Day 26: From town to town to oil well. Pedaling Feat pedals on.

Day 16: Moose Jaw to ???

We set out from Moose Jaw the next morning. We had been having such a great ride on the small country roads that we made a last minute change to our route to avoid riding on the Trans Canada. The route we chose took us south along highway 39. We weren't sure where we would be stopping that night, or where exactly we were going in general (other than East), but in true Pedaling Feat fashion, we pedaled onwards, ready for whatever came our way.

The road was still flat, the fields were vast and increasingly frequently, we were noticing oil well pumps! Being from Ontario, and loving the renewable energy era, I was amazed at the countless number of oil wells there were in the middle of farmers fields throughout Saskatchewan.

That being said, this view became the norm as we rode on and soon I was distracted by the small towns we passed through. Two of my favorites that day: Drinkwater and Rouleau.

The first, Drinkwater, a village with a population of 80, was a reminder to do just that. Drink water.

The second, a bit more exciting, was Rouleau. This town is the former home of the TV show Corner Gas. Lois was in all her glory as I parked her right next to the set and went crazy with the camera.

Rouleau, SK. Hometown of Corner Gas.

My final memory of the ride that day... The route we had chosen followed the Canadian Pacific Railway. Every half hour or so, a train would pass by, the conductor would open the window, give a wave and toot the horn. As with the deer (Roo), I would try to keep up, but without fail, would fall behind. If nothing else, it gave momentum to a rather uneventful ride that day.

We ended in the small town of Yellowgrass, SK where we set up camp at the local campground. There we met an interesting character, who we refer to as Falcon man. Mel and I had gone for a walk around the village when we spotted two, what I originally thought were turkeys, sitting on the front lawn of a home.

Mel, riding towards Yellowgrass, SK.

We soon learned, from Falcon man, that they were (drumroll), Falcons! One of the falcons had a hood on (hence the turkey confusion) so that he was not threatened by the other male who had

just been bathed and was drying his feathers.

Falcon man uses the falcons for hunting small rodents and other birds during the fall and spring seasons. The rest of the year he keeps the falcons tied up on a stoop. While this was a bit shocking to the both us, he seemed to take very good care of them - bathing them regularly and feeding them often.

Feeling as though we had taken up enough of his time, we returned to Lois for the night!

Day 25: Pedaling Feat sails onwards to the Big City!

Day 25: Lucky Lake to the Big City (Moose Jaw!)

Everyday of our trip, Mel and I learn something new about Canada. Today's lesson? Saskatchewan has pelicans!! The sky was clear and endless as Mel pedaled her way from Lucky Lake to Lake Diefenbaker. Once at the lake's edge, Mel, myself and Lois hopped onto the ferry. We were the lone soldiers to sail the open waters of Lake Diefenbaker (...all 10 minutes!) and along the way we spotted large, white, low-flying birds crossing the lake. We asked the local ferry conductor what they were. Sure enough, he informed us that the lake was home to pelicans. Just north of the lake lives the second-largest pelican colony in all of Canada! We reached the shore and bid farewell as Mel made her way onwards and upwards (a hill, hoorah!).




Mel on the road, heading towards Lake Diefenbaker.







Mel and Lois on our ferry ride across the lake.






We made our way through several small Saskatchewan towns. Along the way, we passed Elbow and Eyebrow, SK. After a bit of research, we learned that Saskatchewinians like to name their towns after landmarks that resemble body parts. The village of Eyebrow was named such because there is a hill next to Eyebrow lake which resembles an eyebrow! Unfortunately, we did not get to see this hill. We will just have to take their word for it.




Riding through the town of Eyebrow.





We ended up in Moose Jaw that afternoon where we visited the Superstore to stock up on groceries, interviewed with the local Moose Jaw Times, and stopped in at DQ for delicious blizzards! Once settled at our campground, Mel cooked up a scrumptious salmon dinner while I gave our bikes a good clean.





Bike maintenance time!




The weather the following day predicted 100% chance of thunderstorms. So, rather than riding throught the floods and tornados, we drove to Regina to do a piece with CTV news and rode around the city getting stuff done. That night we met up with Sheenah and Miriel, old high school friends of mine, at the Bushwakker Brewpub, before retiring at the Delta Regina who had sponsored us for the night! It was a very productive day off, and we enjoyed a very restful night at the Delta.

Days 23 and 24: Pedaling Feat in small town Saskatchewan.

Days 23 and 24: Eston to Lucky Lake, SK

A stormy day in Saskatchewan kept us in Eston, where we were fortunate to find the local mom and pop bakery shop. There we met Adeline and Larry (referred to as mom and pop from here on) and were surrounded by the delicious scent of homebaked treats! We spent the afternoon chatting with mom and pop and learning about the history of Eston. Mom also called up the Eston Press rep, Loreen, who (while on holiday) got dressed to come and meet us! It was a fun and productive afternoon.




Eston's mom and pop bakery shop.





Worth mentioning is the World Gopher Derby held each year in Eston on Canada Day. Folks come from all over to race gophers and bet big bucks on the winner. Biggest frustration? When a gopher, having run part way down the track, decides to turn around and go back - or worse still, sits down in the middle and refuses to move!

After our day off in Eston, we were back on the road bright and early. The sun was shining, the wind was at our back and we were feelin' lucky as we rode towards Lucky Lake, SK.
With no volunteer, I started off the ride while Mel drove behind me in Lois. The morning was filled with wildlife sitings. The most memorable - Lisa vs. Roo the deer (appropriately named, because they hop like kangaroos!). I ambitiously took on a deer who was running next to me in the grass. Needless to say, he was a rocket and had me beat, and without warning he shot across the road right in front of me!



Lisa and Roo share the road.





We stopped at Kyle, SK on the way to meet Amy of the Kyle Times newspaper. While chatting, Pat, the town councillor, invited us to a luncheon at the local museum with a group of 32 cyclists who were riding through Kyle that afternoon (on a week-long SK tour)! Since we were already there, we popped by for tasty homemade sandwiches and sweets and met the crew. We were very touched by the generosity of the locals. We had several people come by to meet us and donate whatever they could to the foundation. We also met a cancer survivor that afternoon - a reminder of why we get on our bikes each morning!


Pedaling Feat and team, after a great afternoon in Kyle, SK.






Two hours later, Mel set out on her bike with the group since they were heading in the same direction. While they got a head start, I stopped by the town park to visit Wally, the local woolly mammoth. His bones were discovered back in 1964 just outside the town of Kyle.





Wally the Woolly Mammoth in Kyle, SK.







Today was one of the best days so far, filled with fantastic people, amazing wildlife encounters and beautiful sunshine. We ended the day in Lucky Lake at a small campground with a clean bathroom and free shower, yeah!

Day 22 - And Then There Were Two

Day 22 - Destination Eston, SK

Mel: We crossed the Saskatchewan border mid-morning, and headed East on HWY 44, a very low traffic route through farmland with little infrastructure. I biked the first 70 km, then Lisa finished the ride.

What is coined as being "dull scenery" in Saskatchewan ended up being oddly action packed with animal sightings along the way, such as deer, hawks, and gophers. Lisa even caught site of a huge owl! We passed through some small communities (3-4 houses), and made our way toward Eston, SK.

We hopped in Lois when a massive thunderstorm cloud threatened us near Eston. We camped south of Eston at a Riverside campground where there was golf, swimming, a cafe, and more fun stuff that we couldn’t participate in due to the rain. Instead, we hung out in the Club House and watched the Bachelorette for 2 hours like zombies.

Above: Lisa, right before I picked her up!

A friendly farm dog needed to say Hello in Mantario. (Mantario? Really?)

Days 20 and 21 - Dinosaurs, Badlands, Prairies and Hot Dogs!

Day 20 - Beiseker through Drumheller and on we go....

Mel: Up at the crack of dawn to make up for some lost kilometers! We biked the 50

km to Drumheller, feeling great the whole way because Lois was h

ealthy, the sun was shining, and the prairies look

ed beautiful! The badlands were quite the site as well, with their moon-like terrain.

We heart HWY 9 (except for the construction bits)

Dream

Team in Drumheller, before the volunteer swap

Badlands on the way into Drumheller

Up at 6am, ready to go after coffee.... do we look awake?

Prairie skies, blue all around!

Meg (a co-worker of mine at Filterboxx) and her man Nick met us in Drumheller - t

he town where, in my opinion, there are more papier-mâché dinosaurs than people. We said goodbye to Tiff (what a trooper of a volunteer, who roughed out “Gong

Show Days 1 and 2” with a smile), bought some supplies, and were off on our bikes for another 45 km to Handhills Hideaway Campground, between Michichi, AB and Delia, AB. The campground owners, Barry and Glenda, were very accommodating. It was Nick’s first time camping and he decided that his mission was to roast 20+ hot dogs on the campfire. He literally sat and ate hot dogs the enti

re night like a champion! We enjoyed our time with Meg

and Nick, and ate more pasta than we could h

andle (well I did, anyway).

Nick holding Meg in one arm and hot dog # 19 in the other!

Day 21 - Blue Skies and Cows Galore -

Onward to Cereal, AB

Mel: The day started out sketchy with rain clouds looming, but we avoided every drop and biked a total 115 km, our biggest distance so far! Meg and Nick were our mos

t confidence boosting volunteers ye

t, always acting surprised at how “fast” we rode between breaks. There were plenty of cows to moo at, some ran away in a stampede fashion, others stared as we rode by. Meg and Nick left us in the village of Cer

eal, AB in order to get back to Calgary that night.

Waist-high in wheat, getting my bike out of Lois.

Since Cereal was lacking in the campsite department, we continued East to the town of Oyen, population 1100,

where we got ice cream at the local convenience store. The locals say that farming wheat is the main industry of the town, and there is a surprising abundance of “well-to-do” people in Oyen. It was apparently suiting to see a yellow mustang convertible slowly driving

up the deserted Main St. of the town that afternoon as we ate our ice cream. We camped at the regional site next to some ball diamonds and enjoyed campfire-cooked pizza.

It was the first night of the trip without a volunteer.

Lisa with her yummy pizza!

Oyen, AB

Days 18 and 19- We’ll call them “Gong Show Days”

Day 18 - Calgary, AB to .... Chestermere?

Mel: We were joined by our driver, Tiffany (my sister), and the Gillingham brothers (John and Eric), both of whom had not ridden bicycles in a “very long time”. Luckily, they remembered how to pedal and kept up without any issues. We rode a nice 30km just beyond Chestermere, AB then took a snack break in Lois. We started off on our ride again when my cell phone rang. Tiff couldn’t get Lois

to start! We circled back, thinking Lois was just having one of her many mood swings, but quickly realized that the machine gun-like sound coming from her was not a good sign. We called trusty CAA (aka AMA in Alberta), and a tow truck promptly showed up in about 1.5 hrs (by the way, it was 30 degrees out). Lois started after a battery boost, and the tow truck driver left us all feeling happy and confident. We got our bike shoes back on, water bottles filled, ready to go, then Lois died again! We boosted her with Bryan’s Jeep with the help of John and Eric, only for her to die for the third time within about 10 minutes. Bryan diagnosed the problem over the phone (while at work) and determined that we needed a new alternator.

We drove into Chestermere in the Jeep, leaving Lois behind, to get coffee and wait for Bryan to show up after work with the necessary parts to rescue Lois.

Tiff and I waiting in Chestermere, with our companion Arwin (Tiff was dog sitting for a friend).

"Mr. Fix-It" aka Bryan.

Bryan was able to trouble shoot over the phone with his dad, while two local farmers stopped to “help” us out (mainly to chat)... at one point we had 3 guys tinkering under Lois’ hood. With a replaced alternator and regulator, a boost was all we needed and Lois was back in business! All of us, however, were starving so we went to Chestermere for food, then back to Calgary for the night.

What a day.

Day 19 - Chestermere, AB to Beiseker, AB

An early start in Calgary got us to Chestermere to pick Lois up at the Shopper’s parking lot where we had left her the night before. We took her to Lube X to give her some TLC, then tied up the Jeep on the dolly and we were off again! This time, we had gone about 3 km when Tiff noticed that one of the straps holding the Jeep tire had come undone! We stopped to check it out, and sure enough, the strap was ripped from having gotten caught (somehow).

Back into Calgary we went to buy a new strap at the nearest Princess Auto... then back to Chestermere again (this time we had left Lois in an Elementary School parking lot). Long story short, it ended with a bang and a scream and me thinking that Lisa had gotten run over by the Jeep that had fallen off the dolly un-announced. This was officially the “breaking point” where we decided to leave the car dolly behind us, for good.

We got to our starting point that we knew very well, having spent 9.5 hours there the day prior, got on our bikes and started riding against the wind North on HWY 9 toward Drumheller. About 30km in we had to call Lois back because there was a rain storm with small icy hail pellets that kept us from cycling. We waited out the storm and were off again, this time deciding to call it a day in a little town called Beiseker where the campground owner, Jack, was happy to sponsor us for a free night’s stay.

Things were starting to look up!

The never-ending sky is definitely the highlight of riding through the prairies so far!

July 12-14 - Rest in Calgary

Mel: We took a three day rest in Calgary, much to our bodies’ relief.

This short stint consisted of:

• Going for massages on Monday morning;
• Hot yoga class on Tuesday morning;
• 1000 km Party at Meghann’s on Tuesday night then taking in the Stampede fun downtown;
• Catching up with old friends;
• Sorting out other Pedaling Feat administrative odds and ends.

A much needed rest!