Cross Canada Cycle Blog

Tuesday June 25. Day off

We were glad to be in Yorkton when we awoke to thunder showers and strong easterly winds.   After breakfast and laundry and a quick look at the Globe and Mail,  we took a cab to the Fifth Ave Cup and Saucer for good lattes and carrot muffins.  It is a family-run business that is ...

Monday June 24, 2013. Day 27

Wynyard to Yorkton After looking at the forecast,  we decided to go all the way to Yorkton today, rather than stopping at Foam Lake, as planned (and we did not want to get too used to 60 kms days!). The winds were from the west and south-west, with clear blue skies. Tomorrow, rain is expected, with ...

Sunday June 23, 2013. Day 26

Lanigan to Wynyard We cycled back to the Golf Club for breakfast, as it was the only place open at 8:00 on a Sunday morning. We ate there last night on the advice of the proprietor of the motel, who said it was the best food in town (grilled cheese with Kraft singles?!) We overheard a ...

Saturday June 22, 2013. Day 25

Colonsay to Lanigan We took advantage of our kitchenette in Kobi’s Hideaway Motel to make breakfast (and because Ben’s Place is closed on Saturday), and began the day with a decent espresso. Colonsay installed a reverse osmosis water treatment plant, which makes the prairie surface water much more palatable (We made sure all of our water ...

Friday June 21, 2013. Day 24

Saskatoon to Colonsay We had breakfast with dear friends, Murray and Gerri Dickson, whom we hadn’t seen for too long. Murray and Gerri have spent many years working on a very successful U of S/CIDA health training project in Mozambique. We had much to talk about and were sad to have to leave. We  pedalled out across ...

Thursday June 20, 2013. Day Off

We moved over to the Bessborough Hotel this morning – a bit of luxury, a Father’s Day gift from Maritia. The Bessborough, one of the great old CN hotels (now Delta) was where our family stayed when we first arrived in Saskatchewan from England in 1985 and where we said goodbye to our Saskatoon friends ...

Wednesday June 19, 2013. Day 23

North Battleford to Ruddell (to Saskatoon) Our shoes were still wet this morning, so we cranked up the fan heater in the hotel room and left them to dry while we went for breakfast.  The weather forecast was not good, wind from the east at 40kmph gusting to 60, but as the forecast was the same ...

Tuesday June 18, 2013. Day 22

Lloydminster to North Battleford We knew this was going to be a long day and we knew the forecast was for winds from the east, gusting up to 30km/hr. As it turned out, it was one of  our most challenging days to date. It began well, with coffee across the meridian boundary, in Saskatchewan, at Ernie’s. ...

Monday June 17, 2013. Day off

Lloydminster straddles the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. Founded in 1903 by the Barr Colonists before either province had been carved out of the Northwest Territories, it was intended to be an exclusively British Utopian settlement, centred on the idea of sobriety. Unfortunately, the colonists had no idea that the Fourth Meridian  of the Dominion Land ...

Sunday June 16, 2013. Day 21

Vermilion to Lloydminster We were glad of the short distance today as the wind was no longer behind us, the skies were completely overcast and the terrain much hillier. Paul was pleased to receive Father’s Day greetings from Vancouver and Geneva en route! We are breaking up what would have been a 6-day stretch to Saskatoon with ...