Closing Thoughts

The first few days of the trip were by far the most difficult from a physical standpoint, however the mental challenge was a daily one that never went away. Thank you for your comments during the first week they were very useful in getting over the initial hump of the trip.

I met several cyclists who shared their stories with me, and many people who just wanted to know where I was going, and where I started from, for me these short, friendly interactions with strangers really added to the overall experience.

Here's a tip when your cycling, never ask a person how far away things are, their reference for distance is in minutes not km. What they drive in an hour is what a cyclist covers in a day.

I made a note of the most common items I saw in the ditch during my travels from most common to least here we go: #1 broken bungee straps, #2 truckers urine-plastic bottles , #3 used diapers, #4 banana peals (the majority where between Calgary & Lake Louise, but the amount was uncanny), and #5 far too many roadside memorial for lost love ones.

This was my travel log, minus the run down to Radium Hot Springs

Day 1 Swan River MB -Canora SK

Day 2 Canora SK- Yorkton SK

Day 3 Yorkton SK - Fort Qu'Appelle SK

Day 4 Fort Qu'Appelle SK - Regina SK

Day 5 Regina SK - Swift Current SK

Day 6 Swift Current SK - Maple Creek SK

Day 7 Maple Creek SK - Bassano AB

Day 8 Bassano AB - Strathmore AB

Day 9 Strathmore AB - Canmore AB

Spent 3 days cycling to Lake Louise/Radium Hot Springs/Banff and visited with family 4 days

Day 10 Canmore AB - Lake Louise AB

Day 11 Lake Louise AB - Golden BC

Day 12 Golden BC - Canyon Hot Springs BC

Day 13 Canyon Hot Springs BC- Enderby BC

Day 14 Enderby BC - Kelowna BC

Final comment: Wind Sucks!

The Other "F" Word

The last few days in the Okanagan Valley has been unbelievably warm, yesterday when I spent the night in Enderby it was 36 degrees at 10:00 in the evening! I probably took in 8-10 litres of fluids that day.

I'm now in Kelowna making arrangements to fly home (Regina) tomorrow. The fire situation is not good, haze for the last 2 days, in fact in Vernon I had ash sitting on my bike after a a brief pit stop for lunch. Very hot, dry and smokey.

There is never a time when you are riding on highways that you are completely relaxed, your continually checking the road ahead for debris, checking your mirror to see when the next truck or motor home is going to try squeeze by you. So yesterday when I entered Kelowna through a major construction zone, I must admit my mind went to a place that it shouldn't, thoughts of being done, heading home hit for the first time, and I was enjoying the the ride in when "it" happened. A FLAT tire. I heard this horrible crunching noise as my bike passed over a bunch of glass that I obviously wasn't paying any attention to, and within seconds I was riding on the rim. Can you believe it, 2185 km door to door (Swan River - Kelowna) and I get a flat at 2179!

I will make one last post tomorrow to share some closing thoughts about the trip.

Where's Williams?

Here goes with a quick update from the past week.

Yvonne & Nyle drove out last week for what was to be my ride home. I didn't get as far into the mountains as hoped, so I diverted south to Radium Hot Springs and cycled back up to Banff to meet them. We spent several days in the area kicking back and relaxing. Last Friday Yvonne & Nyle headed home and I with the green light to head to the coast!

So back to the biking.... My first day back on the bike felt like "the first day back on the bike". The ride into Golden was quite simply punishing! 30 degrees, 1 major climb and an absolutely terrifying ride across Kicking Horse Pass, gust must have been close to 75kph.

Got up at 5:00 am yesterday to beat the heat of the day, rode the biggest climb of the trip to Rogers Pass, but did not escape the heat, 3 major climbs the longest took about 80 minutes. But I must admit the battle was with my brain not my legs. The 6 tunnels I had to ride through did give me a break from the heat, but did nothing for my mental state of mind.

I'm in Revelstoke now, pushing on to Sicamous, should be in Kelowna by Wednesday night, and if the forest fire situation out in West Bank settles down I should be able to get to Vancouver. Forecast for the next several days are in the high 30's.

The finish line is in sight!

Rocky Mountain High

This is just a quick pit stop in Lake Louise to say hi and I'm not sure when the next time I will be near a computer (3-4 days), I hope to get to Field, BC tonight.

I certainly have been spoiled in the camping department, hot showers & laundry but I have a feeling it all changes from here. Looking at my map, there are certainly more places to camp than the prairies but zero for amenities. I'm entering "Bear Country" and that's a little concerning, many of my overnights will be a few km's off the highway.

I have to admit my legs feel strong, I haven't had any monster climbs yet but I'm definitely in good cycling shape to take that on now. The winds have died down, much to my relief and the days is going well. The scenery is amazing, I spent 7 days on the prairies with my head down looking at my front tire, now I'm enjoying those efforts with some magnificent views.

Entering The Rockies

Just left Calgary this morning and have arrived in Canmore, AB. I guess I can say I'm officially in the mountains.

The folks at Calgary Olympic Park fixed my bike, in my infinite wisdom in selecting bike tools for the trip I chose not to bring a spoke wrench, a few days ago a few of my spokes on my front wheel were getting loose, and before I knew it my wheel was out and causing some problems.

On the topic of what I packed & didn't pack, a few days ago when it was in the high 20's I was ready to send all my polar fleece gear back home on the bus, the last 2 days in Calgary have been cold, wet, and miserable. I hardly had enough warm cloth's for the ride this morning. For the record, I was wearing a toque at the campsite this morning.

I'm a little suprised its so gusty, I guess I was hoping the elevation would be the only thing I had to overcome but it would appear its going to be elevation & wind, bring it on!

All In A Days Ride

I don't know where to start with this one, but here we go.

Before leaving Medicine Hat, AB I stopped to take a picture of the World's Largest Tee Pee, before I could get my camera out, a vehicle stopped in front of me and it was Lise & Kevin from school, who live 5 doors down from me, it was a great way to start the day.

I was more than a little concerned about carrying enough food and water to get to Brooks, there is absolutely nothing between the two, and the wind can be so fickle it could easily take 2 days to get there, however the winds were kind to me and I got to Brooks, late afternoon (111 km). I decided to ride those same winds on to Bassano (50 km) and that's when everything fell apart.

There was some bad weather off to the south, very dark skies, and I thought I could get to Bassano just ahead of it. I went from going 35 kph to being almost blown off the road and into the ditch in seconds, that followed by thunder/lightning and hail. You couldn't see 10 meters ahead of you, all you could hear was rain pounding the highway, thunder, and the cracks of lightning. I wasn't too worried only extremely wet. I pulled off the highway, into the ditch and set up behind my rear pack on my bike and sat it out, well that was the plan, 20 - 30 minutes had passed and the storm had moved east, however there were a few lightning strikes in the area so I stayed put, until a RCMP officer pulled over and told me to get off the highway. He insisted that I ride to the next town, and stop there.

I got to say I think I was far safer where I was than riding on the highway in those conditions, however he did follow me all the way into town with his lights going. I must say I made quite the entrance when I showed up in downtown Bassano at Harry's Chinese/American Restaurant.

A short but gruelling 90 km ride today, into a west wind, I guess about 15-25 kph, but the pay off is in sight. The mountains are now on my horizon and now I will start picking my head up and enjoying the view.

I should be in Calgary tomorrow, I'll get some work done on the bike (spoke problems), take a day off with no riding, rest my legs before taking on the mountains.

The Winds They Are a Changing!

Its been a grueling few days, but at last I have put Saskatchewan behind me. This ride is teaching me many things, but the question I ask myself the most is what is the wind doing? Here's why, 2 days ago I left Regina, SK and made Swift Current, SK in 1 day, 240k (almost Floyd Landis like, however the asterisks beside this accomplishment should read wind aided).

This morning it took me 4 hours to go from Maple Creek, SK to the Alberta border (only 40k).

The first couple hours everyday my body is screaming at me to stop, lots of small aches & pains, it reminds me when I use to run, getting past the first 20-25 minutes is key then everything after that flows pretty easily. The mind is a powerful tool, quitting or pedal through the tough times, its all about will power. I don't dare pick my head up and scour the horizon and see the never ending road that I must travel, I simply keep my head down and plug away. My best guess would be I have 3 days left on the Prairies before I get to the mountains, I truly can't wait.

So the last few days have been quite warm, and I'm taking breaks more frequently during the day, yesterday I stopped at the No. 1 Ice Cream Shoppe in Tompkin, SK and had the homemade raspberry frozen yogurt it was truly amazing, it will be a pit stop from now on when heading home from Kelowna, BC.

From Medicine Hat, AB I'm outta here, and heading to the hot tub!