edwards block

Biggar to Saskatoon. DAY: 109.23km. ODO: 2,072km. AVS: 21.4km. MXS: 47.0km. ATM: 5:05.

Saskatoon. It has a melodic sound to it, like it should be the subject of a Gordon Lightfoot song. Maybe I should write one for him.

I was on the road by 8:00 this morning, as it was too bloody cold to lay still. Three degrees apparently, and that’s without considering the windchill factor. To think that I was worried about the prairie heat. It was an uneventful ride into Saskatoon, except that the wind moved a little more north, so it was closer to a direct cross-wind much of the way.

Upon arriving in town, I searched out the tourist info office (they don’t make it easy here) and picked up a copy of the accommodation guide. There is no hostel (unless you count the Salvation Army, which I do not) and the YMCA doesn’t rent rooms here, so that left me browsing B&Bs. The two that were close to downtown that sounded apealling I rode by, but I found no answer at both (I’m too cheap even to spend quarters, apparently). Anyway, for tonight I am at the Quality Hotel (soon to be renamed the Hilton Garden Inn). The best thing is that they didn’t blink when I took my fully loaded bike into the elevator and rolled it into my 12th floor room. I will look for a more economical option tomorrow, if I am planning to stay more than a day or two.

As things were getting a little gamey, I walked 13 blocks west to a laundromat to rinse things out. A couple of people raised their eyebrows when I took my pants off in front of the washing machine, but I heard no comments.

The restaurant situation downtown is pretty dismal, and there are no internet cafes, so I’m using the overpriced hotel internet to pick up my 487 emails. Twelve of them were not spam.

As there is a theatre next to the hotel, and as I felt it appropriate to expose myself to a little popular culture (so that I will remember why I avoid exposing myself to popular culture), I defied my better judgment and went to see Star Wars 6. The usual formula, but better than the last one (ie: no “Jar-Jar”).

Kerrobert to Biggar. DAY: 96.34km. ODO: 1,963km. AVS: 23.3km/h. MXS: 73.0km/h. ATM: 4:08.

For the most part, I had a tail wind, but it was from an angle, so it was partly a cross-wind too. The highway generally goes east, but once in a while it will dogleg to the north, to pass around old man Johnson’s farm, or something. During these north-bound jogs, I am hit with very strong cross-winds, and have been pushed into the soft shoulder several times. The worst part is when a large cattle truck passes at high speed in the opposite direction. The effect of the altered airflow is like having a screen door slammed in your face (though screen doors typically smell better).

As previously mentioned, each time I pass a bit of wetland adjacent to the highway, I flush whatever waterfowl happens to be feeding there (and there are a lot of these small patches of wetland). Besides the Shovelers, there has been a lot of smaller ducks with what appears to be a white stripe on its face, and white patches under the wings. They take off so soon I can never see them well. I now believe these to be Blue-winged Teal.

Today I passed by the towns Kelfield, Ruthilda and Springwater, before arriving in Biggar. Their slogan is “New York is big, but this is Biggar”. It appears to be a nicer town than Kerrobert. It has a small campground just outside of town, in which I am the only occupant. I have managed to find a not-so windy spot behind a fence. And it certainly is windy. Each day, it seems to get stronger. Needless to say I am happy not to have it as a headwind.

I expect to arrive in Saskatoon tomorrow morning. There are no hostels there, so I am not sure where I will say, but at least I will finally find an internet connection. After seven days, there are no doubt a large number of Viaqra and Cialis solicitations to delete from my mailserver.

Eastern Alberta and western Saskatchewan have awful water. It tastes very strongly of sulphur.