So Happy Together

The sound of rain hitting the window in the morning can be a great sound. Okay, maybe not a great sound – the silence of the sun is golden. However, rain on the window is certainly a better sound than rain hitting the tent. And that’s how my morning began. Sure, I wasn’t thrilled with the thought of a rainy day on my bike but at least I wouldn’t have to pack up a wet tent. The joys of Warm Showers strike again.

Clement and Justine were already up by the time I rolled out of bed – even though I didn’t really sleep very late. Gord had already left so it was just the three of us in the house. But before Gord left he had put some baked goods into a bag for each of us. The generosity of Warm Showers hosts never ceases to amaze me.

By about 9:30, the three of us were ready to go. We weren’t trying to leave at the same time, it just sort of worked out that way. Clement and Justine went ahead though as I wanted to cycle back to get some photos of Regina before my journey west was to continue. However, we planned on stopping to have lunch together on the road. Even though it was to be a short ride today, I figured with Clement and Justine both pulling trailers that I would catch up to them eventually.

It turns out that I took a little longer taking photos in Regina than expected. Combine that with quick stop at Subway, a bit of a tailwind and the obviously fast pace of the French duo and I didn’t end up seeing them at all on the way. Oh, I guess I didn’t mention that today’s portion of the journey was to end in Moose Jaw. Less than 80 km.

I stopped briefly at the lone restaurant between Regina and Moose Jaw. As mentioned earlier, I made a Subway stop on the way out of Regina so I didn’t need to actually go into the restaurant and, as such, I actually only stopped in the parking lot. Also parked in the parking lot at that time were three bicycles each with a sizeable trailer attached. And all three sporting a Korean flag. I think it was safe to assume these were the three Koreans that Gord mentioned he would be hosting tonight.

Much to my surprise, I didn’t end up seeing Clement and Justine on the road. It was a short riding day which makes catching up to another cyclist a little more challenging but they were clearly making very good time – perhaps they’re in training for the Tour de France!

I arrived in Moose Jaw shortly after 1:00 and, of course, made my way to Tim Hortons for a post-ride hot chocolate. I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but while I was using their WiFi I made a major discovery about Moose Jaw. It would seem they have a Smoke’s Poutinerie. Not much of a surprise to figure out where my next stop was. Oh glorious poutine. Together again.

After filling up (sort of) on my first real poutine in quite some time, I made my way over to Glenda’s place – my Warm Showers host. Over the past couple of weeks, I had met two other cyclists who had stayed with Glenda and both gave her rave reviews. Having now met Glenda, I think the reviews were actually understated. Glenda has been absolutely fantastic. She’s a lot of fun to talk with, seems to know everything there is to know about Moose Jaw, and cooked an fantastic Saskatchewan dinner complete with cabbage rolls, perogies, greek salad, and Saskatchewan berry crumble with ice cream for dessert. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as Saskatchewan berries. But there is. And they’re delicious.

In addition to meeting Glenda, I also met Brian – another cycle tourist who is crossing the country (west to east, with a few north and south detours) on a recumbent bicycle. He was also very entertaining to talk with as he had some great and funny stories from his trip as well.

Despite today being a short riding day, it ended up being a rather full day. Mostly full of socializing. It was great talking with both Glenda and Brian about pretty much everything. I’m not sure where Clement and Justine ended up but, since they’re also heading west, hopefully our paths will cross again so we can actually do lunch at some point.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 84.15 km
Ride time: 3:39:59
Average speed: 22.95 km/h
Maximum speed: 41.26 km/h