The Canada day celebrations were full and exciting. we awoke in the campsite of a friend we had made before. We had slept near his campfire and had slept "a la bell etoile".
The day was a hot one, Downey and I had slept in due to the nights festivities and we would now be paying for it. Our friends wished us the best and we waved goodbye.
Being on the road was nice enough, accept the journey would not be complete without a little trouble from my bikes back tire. O how I wished nothing would go wrong, but of course not the way god would have it.
As soon as we reached what I like to call the "no rescue zone" (which is about 25 K out of any towns radious) my back tire disintegrated. The rubber part of my back tire just came apart, and in doing so busted my inner tube as well. Downey and I were low on supplies and so we ended up making use of some masking tape we had for some reason unknown to me until this point, and piece my rubber tire back together as well as patch up the inner tube.
I do not know how the bike made it through the next ten kilometers, and I am quite sure we were the most sorry sight any biker had ever set his eyes on, but it somehow worked. We found a little gas station and managed to have the owner give us a roll of duct tape
With our new super tool (duct tape) we completed a more permanent tire repair job. my tire ended up looking like a silver shiny ring rather than a black rubber tire. however, regardless of how terrible it looked, my duct tape tire actually rolled, held pressure and in my opinion lookeded very stylish.
I biked all day in this condition. No bike stores would be around until we got to Regina. Instead of biking supplies, we purchased duct tape when possible.
Around 11pm at night we rolled into the town of Watrous saskatchewan. There we found the only local establishment open was the bar, so we stopped in, bought an order of wings and sat down. It wasn't long before the local patrons noticed the condition of my bike during their frequent smoke breaks.
"Is that bike being held together with duct tape?"
"I think held together is a stretch" said I.
" You drove like that for 90 miles?"
"Something like that."
The bar owner's interest was piqued by us and he wanted to buy Downey and I a few drinks. He ended by offering us a free room in his motel. Even though his offer was generous, we had to refuse. We had been spending too many beautiful nights indoors and I wanted to sleep outside.
Downey attempted to pay for the wings and was refused. It was on the house, thanks to the owner. We jumped once again on our bikes and headed about 20k north. There we found Manitou Beach, the only mineral lake in the praries. I put out my sleeping bag, without the protection of the bivy and wrapped my shirt around my head to protect myself from the mosqitoes and tried to sleep on the shores to this awesome lake.
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Monday, 11 July 2011
July 1st: Wakaw au Canada
The Boiteau's made sure we had a good breakfast before sending us back out into the hard and cold world. We found ourselves a good destination and I was very excited. The extent of our travels on this day would not exceed a couple of kilometers to the beach where we would spend Canada Day.
At the beach I just layed around in the sun, not unlike what like a lizzard would look like on a warm flat rock. I joined myself to a group of friends that was playing frizbee and jumped in the lac a couple of times. It was the absolute perfect day. Downey partook in the fun too. I'm almost sure at one point I saw him walk on the beach, enjoying a nice healthy smoke under the bask of sunlight.
Our friends from the night before joined us for some time and we heard that there was going to be a live band at the golf course on Canada day. And that is exactly where we found ourselves come celebration time.
The music was excellent. The band's name was "Dixie Highway" and it was not long before I found myself dancing to the tunes they played. Everyone was in celebration mode for Canada's birthday, I enjoyed this Canada Day better than any year I could recall. The night's celebrations were fun and full. If I could recall all of the detail I would share them with you, but I simply can't.
At the beach I just layed around in the sun, not unlike what like a lizzard would look like on a warm flat rock. I joined myself to a group of friends that was playing frizbee and jumped in the lac a couple of times. It was the absolute perfect day. Downey partook in the fun too. I'm almost sure at one point I saw him walk on the beach, enjoying a nice healthy smoke under the bask of sunlight.
Our friends from the night before joined us for some time and we heard that there was going to be a live band at the golf course on Canada day. And that is exactly where we found ourselves come celebration time.
The music was excellent. The band's name was "Dixie Highway" and it was not long before I found myself dancing to the tunes they played. Everyone was in celebration mode for Canada's birthday, I enjoyed this Canada Day better than any year I could recall. The night's celebrations were fun and full. If I could recall all of the detail I would share them with you, but I simply can't.
June 30th: Saskatoon to Wakaw
Have you ever been so mad that you felt your brain was melting? I have, and there is nothing fun about it. For the thousands of unbelievably great people we have met accross this wonderful country there was bound to be one person who would be "the bad apple". Downey and I had the displeasure of meeting our bad apple of our journey on this day.
It all started on a beautiful day in Saskatoon. We had packed our gear and had started biking outside of the city. The day actually started better than usual. A couple of saskatoonians had recognized Downey and I from the news segment the night before and came up to us to offer their support. It was quite a lifting experience and a memory I will always cherish.
The day started to sour as soon as I looked at the map of our route. I'm not sure how I mistakenly ended up taking the wrong numbered highway, but its a mistake Downey and I ended up paying for dearly.
The first problem about our predicament was that it took me and Downey hours away from the route we were actually supposed to be on. The second problem lay in the fact that we met one very sorry individual on the road. Case in point:
Downey and I were heading down the wrong highway east. This highway did not afford the luxury of a paved shoulder, so Downey and I already had to fight for room on a single laned highway. That alone is a stressful experience, to put it lightly. Enter our bad apple driving up behind us in his big black pickup truck honking his horn while passing us and trying to literally more than figurtively run Downey and I off the road. He then proceeded to yell profanities and insults at us while gesturing wildly with the most middle of his fingers in our general direction.
My mind could not comprehend what this reckless yahoo was so angry about. My face was frozen in an expression of confusion while a deep cloud of anger started brewing inside of me.
The next event perplexed me even more. The truck pulled over just a ways down the road. Now I'm not going to lie to you, Downey and I are no angels, and I would be lying if I neglected telling you that we may have thrown our own swears and gestures in his direction. But only as would be appropriate from someone in a situation similar to ours.
When I saw this guy pulling his truck into park and waiting for us, I could only imagine the worst was waiting for us. The normal thoughts before a fight were running threw my head:
"What are the chances he has a weapon? He is in his truck so chances are pretty good. How about friends, is there any more of them?"
And then another thought runs threw my head.
"Should we keep going?"
There is after all quite a bit to lose on my part. I'm in physical danger, not to mention I can not afford any major injuries. Other thoughts like, if a fight does start, the odds are bad for us wether we win or lose. The problem was the alternative didn't look any brigher. What could we really do? If we were to stop, how long would we have to impeded progress because of this bully? Whether we turned around or stopped there would always have been that unresolved problem down the road. I did not want to leave a challenge unanswered. This problem would be met head on, because there was no chance I would be turning around.
I maneauvered my bicycle to run parrallel to Downeys.
"Hey Downey, I don't know what this guy down here wants, but I'm guessing he is not about to wish us luck with our travels."
"You think?" Downey replied.
"Just remember whatever happens, we've got each others backs. Make sure your shoes are unclipped and try to stay as relaxed as possible"
As we neared the truck I tried to keep my mind open to any event that would unfold. My mind was planning for conflict aversion, but my body was ready. I jumped off my bike and eased into a slow jog towards the truck.
"What was your problem back there?" I asked
The driver was still sitting in the drivers seat and his response got me off guard.
"Next time, I'll run over you!"
Downey was approaching the driver side door from the right hand side when buddy panicked and turned the ignition. The motor roared to life, our boy slammed the transmission into gear and took off turning a hard left and my mind could not comprehend what I was seeing. This boy's truck plowed right on over the front wheel of Downey's bike. Once the truck had cleared Downeys bike, I found myself picking up a rock and angrily throwing it into a field of soil. This guy had successfully made me lose it.
Downey was no more amused, his emotional state was clouded with a brewing anger. When buddy left, he left in his dust two steaming kettles with no spout to relieve pressure.
While Downey cursed, I brewed. There was no chance of freeing my mind of what I could have done differently, of ways how I could have vented my steam at this individual or how happy I would have been if we met this guy down the road with a flat.
With our heads hanging low, and Downey's front tire wobbling at a new frequency, we corrected our highway direction and started heading towards Wakaw. To say that our spirits were low would have been an exageration of how high they were.
A couple hours later when we rolled into Wakaw, we were met by a local "Don" who inquired about where we had come from and where we were going.
"We just came in from Saskatoon" Downey said
"Shoot... Thats a long way"
"Yeah, it sure felt like it"
After a couple more questions, and upon hearing of the bike's failed tire-on-tire romance, Don was determined to help us. He took off from the town gas station and went out to find someone to host us for the night. He returned in a short period of time and asked us to follow him.
Downey and I followed his car to the local bar where he told us to leave our bikes outside and come in to have a drink with him. Downey locked up the bikes, and we headed inside.
"Hey Tina, these two guys are biking across Canada. Get them two pilsners."
The bartender looks at both Downey and I and says while handing us two beers:
"You don't say? Well right on boys. These are on the house."
Don explained the bartender Tina was his wife. He also explained to us that he had found us a willing host family. Then he went on to apologize for the behavior of the young driver. He hoped that the experience we had gone through hadn't painted all of Saskatchewan with the same bad-coloured brush.
We followed Don's car once again and he led us to a lot just outside of town with a trailer home and a beautiful yard. There was a family and a couple of friends in the back yard of the house having a bonfire. Downey and I rode our bikes over to them. Don and the Oldest man talked for a little while, and Downey and I made use of the time by introducing ourselves to the rest of the people present. Not long after we met everyone, they all started to feel like friends to us.
The familie's name was the Boiteau's and they were more than happy to have us over for the night. They opened their home to us and we gratefully made use of it for the night.
The night was wrapped up by Downey and I finishing a nice cold beer at around two oclock in the morning. I strummed the blues out on a guitar that I had found in the Boiteau's home. It has been a trying day, and it ended a bluesy night.
It all started on a beautiful day in Saskatoon. We had packed our gear and had started biking outside of the city. The day actually started better than usual. A couple of saskatoonians had recognized Downey and I from the news segment the night before and came up to us to offer their support. It was quite a lifting experience and a memory I will always cherish.
The day started to sour as soon as I looked at the map of our route. I'm not sure how I mistakenly ended up taking the wrong numbered highway, but its a mistake Downey and I ended up paying for dearly.
The first problem about our predicament was that it took me and Downey hours away from the route we were actually supposed to be on. The second problem lay in the fact that we met one very sorry individual on the road. Case in point:
Downey and I were heading down the wrong highway east. This highway did not afford the luxury of a paved shoulder, so Downey and I already had to fight for room on a single laned highway. That alone is a stressful experience, to put it lightly. Enter our bad apple driving up behind us in his big black pickup truck honking his horn while passing us and trying to literally more than figurtively run Downey and I off the road. He then proceeded to yell profanities and insults at us while gesturing wildly with the most middle of his fingers in our general direction.
My mind could not comprehend what this reckless yahoo was so angry about. My face was frozen in an expression of confusion while a deep cloud of anger started brewing inside of me.
The next event perplexed me even more. The truck pulled over just a ways down the road. Now I'm not going to lie to you, Downey and I are no angels, and I would be lying if I neglected telling you that we may have thrown our own swears and gestures in his direction. But only as would be appropriate from someone in a situation similar to ours.
When I saw this guy pulling his truck into park and waiting for us, I could only imagine the worst was waiting for us. The normal thoughts before a fight were running threw my head:
"What are the chances he has a weapon? He is in his truck so chances are pretty good. How about friends, is there any more of them?"
And then another thought runs threw my head.
"Should we keep going?"
There is after all quite a bit to lose on my part. I'm in physical danger, not to mention I can not afford any major injuries. Other thoughts like, if a fight does start, the odds are bad for us wether we win or lose. The problem was the alternative didn't look any brigher. What could we really do? If we were to stop, how long would we have to impeded progress because of this bully? Whether we turned around or stopped there would always have been that unresolved problem down the road. I did not want to leave a challenge unanswered. This problem would be met head on, because there was no chance I would be turning around.
I maneauvered my bicycle to run parrallel to Downeys.
"Hey Downey, I don't know what this guy down here wants, but I'm guessing he is not about to wish us luck with our travels."
"You think?" Downey replied.
"Just remember whatever happens, we've got each others backs. Make sure your shoes are unclipped and try to stay as relaxed as possible"
As we neared the truck I tried to keep my mind open to any event that would unfold. My mind was planning for conflict aversion, but my body was ready. I jumped off my bike and eased into a slow jog towards the truck.
"What was your problem back there?" I asked
The driver was still sitting in the drivers seat and his response got me off guard.
"Next time, I'll run over you!"
Downey was approaching the driver side door from the right hand side when buddy panicked and turned the ignition. The motor roared to life, our boy slammed the transmission into gear and took off turning a hard left and my mind could not comprehend what I was seeing. This boy's truck plowed right on over the front wheel of Downey's bike. Once the truck had cleared Downeys bike, I found myself picking up a rock and angrily throwing it into a field of soil. This guy had successfully made me lose it.
Downey was no more amused, his emotional state was clouded with a brewing anger. When buddy left, he left in his dust two steaming kettles with no spout to relieve pressure.
While Downey cursed, I brewed. There was no chance of freeing my mind of what I could have done differently, of ways how I could have vented my steam at this individual or how happy I would have been if we met this guy down the road with a flat.
With our heads hanging low, and Downey's front tire wobbling at a new frequency, we corrected our highway direction and started heading towards Wakaw. To say that our spirits were low would have been an exageration of how high they were.
A couple hours later when we rolled into Wakaw, we were met by a local "Don" who inquired about where we had come from and where we were going.
"We just came in from Saskatoon" Downey said
"Shoot... Thats a long way"
"Yeah, it sure felt like it"
After a couple more questions, and upon hearing of the bike's failed tire-on-tire romance, Don was determined to help us. He took off from the town gas station and went out to find someone to host us for the night. He returned in a short period of time and asked us to follow him.
Downey and I followed his car to the local bar where he told us to leave our bikes outside and come in to have a drink with him. Downey locked up the bikes, and we headed inside.
"Hey Tina, these two guys are biking across Canada. Get them two pilsners."
The bartender looks at both Downey and I and says while handing us two beers:
"You don't say? Well right on boys. These are on the house."
Don explained the bartender Tina was his wife. He also explained to us that he had found us a willing host family. Then he went on to apologize for the behavior of the young driver. He hoped that the experience we had gone through hadn't painted all of Saskatchewan with the same bad-coloured brush.
We followed Don's car once again and he led us to a lot just outside of town with a trailer home and a beautiful yard. There was a family and a couple of friends in the back yard of the house having a bonfire. Downey and I rode our bikes over to them. Don and the Oldest man talked for a little while, and Downey and I made use of the time by introducing ourselves to the rest of the people present. Not long after we met everyone, they all started to feel like friends to us.
The familie's name was the Boiteau's and they were more than happy to have us over for the night. They opened their home to us and we gratefully made use of it for the night.
The night was wrapped up by Downey and I finishing a nice cold beer at around two oclock in the morning. I strummed the blues out on a guitar that I had found in the Boiteau's home. It has been a trying day, and it ended a bluesy night.
June 28 and 29th: Saskatoon
It turns out that our push to get to Saskatoon early really paid off. We could finally lick our wounds, and relax.
We called a friend of my cousin Pat. Her name was Zoe Fortier and she lived in Saskatoon with a couple of friends. Luckily Zoe was more than happy to help us out any way she could. She had absolutly no problem with Downey and I staying at her house, she was also very helpful in pointing out what in Saskatoon was going on in terms of entertainment. Before we knew it, Downey and I found ourself at the local Saskatoon jazz festival with Zoe and her friends.
Listening to live jazz music is one of the best ways to relax. It was easy to clear my mind of all things and sway along with the music. Saskatoon was proving to be a beautiful little city that was not only welcoming and warm, but also entertaining and alive.
After getting settled into town Downey and I had some business to take care of. I had done some research and had found a few media contacts to get a hold of. I spent the morning of the first day in Saskatoon playing phone tag with different media stations. The only problem was that in this game of "tag" it was one sided, with me trying to tag everyone else, and no one tagging me back.
After having finished my part in trying to get the media to pay attention, Downey and I had the liberty to go see a movie, go out for a nice supper and just spend time with guys and girls our age around a nice relaxing bonfire in the back of Zoe's yard.
The next day I found myself getting a number of calls from different media outlets accross the city. My hard work the day before had started to pay off and I managed to get Downey and I a spot on Global saskatoon as well as a spot on a live local radio station.
The Global interview was great. Our best interview yet by far. The short time we had been spending in the public eye was enough to get us somewhat comfortable in front of a camera, and therefore we were definitely behaving much more naturally. Our humour and personalities came through in the interview, and the nervous frozen robots that we had presented in the past were no more.
The interview was shot in a beautiful Saskatoon park right next to the Jazz festival. The sun was shinning brightly and we were dressed in our full biking regalia. I felt a little self conscious about the tightness of my shorts, but I figured if anything it would only get the attention of more people, and hopefully more people would pay attention.
Downey and I both played off each other. I would make a friendly but fun jab at him, and he would counter with a jab of his own. I felt quite confident about myself during the interview and I sure hope we were successful in coming across as regular guys cycling accross Canada.
Afterwards, we headed a couple of blocks down the street and got a chance to pass our message through a live radio broadcast. Once again I felt like we really aced it. Speaking in public on radio or television is becoming less and less intimidating for me and I imagine the same for Downey.
Our time in Saskatoon was just about wrapping up. There wasn't much left for us to do in town except for saying goodbyes and packing our gear. We had planned to stay there for Canada day but being so far ahead of schedule and home being withing fathomable distance, we decided to keep the pace. Wakaw, a small, peaceful town in North Eastern Saskatchewan was our next destination.
We called a friend of my cousin Pat. Her name was Zoe Fortier and she lived in Saskatoon with a couple of friends. Luckily Zoe was more than happy to help us out any way she could. She had absolutly no problem with Downey and I staying at her house, she was also very helpful in pointing out what in Saskatoon was going on in terms of entertainment. Before we knew it, Downey and I found ourself at the local Saskatoon jazz festival with Zoe and her friends.
Listening to live jazz music is one of the best ways to relax. It was easy to clear my mind of all things and sway along with the music. Saskatoon was proving to be a beautiful little city that was not only welcoming and warm, but also entertaining and alive.
After getting settled into town Downey and I had some business to take care of. I had done some research and had found a few media contacts to get a hold of. I spent the morning of the first day in Saskatoon playing phone tag with different media stations. The only problem was that in this game of "tag" it was one sided, with me trying to tag everyone else, and no one tagging me back.
After having finished my part in trying to get the media to pay attention, Downey and I had the liberty to go see a movie, go out for a nice supper and just spend time with guys and girls our age around a nice relaxing bonfire in the back of Zoe's yard.
The next day I found myself getting a number of calls from different media outlets accross the city. My hard work the day before had started to pay off and I managed to get Downey and I a spot on Global saskatoon as well as a spot on a live local radio station.
The Global interview was great. Our best interview yet by far. The short time we had been spending in the public eye was enough to get us somewhat comfortable in front of a camera, and therefore we were definitely behaving much more naturally. Our humour and personalities came through in the interview, and the nervous frozen robots that we had presented in the past were no more.
The interview was shot in a beautiful Saskatoon park right next to the Jazz festival. The sun was shinning brightly and we were dressed in our full biking regalia. I felt a little self conscious about the tightness of my shorts, but I figured if anything it would only get the attention of more people, and hopefully more people would pay attention.
Downey and I both played off each other. I would make a friendly but fun jab at him, and he would counter with a jab of his own. I felt quite confident about myself during the interview and I sure hope we were successful in coming across as regular guys cycling accross Canada.
Afterwards, we headed a couple of blocks down the street and got a chance to pass our message through a live radio broadcast. Once again I felt like we really aced it. Speaking in public on radio or television is becoming less and less intimidating for me and I imagine the same for Downey.
Our time in Saskatoon was just about wrapping up. There wasn't much left for us to do in town except for saying goodbyes and packing our gear. We had planned to stay there for Canada day but being so far ahead of schedule and home being withing fathomable distance, we decided to keep the pace. Wakaw, a small, peaceful town in North Eastern Saskatchewan was our next destination.
Friday, 8 July 2011
June 27th: Kindersley to Saskatoon
It wasn't hard to wake up. The camper was being cooked under the sun, and I felt a little like a stuffed cannelloni in a casserole. The discomfort from the heat did not exactly inspire me with confidence that our day would be spent in comfort. From the time I jumped on my bike, until I jumped off of it for the last time that day, I was constantly and perfusely sweating. I am not too sure if there is a sweat world record, but if there is I think I should be a candidate.
Downey and I were lucky enough to have some great paved shoulders throughout our travels. Very rarely do we have to compete with traffic and I do not look forward to those times. The good thing about a nice wide shoulder is that you can really enjoy the ride. You can look about you and look at the fields, the cars, the people. You can let your thoughts take you away and you can take in everything you see. I know I make this bike ride sound very hard, or at least I complain alot, but it truly is an honor to see all the beauty in this land.
It was another day of biking, biking and more biking. Because we were on such a strong incentive to finish before our scheduled date, we didn't take very many breaks. Of course we stopped to eat every now and then, and of course we "went" when we had to "go", but any other kind of break was out of the question.
When we rolled into Saskatoon, we found a parking lot to rest in. I gave a call to a contact of mine who lives in Saskatoon to see if we could find a place to sleep, as Downeys dad was leaving back to Winnipeg. Zoe answered the phone and was delighted to have us over for a couple of nights. Mr. Downey, Downey and I decided to go out for supper, and then afterwards we said our thank yous and goodbyes. We would be seeing Mr. Downey again when we got to Winnipeg but the help he gave us was very thoughtful and uplifting. Afterwards, Downey and I headed to Zoe's house.
There was a couch and a bed available. I slept once again on a couch.
Downey and I were lucky enough to have some great paved shoulders throughout our travels. Very rarely do we have to compete with traffic and I do not look forward to those times. The good thing about a nice wide shoulder is that you can really enjoy the ride. You can look about you and look at the fields, the cars, the people. You can let your thoughts take you away and you can take in everything you see. I know I make this bike ride sound very hard, or at least I complain alot, but it truly is an honor to see all the beauty in this land.
It was another day of biking, biking and more biking. Because we were on such a strong incentive to finish before our scheduled date, we didn't take very many breaks. Of course we stopped to eat every now and then, and of course we "went" when we had to "go", but any other kind of break was out of the question.
When we rolled into Saskatoon, we found a parking lot to rest in. I gave a call to a contact of mine who lives in Saskatoon to see if we could find a place to sleep, as Downeys dad was leaving back to Winnipeg. Zoe answered the phone and was delighted to have us over for a couple of nights. Mr. Downey, Downey and I decided to go out for supper, and then afterwards we said our thank yous and goodbyes. We would be seeing Mr. Downey again when we got to Winnipeg but the help he gave us was very thoughtful and uplifting. Afterwards, Downey and I headed to Zoe's house.
There was a couch and a bed available. I slept once again on a couch.
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