Hot tip of the week, day 10

Hello from Kindersley Saskatchewan. We left Alberta early morning, goodbye to Oyen at 0500 hous. We enjoyed rain and headwinds and 6 degree weather, much like a treadmill, work hard for 30 minutes and you are in the same place. Alberta #9 becomes Saskatchewan #7. this is also a straight, due east into the wind, and like an ocean up and down like long rolling waves. Very few vehicles at that time of day, and terrain not as spectacular, but equally intersting for its vastness and hugh fields.
The hot tip of the wek is to stop at Flaxcombe, a community of 119 people with a district school in near by Marengo covering all the grades from kindergarden to grade 12, and 122 students. We arrived at 0845 hours to find the post office come store and eatery opens at 0900. It was worth the wait, we were cold, wet and a little tired and when Eileen arrived at 0900 we were in the door in a flash. Great hot chocolate and fresh rhubarb crisp, the best food of our trip. A small and intimate room, much like a phone booth. A once common structure for Clark Kent to change, and mere mortals, in ancient times, actually talked on hard wire phones. We received a drawing fom Chelsey, a 5 yer old artist and daughter of the owner, in excgange I treated her allergies.
Another 35 kilometers of rain were much easier with that new fuel. Kindersley is the city of the whole area, We had a lunch at Tim's, and meet a lot of locals, who seem to have a lot of time to visit, and were interested to hear out plans. Stories of other cyclists and their adventures, and at Coleville, just north of us had " 5 inches of rain last night" Wow, glad not there.
Kindersley is worth exploring, the first impression is how wide the streets are, how wide are they? They have gas pumps in the median just to get you across. House prices here are similar to Eastern Ontario. This a farming community, with lots of rain and all secondary roads are muddy, muddy, muddy. All locals drive pick-ups with 4 wheel drive and they are all the same coor, muddy brown. Saw a nice little place just out of town for sale. Surrounded by lilac bushes. Nearest neighbour just 5 km away,shouting distance.
After lunch we pushed on another 35 km, and meet a young couple bikikg to Hamilton to attend her best friends wedding, They left Victoria weeks ago and were delayed in Calgary for 4 days waiting for the snow to melt. They had fully loaded panniers, and heavy bikes and were making about 10 kph AND 40 km daily. Last night they had permission to tent on peoples lawn, and when the rains become intense the famiy brought their camper out for them to use. Canadians are wonderful.
We saw some wid animals that we are not able to identify, perhaps a reative of the deer famiy. They certainly bounce along like deer. Lots of birds, who knows the names? Also I wish to report that earth worms in the west are no smarter that ours at home, al come out on the road after a rain.
Tomorrow promises more of the same weather, 98% chance of rain, 6-12 degrees and winds. This will be a big volume day for us, up from the 7 hours in the saddle to probably 9-10 hours. Need I mention that our muscles are not the limiting factor on these days.
The bikes were well behaved today, no rebellion, and no mechanical problems. People are amased by the equipment we use as most cyclist use the heavier bicycles. Our objectives are different and we prefer the more responsive machines, even though the risk of falls is higher. Tom remains very strong and positive, and today and to a lesser extent yesterday we were drafting, and this is helpful especislly in these conditions. Tom is the computer guy, and I am the slug, keep bicycles clean and oiled and all the detail. Good team work, and complete confidence in decision making. On the road it is always safety first, even if it cost us time and effort. The paving of the shoulders is rarely as smooth as the road and therefore takes at least 15% more effort. Yet that is were we cycle, single file, and doing all the things we can to share the road with the hugh vehicles we meet.
Why is it that trucks we meet have a wind wall that will stop our progress and almost knock us off the road whereas the same vehicle that passes us only gives us a few yards of vacuum. We are told about a cyclist who sucked in behind a truck and was able to draft along at 80 kph. Thanks, but no thanks.
Quite a different impresion of the 3 provinces, in BC we saw the affuence, in Alberta we saw both ends of the success spectrum, and in Saskatchewan we are seeing the more modest life styles and the working folks. Everyong has been friendly, but here they are especially open and interested in their guests.
It would be great fun to go horse riding through these parts of Canada. Evan I think I feel an idea coming. Hello to everyone and thanks for your interest. RRM