Today is Day #35 of The Road To Valour

On today’s ride I was joined by:

• Ehsan Ebrahimnia on his first long day of cycling.
• Ernie MacDonald

Heading out of Regina, the maps got us again. We got to the edge of the city and the maps – both of them this time – sent us down a road that turned into gravel. Instead of turning around and finding a better route, we decided to continue on. Bad choice! The gravel tuned into mud and then the mud turned into heavy gumbo! Gumbo, in case you don’t know, is the non-scientific name for heavy clay based mud that clogs up everything. I was lucky, there is a lot of clearance between my tires and the fenders, and got through it. Ehsan and Ernie weren’t quite so lucky. The gumbo caked into their bikes so bad that both the front and rear wheel jammed and refused to roll. Lots of time was lost scraping the mud that could be cleared easily, until they could get their wheels to roll. Up the road, I found a veterinarian’s office that allowed us to use their water hose to do a better job.

After about an hour of brushing, scraping, spraying and wiping, we were clean enough to start rolling down the asphalt again.

Stops along the Way:

We were getting a little hungry when we pulled into the town of Indian Head to see if we could find a good coffee and a sticky bun. We found sticky buns (and a bakery that had never heard the term).

On the way out of town, we ran into Barb and Shirley. This was the 3rd time that we had run into them – and probably it won’t be the last. They told us that we should stop at the park on the edge of town with the strange monument. Interested in how the town got it’s name, we went and checked it out.

We got to the municipal campground in Grenfell, unpacked and set up camp. Then off to the local grocery store to find some food for dinner. As I was preparing dinner, a sudden storm hit and I got soaked, along with much of my possessions, as they were either on the clothes line or on the ground. Dinner was saved and it was good. We also had the last of the sticky buns from Indian Head to enjoy.

Unfortunately, the campground had neither wifi or decent cell service, so this sitrep is later than it should be.

Riding The Road To Valour