Day 5: One with nature

Today was the day I was looking forward to. Today was the start of the adventure. While having the sheriffs through Alberta was a huge help and a great way to start me off, part of me was always looking forward to the moment I got to set out on the open road all by myself. The last few days had been challenging too, so I was really hoping for a good day.

On paper it may not have been a great day, but I had a blast. There was a decent headwind again but I still managed 120km. While Marcy and her kids were an absolute joy the night prior, I had backtracked to stay at their home and added on almost 7km. In the end, I didn't really care though.

Nearing the end of Alberta, I had to take a break when i saw a huge herd of bison charging through the hills nearby. I had seen them before from a car and I knew they were fenced in, so it wasn't that miraculous. Still, it was nice to just sit back and watch them for a while.

Soon I was able to breathe a sigh of relief as I spotted this sign;

The only problem with this sign is that I feel it needs to read differently. If I were in charge the sign would have read "Welcome to Saskatchewan; brace yourself for the longest hill of your life." When I saw the sign for cypress hills, my heart sunk a little. When I actually saw the hill, my heart was dragging on the pavement. I kept an eye on my odometer as I hit the base of the hill and after seemingly an eternity of agonizing uphill, I hit the crest. The hill had been almost 10km of medium grade slope.

The true insult came when I found that the top of the hill practically plateaued so I didn't even get to have fun on the way down. However, to anyone cycling west near the AB-SK border, get ready for the ride of your life.

Hours later, I arrived in Tompkins and treated myself to a skor blizzard. I met a very interesting man named John who is a welder for general dynamics in London and had been riding his motorbike home from Vancouver. He of course moved substantially faster. I now sit in my tent in yet another rainy evening finding more and more obscure ways to amuse myself.

Lastly, I had one other animal encounter today which is too hilarious to go unmentioned. Just shy of the border, I felt a clunk against my helmet. I looked around ready to yell at some kid who had thrown a rock at me when I realized that it was 7 in the morning and I was on a deserted highway. I then peered over my shoulder to see the most remarkable and ridiculous thing I have ever seen an animal do. A hawk was swooping around and coming in for a second dive after failing to catch it's "prey" in the first go. I almost didn't know how to react however as it dove closer, a quick yell showed it who was boss and it went flying off.

I now have one of the greatest stories to tell when people ask me what the scratch marks are on the back of my helmet AND first hand proof that the term "hawkeye" is a complete load of crap. They must be as blind as moles to think I was breakfast.

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