Day 27: Carolside to Kindersley

Distance: 203 km

Elevation: 654 m

Date: August 28, 2022

The race for Saskatoon is on. 4 days left, 500 km to go. My train leaves on August 31. Due to the storm I could just cover 110 km yesterday.

In the morning the rain had stopped but the storm was still howling around our little hut.

Alex was still sleeping while I made fire and tea to warm up. Luckily pretty much all clothes were dry again. It is always good to carry some rope with you … and have an oven handy of course.

Since Alex was heading towards the Rocky Mountains and the area was safe in terms of wildlife, I gave him my bear spray and asked him to give it to somebody else once he had reached his goal. Also, I paid for him at the self-registration since I had the intuition that he would “forget” to do that.

This place had saved us in the storm. So I felt really strong about paying our bill appropriately.

Around 9:30 AM I went out to ride the storm. It was still cold. The wind came very much from West and had about 30-40 km/h. When this happens you have got to use it, so I was prepared for some overtime today. Cycling is fun when you have such a force pushing you forward.

Around 3 PM I reached Oyen which is about 100 km away. This was literally the closest town with a shop. There was a convenience store as I had been told by some farmers which I had asked for directions earlier. Mostly I had tailwind but whenever I had to turn into the wind it was brutal.

Poor Alex was going in the opposite direction, directly against the wind. This must have been absolutely nerve wracking. But he made it in the end to Drumheller.

I made a good break in Oyen and than went for the afternoon shift. Kindersley was the next town with some infrastructure and it was another 100 km away. These distances are hard to imagine for Europeans. And there is literally nothing in between but prairies. The towns are like oasis in the desert.

So, as a result I cycled to Kindersley putting up a new personal record: 203 km on a fully loaded bike.

I had followed a hotel sign in Marengo 40 km earlier on the way but that place was abandoned with deers grazing in the village.

On my way I crossed the border to Saskatchewan, a full rectangular shaped province next to Alberta.

I arrived in Kindersley after 9 PM and it was already dark. I stopped by the first hotel and checked in. I got a warm shower and had something to eat and a large, cold beer.

It felt amazing after such a long day.