Drumheller to Regina

Drumheller to Youngstown 153km
Did some more geocaching of course, Drumheller was about 10 kms from our campsite....where we had to go for fun, I never Thought I would be doing side trips after all that pedaling.
The foggy mist was so thick coming out of the red deer river valley that it was sticking to our glasses and bikes and then dripping off.
as jude put it: "blanket of fog leaving drumheller and only mistic images to view as we climbed from the valley and out to the endless plains. There is a certain magic about the prairies, you just have to wait for the winds to rest to experience it splenders." Dads favorite bird...Tons of Meadowlarks...we see them and hear them every few miles, one of the benifits of being on a bike. We were excited to see some prong horn antelope....most of the rest of the group missed out.
Surprisingly some of the toughest hills so far were in and out of this valley...up to 12%...good thing they were short. Not sure what I am going to do when we hit all the hills like that North of Lake Superior.
Youngstown tents set up beside the local rec center. (some riders just put their sleeping bags on the floor)
No Doubt the most incredible meal we have had to date!
Locals get together for a pot luck. They get gypped as we just bring a salad and they bring an incredible array of different dishes all delicious.

Youngstown to Kindersley 154kms
Beautiful day when we arrived, strong cross winds, but me and judy made mincemeat out of the ride as we practiced eschelon (a technique for riding in cross winds as a team) 30 km/hr pace! arrived in camp 2pm!
As the group arrived, we heard horror stories of torrential rains and large hail stones. Hard to believe but the thunder storms caught up to us by supper...and of course our turn to cook. Had to constantly juggle things around as they kept blowing off the tables, but we managed to pull off a hell of a pork stir fry. (and a vegetarian option too).

Kindersley to Outlook 157kms
The rain continued through the night accompanied by howling winds gusting up to 90 km per hour at times! Hardly anyone slept. Try and cook breakfast in that! the gas stoves kept blowing out. Large and heavy moving them was a chore and after 2 attempts we were unsuccessful at keeping them going. The weather was so bad with the driving winds and rain, the only upside was that the wind was from a favourable direction. There was talk of chartering a bus to the next camp.
Showing determination the group mounted up and decided to try the ride. The ride was wet and cold but with the tail wind everyone was flying! Mid day stop at Rosetown for coffee, lunch, and to drying clothes at Laundromat. A short distance later, Jude blew a shift lever, so she ended up with only a choice of 2 gear ratios. Jude was able to deal with this OK although had to really push to make it up the last climb into outlook. The camp looked pretty dismal when we got there...the prospect of tenting did not seem very attractive....still raining and windy...so a few of us 'whimped' out and got a hotel room to dry out.

Outlook to Craik 124kms
Morning started with a tire that had gone flat over night. Then after a quick trip down the hill to the campground to drop off and pick up gear for the day, I set my glasses on the hotel room heater to defog them...and melted one lens..crap...at least I could still see out of them.
But hey the sun was shining AND we had tail wind. A stop at the coffee shop across from the hotel...serve yourself coffee have not seen that too often....locals took turns refilling everyones coffees. Very friendly atmosphere.
Was worth checking out the longest pedestrian bridge in canada. (Once a railroad bridge, now part of the trans canada trail this part called the 'sky trail')
Quick stop in Kenaston, blizzard capital of Sask complete with the Snowman Statue.
VERY fast trip from there to Craik on route 11 also known as the Louis Riel Trail

Craik to Regina 132kms
Craik slogan is: Friendliest Town by a Damsite. We headed out from their local campsite which was quite nice....and again had a fabulous tail wind that
blew us all the way to Regina...we arrived before Noon! That was with a nice hot breakfast stop in chamberland, and a quick stop in Lumsden to eat our sandwiches and refill waters. Then again Judy had to be inhuman and pedal out of that valley in a very high gear...many were impressed. We got to pedal for a while with the "Pain Train Crew'. An affectionate name for a crew of 2 65 year olds (serge and pierre) from switzerland and one guy (bill) that pedal very fast and aggressively. Probably the fastest riders in the group! Into downtown Regina to a great little bike shop (dutches) to drop judys bike off for repair. Then we walked to a optical shop to fit me with some new glasses. Judy 'cabbed' it to the camp and I rode.
Hopefully Regina has some money now to improve there roads and local hy-ways....we left behind over a 1000 dollars on bike repairs, glasses, and supplies.
Laundry, Blog, shopping, restaurants, tent repair, and bike maintenance filled today our rest day.