Best July 2nd … Ever.

With my not-so-relaxing, but entirely enjoyable, rest day behind me it was time to get back on the road. The next major hub along my westbound trek is Swift Current – about 175 km away. As usual, how far I would get today would be greatly dictated by the winds. That said, I figured it would be highly unlikely that I would cover the full distance to Swift Current today – mainly because there’s no real need to rush things. The town of Chaplin is the midpoint between Moose Jaw and Swift Current and that was my primary goal for the day. But before hitting the road there was breakfast. And oh what a breakfast it was.

Even though Marie wasn’t cycling today, she had offered to get up early and make pancakes. And she did. And they were fantastic. I don’t know how many I ate … well, actually I do, but I’d rather not admit to it. But there were pancakes with bananas, strawberries, chocolate sauce, maple syrup. It was a feast which greatly affected our departure time. I say “our” because Moritz was also heading towards Swift Current today.

Our 9:00 planned departure turned into a 10:00 departure which ended up being a 10:30 departure by the time we stopped in at the Co-op to get some groceries. From there Moritz and I hit the road … but only briefly. Well, only briefly together anyway. Our routes out of town followed separate paths. I wanted to head directly to the Trans-Canada to stock up at Subway while Moritz followed a city road out of town. It wasn’t until after we parted ways that I realized that was likely the last time I would see Moritz. I suspected he would make the full trek to Swift Current today and the likelihood of me catching him again was slim. He was a pleasure to travel with and a great new friend. As such, I wished him well from a distance and continued along my way.

I’m not exactly sure how it happened but my plan to stop at Subway didn’t work out. Sometimes when riding a bike there’s a tendency to zone-out – which is usually a good thing as that’s when kilometres and time just fly by. However, it’s not so good when the zone-out occurs at about the same time you’re passing your food source for the day. Which is apparently what happened. Oops.

On the upside, I was fully stocked with snacks and bagels and peanut butter and water so I wasn’t concerned about not carrying a sub with me. Although, I’m sure I would’ve been much more concerned if said franchise was sponsoring my ride – which, clearly, they should be. Opportunity. Knock. Knock. Knock.

Despite missing Subway on the way out of Moose Jaw, it turns out this was not to be a Subway-free day as I discovered a Subway along the highway near Caronport. Clearly, I stopped. Seriously, what’s a guy have to do to get a sponsorship!?

I made pretty good progress during the day and by the time I reached Chaplin I still felt pretty good. It was now decision time. Heading into Chaplin was a bit of a detour (about 2 km). I assumed Moritz was way ahead of me by now and while I knew I wouldn’t catch up I also knew that staying in Chaplin was not the best use of my time. And so, I pedalled on.

On my way through Chaplin, there suddenly appeared to be a field of snow and ice spreading as far as the eye could see. I knew it couldn’t be snow because, well … it’s June, it’s 30 degrees, and there weren’t any signs of snow anywhere else. I later found out that the “snow” was actually sodium sulphate (the main ingredient in a lot of laundry detergents). This information was gleaned from a friend back home who notes that Saskatchewan Minerals is one of his larger suppliers. Thanks Harrison!

The next town, Morse, was only 30 km away and I figured that was easily manageable. As I’ve said before, I like to take advantage of favourable weather while I have it. No, I didn’t have a tailwind but in the prairies I’ll happily settle for a crosswind. And that’s what I had today.

I arrived in Morse at 5:00. Like most of the towns in the part of the country, Morse is very small. With very few services. Fortunately, one of the services was a gas station right beside the Trans-Canada where I could buy a Mr. Freeze (or two) and contemplate my next move.

I asked the gas station attendant if another cyclist has stopped by earlier. The answer was no. Given the limited services along this section of the Trans-Canada highway, it seemed unlikely that Moritz would pass here and not stop but not entirely impossible. The other option was that I had somehow arrived here ahead of Moritz. If that was the case I figured he couldn’t be too far behind so I thought I’d wait for a bit. Plus, I had no place to go nor a plan for camping for the night.

After about 45 minutes it became clear that Moritz was probably in Swift Current by now or well on his way. It was time to come up with a plan for the evening. There was a somewhat decent spot for camping near the gas station and next to the highway. There was a small picnic table and flat land. All things considered, a good spot. Despite that, I didn’t have a great vibe from the town of Morse. I can’t explain it but I just didn’t feel like staying here.

From the gas station I could see a sign on the highway for the next town. Herbert 13 km. In speaking with an older couple who were passing through, they told me that Herbert was about the same size as Morse, with a few more services. Considering the time and the weather, I decided to continue on. I mean, it’s only 13 km.

By 6:30 I was in Herbert facing the same decision that I was facing in Morse. Where to camp? Procrastinator that I am, I managed to postpone this decision briefly by stopping in at the local grocery store for some chocolate milk. Mmmmmm. Chocolate milk. Sometimes it’s the smallest decisions that have the biggest impact on a day.

I was sitting on a bench outside the grocery store, enjoying my last half of my oven-roasted chicken sub from Subway (a fine restaurant, by the way) when I met Jenny. She was picking up her daughter from work and decided sitting outside on the bench was a better alternative to wandering around the grocery store.

We chatted for a while and I asked if she knew of any good/safe places that I could set up my tent for the night that wouldn’t offend anyone. She indicated a patch of grass and trees next to the Information Centre might be okay – although, close to the train tracks. I assured her it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve slept close to the tracks. We chatted some more and I found out there was also a restaurant around the corner that opened early for breakfast. Things were looking good for both tonight and tomorrow. It turns out, things would get better.

As an alternative to the Information Centre, Jenny said I could set up my tent at their place. While the Information Centre sounded good, this seemed even better. Jenny gave me the address and she and her daughter headed home.

It wasn’t long after that I was cycling up the driveway of Jenny and Dwayne. And Dwayne was as equally welcoming and generous as Jenny. I also met Page, from Texas. He too is travelling through Canada and had actually just met Jenny and Dwayne a couple of days ago.

Before I knew it, I had my tent set up, my gear unpacked, and I was sitting on the deck with Jenny, Dwayne, and Page enjoying my first ever elk burger … and later my second ever elk burger. And they were excellent.

The evening continued with the four of us sitting around the fire talking about all sorts of adventures, stories, and even listening to the occasional coyote. It turns out Dwayne has done some paragliding in the area so we even got to talk about that for a while too – of course, there aren’t too many high flights given the lack of mountains in the area. But we both agreed. Flying is good.

To say that it was such an incredible and unexpected night would be such an understatement. A few hours earlier I was prepared to set up my tent beside the highway near a gas station. Now, I was sitting with three new friends, enjoying a great night around the fire.

It was shortly before midnight when we finally called it a night. As I approached my tent, I heard the ever-familiar sound of the train going by. I still don’t know why I’ve grown to find such comfort in that sound, but I do.

People frequently ask me why I’m cycling across the country. I could answer with a movie quote and say, “Because I can’t sing or dance.” but I think nights like this provide a better answer (although, it’s true that I can’t sing or dance).

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 136.41 km
Ride time: 6:41:53
Average speed: 20.36 km/h
Maximum speed: 35.15 km/h

Milestone Note: Today I officially crossed the 3,000 km threshold.