Blog

I guess its been a few days since I've updated the blog.  I blame the internet, or lack there of.  Also we were resting in Saskatoon for a day and I neglected to use the computer and actually rest.  We left North Battleford and it was not raining and we had a pretty good wind behind us.  I think i averaged about 33km per hour which was great because about 20km outside of Saskatoon and it started pouring rain.  The highway was extrememly busy and it was hard to see it was raining so hard so we put the bike on the van and headed over to Heather Garton's place.  Heather has a child with PKU and has been a strong advocate to the goverment of Saskatchewan for more coverage for food etc.  We had a great stay at Heather and Scott's place and it was very restful.  Svend came down with something so it was great that we stopped for an extended stay.  By the end of the rest day he was feeling better and good to go to Davidson the next day.  While in Saskatoon Norma Stewart and Wayne Chappell had us and a number of other people over for dessert.  It was great to meet her and her guests (most from the medical field).  The parents who attended the dessert were able to answer a lot of questions from the doctors and nurses.  It was an interesting dynamic.  I was also able to speak to a school about the ride.  The parent that arranged the school presentation has 4 children, 3 who have PKU and attend the school.  When asked who had never heard of PKU most of the students and staff raised their hands.  The school has also indicated that they will make a donation to the ride so thanks to them for that. 

We left for Davidson the next day at about 7:45.  Thanks to heather and her family for the great stay at their home, it was restful and it was great meeting the whole family.  The ride to Davidson was hard as the wind had changed direction and was now flying straight into us.  We did get to Davidson and checked the weather for the next day and it called for an even stronger head wind for the ride to Regina so we made the decision to continue on for another 30km to Craik Saskatchewan.  The town was very small but had a campground so we spent the first night of the trip camping.  I felt that I was staying in Dog River of Corner Gas fame.  the lady at the co-op told us they had about 300 residents in the town.  Former leaf Garnett Exelby was from Craik originally.  Camping was great and we were up and back on the road at 7:30.  

Today we headed to Regina.  Today was absolutely the hardest ride of the trip.  It was much harder than Calgary, although the sun was shining so that was great.  Because of the wind I could not get my speed over 20km an hour and it took over 6 hours to get into Regina, about 110km.  I checked the forecast and it calls for more wind and rain for the next two days.  Im starting to mentally prepare myself for those rides.  The wind really messes with your head.  In my opinion the physical challenge of riding in the wind is not even close to the mental challenge it poses.  We arrived at Lyle and Linda Stewarts at about 2:30.  They are hosting a bbq tonight which I will blog about tomorrow or the next day.  Sorry for the short, less detailed blog but Im tired and should go and be social.