Land of the Living Skies

Ray and his wife Deb provided us with a great meal. Save Holly and her crew lot of time cooking.
Abandoned farms are plentiful in this area of Saskatchewan
Beautiful canola fields we saw along the way to Regina.
Old School House from 1906-1942 Smileyville
This dog came out of his yard while we were stopped for a sandwich. He was very friendly and ran beside us for almost 2k before he turned to go back.
Not many people pictures today. This is me enjoying the ride with the wind on my back.

The mud hole we had when we got to our stop in Kindersley. You can appreciate why we went to a hotel for the night. We were lucky to find a bed, we shared with another couple. The pipeline contractors have taken up most of the hotel room in Kindersley and area.
This was the sky, not at his worst, when we came into Kindersley.We thought it was going to go around us but it was treacherous for many riders who got stuck the hail and rain and wind.
We had good weather here, hard to believe that the skies got so scary.
Sunset in Youngstown, where we were treated to a nice dinner by the community. However, we had no showers. This was difficult to deal with this as we had ridden in such horrendous winds we needed a shower. Sponge bath in sink was the best we could do.
The landscape in and around Drumheller.
Terri and a local from Drumheller.

( I apologize the pictures are in the reverse order of our rides over the last few days)

July 12th and Day 16 of the tour took us out of Drumheller on Route 9 towards Youngstown. Lots of cannola and wheat fields the first part of the ride but then the land became pretty barren and dry. Odd herd of cattle could be seen in the distance as well as lots of little old deserted farm buildings. Headwind picked up after our lunch stop in Hanna and we still had another 45k to go. Just west of Hanna, we are in our northern most point of the tour. Few places to stop and get extra food or water today. The little community of Youngstown provided supper for us and will be doing the same when the second group of the tour arrives tomorrow. It was a delicious pot-luck meal with lots of choices. Today's distance was 140k.

July 13th and Day 17 takes us on to Kindersley and a distance of 149k. We started out with a great ride, with the weather being sunny and warm but could see storm clouds forming in the distance. We crossed into Saskatchewan around 1 pm and called home from the sign. Landscape continues to be mainly barren and dry. The winds began picking up and cycling was becoming difficult with the strong headwinds and the temperatures began quickly dropping. Storm clouds seem to turn around and come in behind us so we sure picked up our pace to get into camp before the skies opened up. Thus was the case for Holly and myself but a few weren't so fortunate and didn't have their raingear with them. We just got to the shelter at the park and the downpour began for a solid hour with tremendous high gusty winds and hail. The park became one huge mudhole. A few of the early arrivals to the park had their tents set up and fortunately, they survived the elements and a couple of the guys slept through the night rain and wind. Some of the cyclists got motel rooms and we were fortunate to get in a room with Sandra and Terry since they had a second double bed that was available for anyone who would like it. We did laundry and went to Tim Horton's for coffee and bagel. To bed late but felt great to be in an actual bed.

July 14th and Day 18 takes us on to Outlook and a distance of 154k. Well, the rain kept up most of the night but stopped but 0700 but the winds were still strong. About 10 of the cyclists took advantage of an offer from one of the locals to get shuttled to out next campsite in Outlook. The rest of us braved the strong crosswinds and made it to Outlook. Holly had taken the ferring off her recumbent bike for easier and safer riding. Lots of transport trucks passing as we struggled along this stretch. The first half of the ride was tough but after out turn at Rosetown, where we had lunch at A and W, the crosswinds decreased and the ride was enjoyable with canola and wheat fields. We came across an elk farm and had a chat with the farmer who had just fed them and then a little further down the road, we saw a herd of bison grazing. The land was becoming flatter the closer we came to Outlook. We had a long climb across a bridge over the South Saskatchewan River and up into Outlook. Again, there were very few places to stop and fill water bottles of get snacks along this stretch. Holly and I and one other female cyclists were the only women who rode this day. We are glad we did as so far we can say we rode EFI (Every F...king Inch) You will hear this term again.

July15th and to Craik with the distance of 119k. It was quite cool at 0600 but warmed up a bit later and just right for cycling. Today was a great ride with a trailwind most of the ride. Beautiful big fluffy clouds in the sky. Slightly rolling to flat farmland. Had our second bacon and cheese burger in two days at A&W in Davidson on route 11 and the terrific tailwind carried us to Craik. Went to the village to find a bank and drugstore. Lot of the little towns out west seem to be built around grain elevators and there was one smack in the middle of the town. The royal bank had no ATM machine!! Nice to get into camp early for a change. We had been followed for over two k by a big, friendly black lab? on this ride but he eventually got tired of the running.

July 16th and Day 20 with the distance of 124k to Regina. Another beautiful, sunny and enjoyable ride with lots of canola and wheat fields to admire and tailwind again today. This morning was even cooler than yesterday morning with John's thermometer reading 3 degrees!! but it did warm up quickly and we already had removed one layer of clothing before leaving camp. Had a good lunch at Subway in Lynden. Ray's wife, Deb, provided a delicious supper for the group. Great to have a rest day tomorrow since we will be riding for six days before our next rest day. According to the weather report last evening at the office, the Regina temperature was the lowest in the country with 2.4 degrees and broke the record which was set in 1906.

Until Kenora and provided we have internet access, stay safe and out of the wind.

Terri