Day 18 - Regina SK (657 km): Who says it's boring to ride .....

... across Saskatchebush?! We left Lethbridge at 0800h in POURing rain and 12 degrees. It rained for about 25 km and we were able to stay ahead of it for the rest of the day. It was partially cloudy for much of the way and windy, and the temperature creeped to 19 degrees. When we arrived in Regina and settled at a Timmy's to call Grace, it was sunny and about 24 degrees. And the forecast for tomorrow along our route looks good - so rather than make tracks for another couple of hours tonight, we're bunking in with Grace tonight ! And that's all I'm going to say about weather.

Tire update: The front tire is cupping and it makes for an annoying, but not unsafe, ride. It feels hard and 'pebbly' so between that and the wind tossing me around a little bit today, I felt as though I was riding one of Freddy Flintstone's bikes. I'm running Bridgestone Battleax 021s, which is the stock tire that MacLeans sells for that bike - and the guys on the FJR Forum (a few of whom I met this weekend), generally hate that tire. For the reason cited above. The front inevitably wears before the rear and cupping is a problem. I've learned my lesson as well. The rear tire - you know, the one with the sticky-string plug... I mentioned this morning that I had to check the air pressure before we left to make sure it's not leaking air. Jim kindly grabbed his pressure gauge and went out. The next thing I heard was: "You're not going to want to hear this." Let me put it this way: I've been saying all along I'll have to work some extra shifts to pay for this trip. As it turns, I may be able to cover the cost from selling the scrap metal my rear tire is picking up along the way. Lodged sideways in the wall of the tire, so that you could actually see the outline of it, was a honking big finishing nail - kind of similar to the first one except this one had a flat head on it - squished, of course. We debated running the bike to a service centre or Crappy Tire before removing said nail so that a repair could be made if required. But from the way it was lodged, Jim figured it wasn't going to leak. I had a bottle of water in my trunk so Jim added a little EconoLodge shampoo to make it soapy and he used that to check for a leak. None apparent, so away we went.

Nothing much to report about the ride. There was barely a turn in the road until we hit Medicine Hat. And where there WERE bends, the road was sufficiently well graded that all you had to do is maintain a heading parallel to the white line and you didn't need to so much as lift a butt cheek to shift weight and make the turn. Just let the road do the work! We stopped for a Tim's and gas, and were out of there in about half an hour.

After Medicine Hat, which actually has hills, the landscape changed to rolling hills and escarpments - all the better for Indians, in the day, to herd buffalo over a cliff. From the rolling hills... FLAT! incredibly flat.

Now for the fun or 'how I amused myself riding the Prairies': I experimented with highway-speed photography (some of the sky shots are actually quite lovely); I reminisced about the Rally and the new friends I made; I let the bugs accumlate on my helmet shield and then spent time picking them off; I thought of getting home this weekend and burying my face in Gracy's neck fur; we chased bison (well, actually, we didn't chase them; we stopped to take a photo & they took one look at my Commander helmet and ran for the hills - the whole herd! except for one big guy who figured he could take the both of us and was ambling off only as we pulled away. It was at that stop that I decided to put my camera on a lanyard and start taking photos on the road).

What I can't decide was the most fun was: riding along on the highway as a big, long train chugged by or..... Jim chugging to a stop on the side of the road when he ran out of gas. When we stopped for lunch at Micky D's in Swift Current, Jim tossed out the question/ suggestion: "Should we top up our gas here? or do we keep on going; it'll have to be less than 100 km" I was all over that and pointed out that (after my bottle of water with lunch) I'd need to be making a washroom inspection by that time. It was a very quick negotiation and we were back on our bikes in a flash. About 100 km later, Jim's pointing at his gas tank (recall our low-tech communications system) and I nod. Next indication that the situation is getting serious is: we're doing the speed limit - or less - in order to preserve gas. Clearly, Jim's low-fuel warning light is on. When he starts doing The Weave (wobbling the back back and forth), I knew he was sloshing gas around. Uh-oh.... We're doing about 80 km by this time and then we're.... riding on the shoulder of the road:-( I know it's just a matter of time.... And then, we're done. Dead on the side of the road just shy of Caronport, SK. We confirm our cell phones are picking up signals, I confirm the time and mileage, and away I go in search of gas. My own tank is low but I'm not on my reserve yet so I know I'm good for at least a 100 km. The (un)trustworthy Zumo is indicating another 28 km for a gas station. As it turned out, there was a Husky station, with one grade of gas, only 4 km up the road. I race in, state my case, leave $20 for a security deposit on a jerry can and a guy there "going my way" offers to carry the jerry can 4 km up the road. Long story short, 30 minutes later, we're both gassed up (my own reserve warning came on in the meantime), I have my $20 back and we're on our way. New rule (we make them up as we go - and we don't have too many): when we're even slowed down in the vicinity of a gas station, we're topping up ;-) As a postscript to this: Jim didn't carelessly run out of gas. He knew exactly how much he had and how far he could run. It was a matter of it being an incredibly long distance between gas stations and lack of signage indicating that.

By the way, Jim saw a REAL cowboy today; I missed him. He was actually herding horses, apparently. I did see herds of cattle, horses, llamas all lined up nose-to-tail in a little paddock, and sheep. And we saw a coyote scramble across the road in front of us. (we didn't see any 'forest rat' signs until we got INTO Medicine Hat). Plus, there were gophers that skittered away as we approached. Thankfully, they DID get away. I always think of how happily content the big critters must be - wandering around wide open pastures with all that fresh grass. And then there are the poor, dear creatures in those horrible feed lots. And that's all I'll say about that.

We had a great dinner tonight with Grace at La Bodega, which is within spitting distance of her apartment. We started with cocktails; Grace had the tenderloin and Jim & I had buffalo, medium rare - all cooked to perfection. We had a nice bottle of wine, and Grace & I finished with special coffees - sugared rims and whipped cream :-)

And the beat goes on....

KSAO&E Quiz:

1. For what are the Tunnels of Moose Jaw famous? Very interesting !