remember, night was falling.

I wonder if that guy understood what he was really saying. "I suspect you may be a rapist or a murderer, so I'd prefer it if you'd move along and rape/murder someone further down the road. Don't care who, as long as it's not us."

Anyway, I went on to Kenaston. I think the reason I had trouble getting a yard was because people knew there was a free campsite in town. Kenaston, by the way, bills itself as the Blizzard Capital of Saskatchewan, something I'm not sure why they want to promote. Does it bring people in? If you ever go there, look for the big statue of a snowman, and visit a damn fine bar and grill called Azzie's that makes a damn fine pizza. I was in there for hours after setting up camp, hoping to catch the season finale of West Wing, but I was too late.

Incidentally, at this time I took what may be the best picture I've taken so far on this trip -- a sunset sky with a grain elevator silhouetted against it.

Made a change of plan today. I originally meant to continue due east on 15, passing over Lake Winnipeg eventually near the town of Reykjavik (gotta love a town with a name like that!). But, I'm hungry for a big city again, so I'm going to head down Hwy 11 to Regina.

The instant I woke up (actually, all the instants I woke up) I could tell that it was going to be a very windy day again. But, the wind seemed to be mostly in my favor, so I thought I had a good chance of making it there in one day. I figured it would be a long day, but not too hard of one. And it actually wasn't as hard as some have been, but of course there's always something, isn't there?

Hwy 11 runs southeast on the map. The problem with this road is that it alternates between 8 foot shoulders and half-foot shoulders. But at least it was mostly smooth and flat.

I also saw the return of the horizontal mountain. On the map, the road may run straight southeast, but in reality it curves back and forth a lot. The wind was mostly east; when the road curved that way, the wind was behind me. When it curved south, it was hitting me from the side, which is almost as bad as head on. I began to dread the right-curve arrow sign almost as much as "Passing Lane 2 km Ahead" in BC.

The biggest problem was simple fatigue. Not muscle fatigue, but plain old sleepiness. I don't think I'm getting enough sleep lately. Partly it's because in BC I would try to be done for the day and squared away by 4 because I was never sure of a place to camp ahead, but out here I'm more willing to travel as long as there's daylight. And partly of course it's just because I've always been a night person and like staying up late.

Except for a heart-stopping descent into the gorgeous Qu'Appelle Valley, and the inevitable climb back out, the road was level all day. 30 km out from Regina I got a bit of a scare over my bike. The chain began "slipping" over the rear sprockets, as if it were skipping teeth. It started gradually, but quickly got worse and worse. I thought the chain might have stretched, or the teeth worn down, but when I stopped and oiled it (for lack of anything else I could do) the problem vanished.

Regina comes out of nowhere. One minute you're on the prairie, the next you're going down a busy strip. A word of warning: if you're cycling across Canada, you lose the sense of how to cycle in a city. It's hard to suddenly readjust yourself to traffic lights and things shooting out from side streets. Be careful!

I checked into the hostel (Turgeon House), and right away met two people who are doing something really extreme. They're walking across Canada, unsupported. Their names were Mike and Shannon. I told them they were crazy, and they told me I was crazy. That pretty much satisfied the needs of protocol. They've been walking since February! I can't even imagine what the Rockies were like then.

The usual rest stop chores. Film: Dropped it off, thought the clerk was cute. Internet: The library was slim pickings. I could only get two hours, not enough. When I picked up my film, I asked the clerk, Marla, if she'd like to see a movie. She had a boyfriend, but he hadn't made any plans with her tonight, so she said ok. We were going to see Shrek, but she stood me up, so I saw it alone. Should I try to call her or not?

I got a lesson last night in the art of conversation. I'm a good listener, but not much of a conversationalist because I don't have the ability to go on and on about nothing (not out loud, anyway). In the common room last night, Mike and some guy who looked like an Eminem wanna-be rambled on for over half an hour...about beer. It doesn't take much of that to remind me of what I like about the isolated roads.

One of the first things I did today was go back to the photo place and see Marla. I didn't want to take it too personally, after all, we had just met. I assumed that her boyfriend had probably called later on to make plans and she went with the better offer, but I didn't want to leave the loose end behind. As it turned out, she had told him about the date, and he didn't want her to go. She was apologetic, and that was pretty much the end of the story.

I finished updating my tour reports with another two hours at the library. I found a copy of the Skeptical Inquirer at the local 7-Eleven, which was a first; I usually have to go to specialty bookshops or the library to find it. I also found a copy of the Odyssey in the hostel library. We studied it in college so I knew the basic plot and characters, but this time I really started getting into it.

Updating my pictures will take some doing. I took a chance and had my last roll put on cd-rom because they told me they couldn't put them on floppies except for large amounts of money, but I was concerned that if they put them on cd, they would be so large memory-wise that I wouldn't be able to use them. Sure enough, that's what happened. I'll have to find computers now that not only have internet access and a cd-rom drive, but also a graphics program that will let me shrink them down. My job just got harder.

Alberta

Part 2