Today is a full day of prairie riding. It didn’t rain again even through the forecasts promised it, so I pay no attention to predictions of rain in the Calgary area.
The Trans Canada highway takes a longer route with a north dogleg, so I decide to take the more rural highway 2. It’s only 100 kph and two lanes, but there is almost no traffic. Yes, the land is flat and the farms are massive, but when you look at the big picture, the textures and patterns of the different crops, farm buildings and frequent large shallow ponds, create a fascinating tapestry. The photographer in me wanted to stop, but I was on a mission and time was of the essence. Besides, the best photos needed moody lighting so early morning or evening were best, with a thunderstorm thrown in for good measure. If you look at Google maps zoomed in, you will note that this area has thousands of ponds, all shallow and some quite large. I guess they hold the rain water in the flat lands, that would normally fill a big lake in Ontario.
For large parts of the trip, oil wells dotted the fields. No doubt, these farmers had a guaranteed source of income, regardless of crops. It reminded me of Texas before fracking.
My sub conscious notes that all the regular gas stations are missing from this road. In place are co-op card lock stations. The computer says I have 202km of fuel but I check the GPS for the next gas station - 186km away, a Petro Canada and Esso. That’s a bit tight, but the option is to turn around. Good thing the GSA has a big tank. Gas is in Redvers, just past the Saskatchewan border. The PetroCan only sells regular gas, so I head on to the Esso. What???? Regular only. I startled the lady stocking shelves in the store to ask if she knew where I could get premium gas. She didn’t know, maybe Carlyle or Regina. The answer was Carlyle - 43km away. I guess the rural world is small in that part of the world, or none of the vehicles in Redvers consume premium gas. I don’t fill the tank - but since there is no certainty where the next premium gas can be found, the octane levels will be lower for a while. Wonder how the bike will run since premium is scarce in the far north. The bike actually runs well, power is off a bit, but since there are no cars - I don’t need to worry about passing. Weyburn is large enough to have all of the major gas brands, so I fill up with premium. With a full tank, the computer reports that the bike has a range of 470km instead of the normal 530km range. Did the regular fuel do that? We’ll find out later.
One of the neat aspects of prairie travel, is that you can see the rain from miles away. The route took us north west on 39 to rejoin the trans Canada at Medicine Hat. Now there are storms all around and some on my route. When data is available on the cell phone, the GPS reports rain on my route with options to reroute (nice feature). I’m going to get wet. The road is wet in sections where prior storms passed. A brief stop in Wilcox adds the rain suit and goretex gloves. The iPhone goes into the waterproof tank bag and just as I get back on the bike, the advance drops start hitting and the squall line is half a km away. This will test how waterproof the helmet and new rain jacket are - they passed the test.
It’s strange, in and out of rain and then hot. By the time we reach Medicine Hat, I’m cooking but the storms on the horizon force status quo. The winds, which were constant before are downright ugly now. The huge bundle of bags and top case act like a sail and the bike needs to be leaned over aggressively to maintain a straight line and the gusts, well, they just help keep me awake. The terrain has changed to rolling hills - similar to Nebraska. There is no equivalent in Ontario. When the road rises to the top of a large hill, the full blast of the wind hits the bike.
The only photo I took of a storm is in Moore Lake while getting gas at a cheesy Esso/convenience store. There was a line containing multiple storms passing by every 15 minutes. The storms were small, in some cases less than a km wide but they were shakers, in between sun shine.
I met an guy on a BMW 1200GT, a road bike. This model was the first release of what was later to become the 1300GT - a fast and comfortable sport touring bike. We chatted - he is semi retired living in London and traveling to BC to visit a friend for a few days, then return. His passion is motorcycle touring and he does iron butts. We wait out a storm and decide to ride together for a while. He did 1,100km yesterday so he’s cutting off at Swift Current, but I want to make it to Medicine Hat so we part ways under sunny (and hot with a rain jacket on) skies with a honk and a wave.
Off in the distance, the sky is black as night - that’s the storm Steve wanted to avoid. Time for equipment waterproof test number 2. I put the bike into rain mode to soften power delivery when passing and tune up the ABS for wet roads. The temps drop rapidly from 30C to 16C and the rain hits hard. Everyone slows down - a good thing because the spray from tires combines with the rain to severely reduced visibility. I am glad of the decision to put the new tire on the back. The old one would have been hydroplaning with this much water on the road. After a wile the rain stops and I can see that the next few waves of rain are off to the south. This may not be so bad after all because blue skies are starting to show in the direction of Medicine Hat.
I have memories of Medicine Hat from my early work days as an auditor, driving into town over the gully, setting up in the hotel at 9PM and doing CGA assignment until 2am and then grabbing a few zzz’s before starting the audit at 9.
Dinner is at Perkins - I go for a soup and southern chicken avocado salad. The salad will feed two people but the Avocado slices look like there were frozen a year ago and thawed just for me - I would call it a chicken salad.
I wash the bugs off the bike, bags and helmet. It’s unbelievable how many insects thrive in that area. I couldn't imaging riding a naked bike (no wind screen) and not having a full face helmet. The few times I rode visor up, the bug strikes stung like a son of a gun and a wasp stinger works as well splattered as alive.
According to the original plan, I was supposed to be in Creston BC this evening. I guess I’ll need to adjust the parameters for the next leg …
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