The Saskatchewan gophers have spoken...

And they have left me with 3 bits of wisdom. First, despite what anyone says, Saskatchewan isn't all that flat. Most of the terrain is rolling, but the roads are good (along the #1, country roads need lots of work). The second thing the gophers told me was to seek shelter wherever I could, because there is absolutely no shade in Sa

skatchewan. The gas stations were like an oasis in the middle of the desert. The brutal 35-40 C weather was rough on the cyclists, we rode into camp covered in salt from the day's ride. The final words of wisdome the gophers left me with was simply this: crossing the road is a bad idea. O.K. the living gophers didn't tell me that last one, but the 30+ roadkill gophers I rode by conveyed the message all the same.

The riding is good, albeit hot and sticky; don't let anyone tell you that the dry heat of the praries is any less hot then the humidity experienced in other provinces, it's a load of garbage. Hot is hot. Sunscreen is a lifesaver i've never worn so much in my entire life as I have in the past 2 weeks.

Subway's (the restaurant) are lifesavers. Not for the sandwiches, which are delicious, but for the free ice you can shovel into your camelback or water bottles. Water gets disgustingly hot after a couple hours ride in the saddle, and the ice is quite posibly the most refreshing thing you can find during your gas station stop over.

Things are going well, we are in Winnipeg as I write this. We are still 2 days behind schedule, but overall the flow of the trip, the daily distances etc have never been smoother. A few notes to end this quick update:

- Wireless Internet access is impossible to find, the Calgary, Regina, and Winnipeg central libraries do not have it, but for some reason Kamloops back in B.C. did. It's kind of odd that the capitals of two provinces are behind a mid sized town like Kamloops when it comes to technology.

- Eastern Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Western Manitoba need to combine into one large province dubbed Alsaskatchatoba, because there is nothing to see and aside from a few regional variations, its all the same.

- Manitoba is flat flat flat, with reallllly bad roads. no shoulders mean travelling with the big trucks on the trans-canada hwy, which means lots of honking and near collisions. Manitoba, its time to fix the roads buddy.

- I found out that my dog, Sparky, died on July 23rd. He was 12 years old and I've had him since I was 12. I regret that I hadn't seen him for the last 3 months of his life, and I'll miss him a lot. Our family of 4 is back down to 3. He was a good dog.

- When life gives you a swift kick to the rear, you gotta keep running, or it'll kick you again.

- Almost back to Ontario, then its time to feel the pain as we struggle through the granite hills between T-bay and Ste-St Marie, probably the most difficult riding of the whole trip, including the Rockies.

Next update will likely come from T-bay, stay tuned

Dom