Is That A Hill? Nope.

It’s often said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. While I may not necessarily agree with that, today was certainly the best breakfast I’ve had in a while. A long while.

My pseudo-wild camping spot last night worked out very well. It wasn’t really a wild camping situation as it was an unattended town campground. I won’t go into the details as to how such campgrounds are supposed to work as I may not have followed the rules entirely. Or at all. I mean, seriously, $24/night for a piece of grass … and no WiFi? That seems a little excessive.

That said, I didn’t think sticking around too long in the morning was a good idea, so I once again had a very early start to my day. I also once again made my way to Subway for breakfast. There was just one problem with that plan. It was closed. And it wasn’t scheduled to open for another hour. I now had my first dilemma of the day.

I could hit the road without any sustenance – for breakfast, or for later in the day – or I could go across the road to the restaurant at the gas station and have breakfast there while I wait for Subway to open. Clearly, there really wasn’t much of a dilemma. I needed food. Two minutes later I was at the restaurant. And about eight minutes after that I was thoroughly enjoying a very hearty breakfast. No, it didn’t fill me up but that’s only because nothing seems to be able to do that these days.

With my stomach adequately attended to, I returned to the now open Subway to stock up for the road. A few minutes later I was pedalling west once again.

Today’s goal was Indian Head. About 110 km away. While the distance was comparable to yesterday’s ride, the ride itself was significantly easier. Maybe it’s just because yesterday’s ride was so challenging. But, objectively speaking, it was an easier ride today. The winds were still strong (although, not as strong as yesterday) but the direction of the wind created more of a crosswind situation. Not ideal, but so much better than a headwind. Given my luck (or lack thereof) I don’t envision being on the receiving end of any glorious easterly winds ant time soon. As such, I’m happy to settle for a crosswind.

In actual fact, today’s ride was pretty uneventful. I was a bit slower than my trip average but about 3 km/h faster than yesterday’s average. And yesterday’s average was pretty misleading – I rarely went 16 km/h … it was more like 20 km/h or 11 km/h. Not much in between.

I stopped somewhat frequently during the day but the best stop was in Wolseley. There was a water fountain, a store, frozen treats, and WiFi. Pretty much the ideal place to take a break. Although, with only 20 km to go to get Indian Head, such a rest wasn’t really needed but I rested anyway. While there I met another cycle tourist and we chatted for a while – she’s heading east and has obviously been enjoying the tailwinds. I really hope to get a few of those along the way. I really do. But I won’t hold me breath.

In addition to the great rest area, Wolseley also has a drive-in movie theatre. I’m not going to lie, I really wanted to go. Of course, being on a bike would’ve made things a bit tricky – not to mention I’m sure the mosquitos would’ve destroyed me before the opening credits were finished. Hmmmm … I wonder if they would’ve let me set up my tent. Sigh. Where was that idea a few hours ago? Oh well. Too late now.

With Indian Head (and the end of my day) so close, I was back on the road at 4:00. An hour later I was in Indian Head. As rides go, the last 20 km went very well and I stopped briefly at the gas station to get my usual end of day popsicle. My brief stop became a bit less brief as I had a chat with a couple people who were returning home to Chilliwack, BC (by car). While I anticipate going through (or maybe just near) Chilliwack, those days are still a long way away. I told them I’d wave as I go through.

My final stop for the day was the Indian Head Campground which was located behind the gas station – on the other side of the tracks. I didn’t feel like wild camping, plus I’ve been falling so far behind with my updates that I just wanted get settled into a real site and get some work done. That ended up being a mildly successful endeavour.

It started off very well. I got my tent sent up. Cooked up my usual bland pasta. Sorted through some photos. And did some writing. I managed to get one update finished before I was invited to have a burger with my camping neighbours, Andre and Marnie. Even though I had just eaten a couple of bowls of pasta, I still had room for more. And it was an excellent homemade burger. We talked for a while before Andre and Marnie needed to take their two kids to the park for some energy release. While they did that, I opted to buy another (overpriced) popsicle from the campsite office.

Upon returning from the office, I noticed someone sitting at “my” picnic table. I thought that was a little odd until I got a little closer. It was Moritz. He had just finished a crazy long day of almost 200 km to get here. Very impressive indeed.

The rest of the day was spent catching up on our travels since our last meeting. At one point we were looking at some photos and on more than one occasion we had stopped and taken the exact same photo. Clearly great minds think alike.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 109.77 km
Ride time: 5:39:59
Average speed: 19.37 km/h
Maximum speed: 28.68 km/h