I woke up in Maple Creek and against my own better judgement, took my sweet time getting ready.
When did I leave again? Was it 9 or 10am? That wouldn't matter because either way I was about to spend 24 hours on the saddle as I ran away from a terrible storm that was brewing. The race to Moosejaw was on!
I had heard that there was a storm coming from people at the campsite and it made me nervous. Not only had the wind shifted to blow in my face sometimes, but the whole idea of getting wet and stranded while so close to Moosejaw, my oasis in the prairies was too much to handle.
Side note: someone told me that I was going to see a lot of gophers on the side of the road and did I ever!!! Unfortunately most of them were sitting there on the side of the road. Some were like mannequins, others were kind of creepy (missing an eye or with entrails strewn about), and some were pancakes. All gophers in the prairies look plump and well-fed though..... The only rodents that I've seen that look chubbier are campsite squirrels. Just a thought....
Anyway, I continued along until I reached Gull Lake where I stopped to have 2 meals at the restaurant. The food was great--also it was run by a Korean family. I used the opportunity to tell my waitress about my nice experiences in Korea.
After that I headed back out into a progressively worsening headwind...
...
Some time later I finally made it to Swift Current only by that time the winds were sometimes gusting and it was midnight. I went to buy something to eat and then at 1am continued on my way.
The night was gusting headwinds and I knew it was only going to get worse. With 2 rear lights and strong front lamp I set out into the open ocean of darkness. The trucks were my friends and reminded me that I was moving forward towards my destination while the wind reminded me of the time constraint.
Dawn was beautiful. In the hilly section I was in, the sun shone through as a red line in the distance amongst the blue and purple clouds. The clouds above me were thick and soon the rains began off and on.
I had been riding into the wind all night, so at around 6am I rode my bike into the ditch intentionally to give myself a chance to duck behind a little ridge and rest for 20 minutes.
Again it started to rain, so I continued on towards Reed Lake. As I approached the lake, it became so gusty that I needed to take shelter. I ended up finding a birdwatcher's platform. Belly with gnawing pangs of hunger, I hid under the stairs to shelter myself from the intensifying wind and rain shooting horizontally towards me. I used a backpack cover over my knees, facing the wind to protect most of my body. I also had a mini meal of 3 cliff bars and 2 cans of tuna. I slept for 40 minutes and eventually carried on.
With the headwinds, I was going 8km/h at full power and it was exhausting, but after leaving the bird hut the rain wasn't as bad. I passed Reed Lake and approached the salt-mining town of Chaplin. I was really hungry and decided to stop at the restaurant.
At this point I has around 80km left to get to Moosejaw and it was already noon. Remember, the wind wasn't at my back. I wasn't cruising at 45km/h anymore, it was a grating 6-12km/hr and I had to constantly control my bike from being pushed into the traffic--yes winds to the north west push you on the road while South West ones push you into the ditch. Either way it is very hard to control if the wind is strong.
Fortunately I met a kind electrician in the restaurant who offered to give me a ride to Moosejaw at 5pm. I accepted because staying awake another full day simply was not an option. I didn't want to arrive at 2am to Moosejaw and this was the closest I had been to breaking down physically in the trip so far.
Agreeing to take the ride, I went to the information booth and sipped on some free coffee. The lady in the booth was super kind to me and a man moving from Montreal made a care package of nutritious foods such as dried mangoes, pistachios and more for me to fuel up on. Although I was reluctant to take the ride to Moosejaw at first, the 70km is nothing in comparison to the benefit of having the chance to sleep in a cozy bed rather than rolling around in a tarp in the wind and rain.
Am I trying to live a brutal experience in order to have a "clean" cycle? My answer is no. I'm not trying to go across in the quickest or purest way. I'm in this for the full experience and I'm willing to consider anything in the circumstances to keep the trip rolling comfortably. I decided then and there that sometimes circumstances require an open mind and it was my job to protect my health and interests.
In the end 6800km and 7000km are comprible. If I save time in the West, I might be able to use it in the East to cycle extra across PEI.... No matter how it pans out, the journey is the journey and I should take all factors into consideration to have the best result
I made it to Moosejaw safely after a marathon running away from the storm and rode 230km into a headwind for over 24h. I think at that point I had done my job. I was happy to have a good sleep in a warm bed.
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