The second installment of Wing's adventures cycling across Canada.

Thunder Bay - Nipigon - Terrace Bay - White Lake - Lake Superior Provincial Park
   July 28, 2008

We passed our half way mark for both days and distance this week. We have a half way lunch at a park along the route. It is interesting that before the trip, I have a count down on my computer. As of now, we are having a count down to the end of the trip. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy most of the trip, even when it was raining. BUT, the mosquitoes are driving me crazy. Whatever you exposed to the air, it will size up in seconds by the vampire. Then the itch won’t go away for days………………

The series of rides for this stretch has been nothing but long. Okay, I have to be fair. For most of the riders, the scenery has been good. However, it is very similar to the scenery of the west coast of British Columbia, where I came from, the water and mountain scenery is not that much a big deal for me. During these few days, my favorite was to sprint for several electricity poles and ease off, or sprint up the hill and cruise down the hill (if it is not going up again). The Canadian Shield is definitely not the Rocky, but there are some steep ones. Otherwise, I just follow the white line and practice to ride on a straight line. Recently, I find another new one is to chase down the pace line of the young guns and see how far I can follow them at ten bikes length. That’s pretty boring, I know. These few days I actually feel like going to a bike training camp.

In less than a week, we should be back to civilization. I can visit those small towns again. As of now, we rarely pass by a truck stop, don’t mention about towns. Along the route, the resorts are mostly having for sale signs on the door and the windows are boarded up. I am not sure because of the economy or something else.

Until next time.


Sault Ste Marie      July 29, 2008

Greetings,
 
This is our rest day, which supposed to be in a campground, about 30 km outside Sault Ste Marie. We felt so miserable in the middle of no where that we have to travel one km to the nearest "village" for our meals, a group with rebel genes in the blood, packed up and rode into Sault Ste Marie this morning. We found connected rooms in Traveler's Lodge and got a taste of civilization again. Then, the dirty dozen is going to meet up again at 5pm for dinner, and I have promised that I am not going to deny any form of drinks and will stay till at least till 10pm. I hope can still able to ride tomorrow.

So far, I have a pretty good impression of Sault Ste Marie, especially the waterfront. There are lots of updated buildings along the waterfront with tasteful design. Same as I was in every town, I wondered around town and took pictures of buildings, people, and pretty much everything. Certainly, the most important is to stop by the public library for the internet to read all your kind words of encouragement.


By the way, probably, as we rode into town, we form a long pace line toured around town to look for hotel. The local newspaper tracked us down and requested to take our picture and publish the story. Who knows a group of rebels who do not want to follow schedule became celebrity.

Until next time


Sault Ste Marie – Thessalon – Massey – Manitowaing – Tobermory – Owen Sound – Alliston      August 5, 2008

Greetings,
Did I tell you about the dinner and bar hopping? We have a fantastic dinner and I did something VERY WRONG after more than a few drinks!!! I have agreed to sign up the Owen Sound Duathlon sprint on Aug 3rd. The race is going to run 2k, bike 20k and then run another 5k. It happened that we heard about the race and started to talk about doing it for fun. So, after more than a few drinks, two will be racing the individual triathlon, two will be racing the individual duathlon, and two teams of three will be racing the team triathlon. We vowed that after the race, we are going to have dinner again and more drinks. All of us were very excited about the race and definitely more about the dinner afterward.
Because of the race, we have to double up the distance from Manitowaing to Tobermory and Owen Sound. Since we have to take the early ferry from Manitowaing to Tobermory, we woke up early, finished breakfast and made a death rush for the 40 km ride to the ferry. It end up that we still have time to have our second breakfast before we board the ferry at 8:30.  After we have arrived Tobermory, instead of heading to the camp, we have to ride another 120km to Owen Sound. Since the house of our host’s parents use septic tank and not able to handle the volume if we are all going to take a shower, we held the soap and dived into the lake instead. We stayed at a cabin in the wilderness after another great dinner. The starry night is really an eye opener. I have hesitation to return to the cabin to sleep because of the stars.
Anyway, the next day we have to ride another 10km into town for the race. That will be funny if anyone asked about our training: we rode 5000km for the past six weeks or so, but we have never really run or swum during that period, except some casual jogging or playing in the lake during rest days. Then, we rode 170 km the day before the day of the race and another 10km on the day to the race. Anyway, we all finished the race; although I found that I can hardly run for my first 2km before the ride and not until the 5km run after the bike ride that I have found my legs. There is definitely special satisfaction to pass by those expansive bikes with wheels making funny noise. Having said that, I have to admit that in a second when the result was announced, I was a bit disappointed that I can only make the fifth in the age group. However, immediately, I have accepted the excuse that I was not properly trained and I should be happy to have the standing in my age group. As we all agreed, we headed to dinner and with more laugh and drinks. The race result has been totally forgotten after the first drop of liquid in my mouth.
I am now happily tapping the keyboard in my friend’s house. Today is scheduled to be our rest day in Alliston, where in the vicinity of Toronto. In a few days, we should be in the capital of the nation, and by the end of the month…………………………..
Until next time.

Darlington - Carrying Place - Ivy Lea - Ottawa – Hudson      August 11, 2008

Greetings,

We are in Quebec, at long last. Maybe because the scenery of Ontario, having shoreline of the lakes, is too close to the west coast of BC, especially Vancouver Island, I am not really that impressed. Fortunately, Ottawa, my favorite city because of the canals, did not disappoint me.

We have a rest day in Ottawa, so that I can sleep in till 6 and cleaned up my bike, before heading to a local radio station - CHIN FM 97.9, for an  interview in one of the program. Ottawa is definitely a city that should have stayed for more than a day because of the gallery and museum. Even after mass at the cathedral, I have to walk around the cathedral as the building itself is an art already. However, I have to look for a new camera as the old one quit on me. The screen started to get dimmer and dimmer for a few days. Then, today, the camera can no longer operate. Certainly, that’s just passed the warranty period. It almost like the manufacturer has a build in mechanism inside the camera to make it malfunction right after the warranty period. It was so frustrated that I was not able to take any picture for the whole day today.

One of my goals for this trip is to meet all of my friends along the route. So far, I have visited my childhood friend in Calgary, basketball team players in Saskatoon and Toronto, high school classmates in Ottawa. Then, I am going to visit another long time friend in Montreal.  Probably because of the sympathy for the peanut butter sandwiches and kidney beans, they provided me with excellent food both in quality and quantity. I have been well fed every time. Ummmmmm, you have to understand that I have to have six sandwiches most of the days now, if not eight for long days, in between two breakfasts, lunch, afternoon tea, and supper. The portion of every meal has been double I used to have. I know, if I keep on eating like this when I am back home, I will be in serious trouble. As of now, I need to have the quantity to keep pedaling. Then, after being commented by a driver about my rear engine at the highway somewhere in between Alberta and Saskatchewan, I go for canned food whenever there is kidney bean in the menu. To be on the safe side, I also stayed away from ice cream or milk. You don't know how much I miss chocolate milk!

Speaking of food, during the route, there are veterans from the previous years, set up tent or open the trunk with water, coffee and snack, at “points of interest“ along the route, which may be the top of a long and steep climb, or half way of a boring long ride in the middle of no where, to cheer us up. That is a touching act. They did it only because when they cycle across Canada, they think that it will be nice if someone can offer them a drink or a snack at that point.

By the way, I am surprised to know that not everywhere in the country have cellular phone service and not all towns have a public pay phone. It is something I have been taken for granted, just like hot water for shower. Also, a bit of Geography 101: while the 49th parallel is often thought of the Canadian boundary with the US. That is only true in the Western part of the country. I was told that more than half of Canada’s population lives south of the 49th parallel around the Great Lakes and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Also, we are not riding the curvature of the earth either. When we passed through Hanna, Alberta, we are at the northernmost point on the entire trip – 51 degree north. The southernmost point on the rout is at Oshawa, east of Toronto at 43 degree north.

Until next time


Hudson - Quebec City      August 15, 2008

Greetings,
 
The weather has been changed quite obviously after Ottawa. Mornings and evenings are getting a lot cooler. Seeing your breath should not be considered as warm any more, I suppose. I have been using arm warmers and leg warmers during the morning ride. They can be stripped down around noon time, as it started to warm up. Then, we have ONE day that I have to actually put on the arm coolers………………… although it rained after a few hours when I can still see that bright round stuff high above. I always think that it is either sunny or rainy, but not at the same time.
 
Ottawa and Quebec City are two cities definitely worth to stay for more than one day. Once we rode into the province of Quebec, the food has been a lot better, even for the pubs, and the buildings are quite different with the rest of the provinces that we have passed through. There is a church in almost every town and sometimes even in the village. The history of those churches are usually dated back a hundred years ago. Some of the cathedral even have bodies buried underneath. It appears that the churches in Quebec are usually wide open for the public, unlike churches of the other provinces that usually are locked up except a given time on Sunday.
 
If you can only speak limited French, travelling in Quebec just like travelling in a foreign country, with the exception that you can still guess the meaning and most of the people can speak various levels of English. Even with the language barrier, I think Quebec is the province that I enjoyed the most, so far.
 
Quebec appears to be very friendly to the cyclists. There are bike paths in almost every city and town. Walking around, you can see lots of cyclists in Quebec City. Cycling seems to be a very popular sport in the province. Same as the other provinces, local people are very friendly to the cyclists. They do almost anything to help the cyclists. A local tried 10 minutes to explain the history of the church to us………….. ALL in French. However, one thing to remind all the cyclists is that the traffic rules appears to be a mere suggestion. People crossing street at will, cars changes lane without signal, and parking are as long as the space can fit your vehicle in.
 
As for the communication side, internet café is definitely rare. Public pay phone does not appear in every village or noticeable places in the town. Cell phone connection is hit and miss. Sometimes, I doubt about how we rated in compare with the developing countries.
 
Until next time



kidney beans      August 15, 2008

Several of you have asked why my rear engine was commented. It happened that my stomach did not go along well with kidney beans after continuously having kidney beans for a few days. A number of fellow riders as well do not pass only wind, the frequent visit to the washroom caused more than inconvenience, especially when on the road. Since there is hardly any bush along the roads of Alberta and Saskatchewan, unless you take the chance to climbed over the fence into the field and wet your bike short; when someone pull aside and take off their pants, anyone can see the rear engine from a mile away.
 
What I found is that cyclists and runners alike, after some time, they all used to go to the bushes when nature calls. But when it is urgent and there is no bushes, there is no shame any more.


Quebec City – Riviere Ouello – Trsis Pistoles – St-Damase – Atholville – Petit Richer
August 20, 2008

Greetings,
 
Goodbye la belle provence, said hi to New Brunswick. We are in our sixth province now. I have a very good impression to Quebec. The province is so cyclist friendly that almost all towns, small or large, have designated bike path. Then, there are always tasteful special dishes which vary from one local eatery to another. Even with the language barrier, people are trying their best to help us order the right dish. The only sour note is that one of our riders got into traffic accident and has to take to hospital by ambulance. The good thing is that he is back on the saddle after a few days ride on the truck. It was a scary moment for all of the fellow riders, when we gathered at the scene and learned what had just happened from the riders who witnessed the accident.

As we are closer to the sea, I am expecting to have more seafood. That’s what I have been looking for lunch everyday now. There is nothing better than having lunch and look for somewhere to take a power nap. Just like today, we stayed by the side of the church that blocked the strong wind and took a power nap of 20 minutes, and moved on for another 50km before we look for another place for food again. It is a simple life................

The trip is coming to an end in 10 days. We are already counting for the days to come. It has nothing to do with the ride. We all enjoy the ride and I really do. The thing that tired us down is to set up the wet tent and take down the soaking wet tent. In case it is not raining, like the evening we were camping by the beach, we have a camp fire and watch the sunset. When the sun eventually disappeared behind the hills in a distance, we sat close by the fire, listen to the tide, and enjoyed the priceless moment that people from the city can only dream about.
 
Until next time



Petit Richer - Saint-Louis-de-Kent – Shediac         August 22, 2008

Greetings.
 
Once we left la belle provence, signs in English are everywhere. Maybe this part of New Brunswick is close by Quebec, or people of New Brunswick in general, there are still a lot of people speaking in French. Interesting enough, their French is definitely different than Quebec. Then in Quebec, the flag of Quebec is everywhere. So far, as I can see in New Brunswick, the Acadian flag, as well as signs of Acadian is everywhere.
 
Having my laundry done and bike cleaned last night, I intended to sleep in today, something like till 7am. But the early risers start to have coffee around the picnic table like the kitchen table of their own house well before 6am. On second thought, they have already slept in. They usually start before 5. Rather than sharing their repeated life long stories, I don't have much choice but to leave the comfort of the sleeping bag and take my occasion morning shower (the water in this campsite is warm enough to do that).
 
Today is a rest day. With few exceptions, the campsite of the rest day is usually far away from town. This time, the campsite is a few km from a village that the only cafe has an aged sign stating "closed for the season". The intention may be that rest day is for REST ONLY. For me, I didn't intend to ride six thousand plus kilometers across more than two third of the country and sit by the tent.
 
The sky is actually blue and having only clouds far, far away. The sun is shinning and not as windy as the past days. Having a change of clothes in my backpack, I decided to ride forward along the coast to explore towns like Richibucto, Bouctouche, Cocagne, etc. Then, join the group tomorrow at the scheduled campsite. The coastal route is a longer route than the scheduled route for tomorrow, but the scenery is definitely worth it. There is not a lot of traffic along the coastal route. Miles and miles of sandy beach along the coast, with the smell of sea from the wind, there are some fishing vessels operating away from the shore. No camera can do the justification in recording this. Sitting on the rock and trying to record the picture in my mind, I am glad that I am not sitting by my tent.
 
As for the food, I am not disappointed at all. Starting from Mc Lobster in Macdonald to lobster dinner in local eatery, there are sea food platter to you name it sea food dishes in between. The only slight disappointment is that the selection of local beer and wine is far less than Quebec. Other than that life is good.
 
Until next time

Hi Everyone,

The father of our Club member, Yue Ching Cheng, decided that it was time to see the rest of Canada and has embarked on a cycling expedition across the country.  Wing (Wing Yan Cheng) has been on the road for awhile now and is still not at the halfway point.  He has been sending out group emails of which I am lucky enough to have been a recipient.  I have asked his permission to post his musings on our Club site to perhaps inspire others to contemplate such a journey.  Wing has agreed to share his thoughts to date as follows with you.  I will add future progress reports as they become available.

1.  Tour Du Canada, June 25, 2008
Cycling across Canada has long been an item high in my TO-DO-list. However, other than riding with the children along the river with frequent stops and more than leisure pace, I have not been on a bicycle seriously after high school. Several years back, I have completed My First Triathlon with a $60 over size road bike from a second hand store. After all, with the short distance bike ride of a triathlon, it was easy to just wing it, rather than train my butt off for it. Cycling cannot not even considered to be something for my cross training in the past years.

Researched through the internet, I have reached the conclusions that having 60 kg or more on the bike as a lone ranger is not for me. There are organization that offer cycling across Canada, Tour du Canada is one of them and appears to have the most members posted their journal of their trip. Most importantly, I was not able to find any journal complained about the organization other than the facilities of some of the camp sites they stayed. The journals gave me the impression that the members enjoyed the trip and recommended the tip as a life experience.

After registered with Tour du Canada for the ride, and the bonus cheque transferred from my bank account to the bike shop, happily I brought home a Trek Pilot 5.2 spa. It has a carbon frame and fork, together with other bells and whistles. Since distance riding is a totally new territory for me, other than “borrowing” from the rider in my house, I have to purchase almost everything for the sport. Looking back, I should have bought the one several models down with aluminum frame and upgrade the majority of the components. Although I may be cursing myself, when negotiating the hills, the balance of almost half of the price can certainly pay a lot of bills.

It was a bit of gamble to put my money on this bike. I have test rode quite a number of road bikes of different makes and models with the local bike shops in the neighborhood of my office, during extended lunch breaks. However, they all missed something either one way or the other that I have been looking for. Reviews of the other cyclists from the internet stated that Trek Pilot may be the one that I am looking for. While I was intended to wait for the bike shop to bring in a less expansive model of Pilot for me to test ride and compare with the one just arrived the shop, I was offered to buy the current year brand new Pilot 5.2 spa at a reasonable price – a price far less expansive than another bike shop charged me for a previous year’s model. Without doing a lot of mental calculation, the bike was home and parked next to my bed as my Christmas gift in advance.

Training for cycling and training for running had been received quite differently for me. I have no problem to run on a treadmill for the duration of watching two movies back to back. Riding on a trainer is definitely not my favorite. Riding a bike on the trainer has been almost intolerable for me. It almost worked like the following as clockwork: nothing longer than five minutes on a trainer, the nature calls; came back and felt like to have something to eat or drink, ride a bit more and I am bore already, then the riding time has been leas than fifteen minutes……………….

The training for the ride has been loosely planned. But it was never intended to be serious until after running the 100K ultra marathon last year. Then, because I have decided to keep my running partners accompany for their marathon training, together with the fact that riding on a trainer in front of the television can hardly motivated me, the bike training has been squeezed and squeezed to the bare minimum until late April.

The training has been in full throttle since then. With my very accommodating riding partner – Yue-Ching, I have completed several 100KM plus rides, including going up Mt. Seymour. I can fully appreciate that it is not his training ride as he has to loop back for me every kilometer when on the way up Mt. Seymour. Anyway, riding up Westwood Plateau or Burnaby Mountain is not that much a challenge for me any more. Hopefully, I can survive the testing of the Roger Pass. Definitely Coquihalla Highway did boost my confidence.

During the course of preparing for the trip, I have actually learned a lot – about cycling, bike maintenance, the sport of cycling in general, and many more. In the past years, for me, cycling is nothing more complicated than mount on a bike, and start pedaling. As for maintenance, all I knew was to check the brake, tire pressure, and lubricate the chain every now and then. Similar to the running community, cyclists are more than happy to help each other, especially to help out the newbie. Peter of Tri3 Sports offered the one-on-one hands on bike maintenance workshop is definitely not making money for the time he took. I have to admit that I am still going to push my bike to the bike shop for most works, but the course gave me the confidence to go out far away, as I know what probably should be the reason and what kind of help I’ll possibly need.
 
The tour has a combination of a wide range of age groups, from 20 to 70. We all came from different walks of life, fresh grad to retiree. There is a newly wed taking the trip as their honey moon. Then there are those putting their life aside to step aside and look for what life really meant to them. And, there are those who have been dreaming for so long to take a good look at the country close up, eventually, put the dream into action.
 
It is by far not a luxury trip. We stay in camp site and cook out own meal. There will only be three times that we can sleep on a bed. If it is not something we can stand for, the amount of money we have paid should be good enough for a few cruise trips. We are divided into teams for cooking duties. The team who cook the supper will cook the breakfast next day. Lunch will be peanut butter and jam sandwich. You can prepare how many you want, because you are the one to carry it. So far, I have been lived like a monkey with the majority of my food is banana. The problem is that after finishing them, I still have to carry the weight back to the campsite to get ride off. But they are fulfilling and not as dry.
 
I just did my first cooking duty with the team. Because today is rest day, so everyone will take a rest. We have to cook double the portion last night. Tonight's supper will be left over from last. Then, we'll prepare breakfast tomorrow, pack up everything and be the last to leave the camp.
 
It is kind of luxury as we do not have to carry our camping gear and belongings. There is a truck to carry all of them for us. Each of us was given a shelf that is sufficient to accommodate two laundry baskets about 12 by 16 by 6 and a few inches spare. With a portion of space going to my spare parts, travelling light is an absolute necessary must. I didn't carry a lot, but after a few days, I think I am able to cut down some more. If I am buying something on the road, may be they can be mailed back home.
 

2.  Vancouver to Merritt, June 25, 2008

Greetings everyone,
Since Vancouver to Harrison has been my training ground for last year's H2H Ultra and the bike ride for the tour, there is not any surprise for me. Even the scenery are post-card ready, my mind has been attracted by the occasion clicking noise coming from the bike. Then, the bike computer is not helping by only giving me the average cadence.
To share the joy with all of you, I did complete the WHOLE Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Merritt yesterday. For those who are not familiar with BC, Coquihalla Highway involved with some long hill sections. The training up Mt. Seymour really paid off. It was the best day I have in the trip so far. I left the group behind after a km or two. All by myself, climbing up, and there is minimal of traffic. The sound of the water flowing down the hill and the light breeze kissing my face. That is something I am not going to trade with any days in the office.
Anyway, today is a rest day.  I managed to go out for an hour run along the river this morning, just to refresh my legs. Then, tour around the town and look for internet. The afternoon will probably be bike maintenance time and take it easy for the rest of the day.
Till next time...........................

3.  Merritt - Pitchcard - Mara - Revelstoke – Golden, June 30, 2008

Greetings,
 
Climbed up Roger Pass, but definitely with less sense of accomplishment than reaching the summit of Coquihalla Highway. The feeling during the climb is also different, although the scenery may be a lot better, with snow capped mountains as backdrop and lots of waterfalls. I am not saying the climb is easy, but it is not as hard as expected and without knowing, there is the summit of Roger Pass. There are total of seven tunnels before and after Roger Pass. Since they are not well lighted, passing through them has been an experience, when a container vehicle traveling a few inches next to you at a much higher speed.

We have left Columbia Mountains and entered the much younger, relatively speaking, Rocky Mountains. Both yesterday and today we have lots of climbs and the temperature has been well over 43 degree. Water ran out pretty quick during the ride when services are far and rare. Everyday, there are lots of steady climbs. However, I am getting a lot better in taking pictures while climbing, so that I don’t have to weight out if the picture worth losing the momentum when climbing. The only thing that I am considering is to remove the bike computer as it only gives me average cadence. Then, under the sun, I can only read nothing at all.  The bike may weight a few ounces less?

I noticed that I have been eating a lot more now. May be I have already let you know that we have peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch. I have already increased to four sandwiches plus bananas. The backpack is getting heavier, plus the extra water bottle.
 

So far, I am enjoying the trip and the companion of the other riders, although I tended to ride by myself most of the time. It is easier to control the time as I like to take frequent stop for breaks, reading information provided along the road, visiting places. Not everyone have the same interest. The only thing annoyed me a bit is the shower. It is not the dollar or so per shower for 3 minutes or something like that, but when I take off everything and find out that I have to pay only by quarter or loonies and I don’t have any.
In a few days, I’ll pass by Calgary area. I hope my childhood friend is going to open her door and let me use the shower and download the pictures. Certainly I am also looking for the comfort of not having to open the tent and pack the tent in the morning. The internet café where I am entering this or the library do not allow me to plug in anything. Let's cross our fingers so that you can see some pictures.
 
Today is a rest day in Golden. I am going to take white water rafting at noon. It should be fun.
Until next time.
4.  Golden – Field – Banff – Airdrie, July 5, 2008

Greetings,
 
Thanks to the kind heart of my childhood friend. I have a shower (no time restriction and actually have hot water), with good food, and sitting in front of a computer to share some pictures with you. That’s civilization!
 
One down and nine to go. We left British Columbia and entered Alberta now. Everything is quite different with what we used to in British Columbia . Open space, rolling hills, a lot drier in general. By the way, eventually, we got a taste of wet days. It was pouring with sound and light effect. The thunder was actually a bit scary in the mountain. Then, setting up the tent under the rain is no fun as well. Certainly, the dirty laundry is packed under zip lock bag till the next day or the day after.
 
On the whole we have good days, such as the day climbed up to Emerald Lake.  It was so peaceful. I have been sitting there for more than half an hour just to enjoy the scenery until the first batch of tourist showed up. Or, when there is a tail wind sending me through rolling hills at an average of 40k, with the minimal of traffic, it seems that the open road is waiting for me and I can cycle forever. Then, there are not so good days, like today I got a flat because the valve of the tube blew and the valve of the spare tube blew as well. Or, I have to pedal hard going down hill because of a strong head wind. Anyway, I have been learning something new everyday. There is a stream originated from the Rocky and separated into two streams with one goes to the Pacific Ocean and the other to the Atlantic Ocean.  
 
Until next time

5.  Drumheller - Youngstown -  Kindersley – Saskatoon, July 8, 2008

Greetings,
 
Drumheller is Canada’s badland and where a lot of dinosaur bones were found. The weather is hot and dry, with a lot of small fries that annoyed you to death. Then, the trip from Drumheller to Youngstown has been a life experience. It is the first time I ask myself why I am doing this.
 
We have strong head wind for the whole morning. My bottle cage was broken. That was fine, although a bit frustrated. Then, the sky turned dark so fast that I know it is going to pour. It started with pouring rain and everywhere is flat with no building to stay away from the rain. Then, followed by thunder and lightening. The rain and wind is so strong that I can hardly see the white line of the shoulder. Even stay aside, the thunder and lightening actually scared me, to be honest. I have not been so scared for quite some time.
 
When approaching the town that we are going to stay, hail in ping pong ball size started falling. The town has two rivers running on both sides of the street. The good thing is the town opened the community center for us to sleep tonight and opened the school for us to take shower. Also, they have prepared potluck to treat us. The meal has been wonderful and the warmth of the people here is touching.
 
Anyway, Alberta is past tense and we are in Saskatchewan. I have left the group this morning and came to Saskatoon to visit an old friend. I didn't being any gift but probably telling him that I have cycled 200 km today just to visit him should be good enough.
 
Until next time


6.  Saskatoon - Craik – Regina, July 11, 2008

Thank for all the encouragement, I do need them.
 
Whoever told you that the Saskatchewan is flat, that person is NOT telling the truth.  It has been going UP and not noticeably having much coming down, I am hoping later on we are able to have the advantage of all those climbing. So far, the road condition is this province has been TERRIBLE. There is little to almost NO shoulder, except a soft one that is only good for bmx. We have been riding together with the trucks all the way. Fortunately, most of the truckers are really considerate, they always give us more room on the road. Maybe it is because we are already struggle with the strong head wind, they don't really want to involve in an accident.
 
I have been bothered by a click noise all the way from Vancouver. I am very happy that it has been fixed. As well, I have replaced a pair of new tires and tubes. The mechanic checked the bike and confirmed that everything worked well. All I have to do is continue with my clean lube routine every other day. Everyday I have the bike covered before I set up my tent and go for a shower. Taking good care of the bike and hoping that she can carry me across the country with no problem.
 
Saskatoon is a nice small city. Tiny down town area, but the university area and especially the trail along the river has been very nice. I am going to do a bit of tourist thing in Regina today. May be next time I can let you know how is the RCMP academy and the other area.
 
Until next time

Wing