Day 15 - Dorothy to Medecine Hat

Outside of Dorothy – Medecine Hat
215 km, sunny (up to 21 degrees)
Light wind, mainly crosswind to some cross-head wind

Well, first day in the prairies. It is fairly flat, but a deceiving flat. Multiple little hills of a few percentage (just to say you are going uphill) which goes on for a while 2-15 km. The “downhills”, once you reach the crest of the hill, greet you with stronger winds as you are “higher”. So, the speed stays fairly consistant. Actually, the highest speed for today is only 13 km faster than my average speed of the day. I think I reached that going down an overpass (or maybe when I put my head down and just hammered for a bit).

Oh, it seems like the reputation of some Aylmer folks is known over here – they even named a town after them. See picture in the section (today's pics will be added in a few days).

Seriously, pretty bare country. It was similar scenery everywhere. The first half was in the country, heading towards the Trans-Canada. I had lunch in the town of Brooks, which is a very sketchy town. I dont recommend you stop there for more than a few minutes. Actually, when I arrived in Medecine Hat, a few locals asked me if I came from Brooks. I said that I stopped there for lunch. They replied “and you still have your bike? It did't get stolen?”. Originally, Brooks was a destination to sleep the first night after Calgary. I am glad I did that detour and visited the Badlands. I am still on track with the schedule (i.e. still a day ahead).

The Trans-Canada is still fairly bare. There are no stops from Brooks to Medecine Hat. Medecine Hat is the first spot in Alberta to accidentally find natural gas. It is also the town where Rudyard Kipling refered to in one of his poems by writing “all hell for a basement” (a line made famous by the great song by the same name, of Big Sugar). Since my mp3 battery ran out of juice in Brooks, I had that song in my head for a while. Luckily it is a good song.

On that note, I remember biking to Thunder Bay in '98. I passed by this guy who was painting his shed while listening to the radio. The song playing was by the Spice Girls - “Stop right now, thank you very much, I need somebody with a human touch” (and a few other lines). Unfortunately, for the rest of the trip, I had that song (those 6 or so lyrics) stuck in my head the whole time. On another side note, have you seen the movie “Touching The Void”? The guy has a Boney M song stuck in his head. Pretty funny. Great movie, watch it if you haven't. True story too.

Medecine Hat – everything is closed because it is Victoria Day. The gas stations have barely anything in there too.

I went to a campsite to get a shower, to charge up batteries, and to write this entry (of course). No-one is here (except for a young couple that invited me for a beer after I am doe). I was able to get an “overflow” spot, with no electricity/water or fire pit, for a grand total of 11 bucks (taxes included). I like that price.

The other day in Calgary, I was talking about my cycling shoes are borderline on the fritz. Well, tonight, the strap broke where it connects to the shoe. I will try to jimmy something with duct tape tonight. Worse case scenario, I will duct tape the shoe onto my foot tomorrow.

My tent is also showig it's age. Ten years going strong, but showing a bit of wear and tear at the base. The poles – 2 of them have busted a bit, but I was able to jimmy things to make it work.

Alright, time for a bit of laundry, visit a bit, and then head to bed. Tomorrow, I get to leave Alberta behind, and step into another time zone. Alberta had come and went fairly quickly (so has the mountain time zone).

Later dude and dudettes,

p2