DAY 26: REST IN REGINA

27 June 2007

This day off started out quite stressfully. Our first order of business was getting my derailleur fixed, so we walked downtown in search of a bike shop. We thought that since we were in a city, it wouldn't be too hard to find. It was nice out, and we didn't mind wandering the streets. Regina is a cool city with a lot of character. It is clean and filled with parks and trees, and not as big and overwhelming as many cities tend to be. The people there just seemed really relaxed, and we just got a good vibe from the place on the whole.

However, after a while, walking in circles can get a bit tedious. It wasn't as easy as we thought to find a bike shop, and eventually someone directed us to one that was quite a distance away. We dropped off the bike, and then walked around in circles some more while Dan tried to get money out of his British account, with limited success. Eventually, we got everything sorted out, and felt like we deserved some good food. We had delicious Vietnamese at Lang's Cafe, and then some excellent (and cheap!) ice cream. Dan went back to the hostel, and I trekked over to the bike shop to pick up Margarethe.

In the evening, we went to a park on Wascana Lake, which was right near our hostel. This small park was having a little multicultural festival, with a steel drum band and free hot dogs and burgers. The band was really good, and it was so relaxing to eat free food in a nice park on a pleasant evening and watch them. Afterwards, we walked along Lake Wascana and visited the Regina rowing club, which was really nice!

Tomorrow, we'll be taking another day here, since we still haven't gotten everything done, and Regina rocks.

DAY 25: DAVIDSON TO REGINA, 144 KM

26 June 2007

We slept in this morning, had breakfast and did laundry. The wind was strong and westerly, so we got ready as quickly as possible and left for Regina just after 1. Once we started riding, it was hard to stop, even for quick water breaks. Because my bike had been blown over earlier in the day, my rear derailleur was bent, and so I didn't have use of my highest gear. Nevertheless, we were cruising at 30-35 km, my legs spinning as fast as they could in my highest functional gear and still not working very hard. We had lunch in a Subway where one of the convenience store workers could not stop squeezing our legs and calling us superman and superwoman (I was especially superwoman, he said). He gave us each a bottle of water and we continued towards Regina.

We arrived in the evening and checked into our hostel. We met a Japanese guy there who was also cycling across Canada, but going east to west. He had his bike stolen in Thunder Bay, along with all of his panniers. He bought a cheap commuter bike, and has been riding it since!

We went out for dinner and drinks with some people from the hostel, and went to bed.

DAY 24: OUTLOOK TO DAVIDSON, 94 KM

25 June 2007

Today we were meant to go to Craik, another 30 km east of Davidson. But the wind just wasn't on our side. After having a rather long breakfast part 1 in the restaurant in Outlook (we usually make our own, but we were straight out of food), we finally hit the road. My legs were absolutely beat from the past several days of cycling, and the morning's ride was slow. The last 15 km into Kenaston was a huge struggle. The head wind was so strong that we were only going about 13 km/h, despite pushing as hard as we possibly could. Breakfast part 2 never tasted so good, as we were both so hungry and tired. We ended up sitting in the restaurant for quite a while. We were joined by a guy who had hitchhiked to Kenaston--where he had just sold his house--today to check his mail. Apparently he's in the process of publishing an autobiography about his recovery from alcoholism.

Although the weather was still horrible, we hit the road. However, my leg started bugging me a few kilometres into the ride, so we decided to just call it a day at the next decent town. That town was Davidson, and it was really quite nice. We arrived there soaking wet, as it had started to pour about 15 km before our arrival. We immediately went to the local restaurant, half hoping that someone would maybe invite us to spend the night in a warm house. That didn't happen, but we did get lucky--we met Elmer, an elderly organic farmer who had many interesting things to tell us. Apparently very few farmers in Saskatchewan are willing to go organic, so Elmer started a farm where he shows farmers how it's done, and conducts agricultural research. Elmer also writes for the local paper, and said he'd put our little story in! When he was leaving, he gave us $20 to pay for our meal. What a pleasure to have met him!

We had decided that we'd stay in a motel when the weather was still really bad; although it had cleared up by the time we left the restaurant, we stayed in an inn anyway, since we had our minds set on it. It was nice to have some proper showers and just relax and watch TV for once. Tomorrow, we'll be doing some laundry in the morning, and then heading for Regina, if the winds are on our side.