Day 41: Regina, SK to Caronport, SK

I had breakfast with my father and Frances for Father’s Day at the posh restaurant of Hotel Saskatchewan (I imagine the Queen having her meals there), which was kindly sponsored. It was my first time to have a triple A grade steak for breakfast! My father then set off for Montreal.

Frances arranged two TV interviews for me that day: one for Global News Regina, and another one for CTV Regina. TV interviews are always fun. The reporter at CTV Regina was kind enough to show us around their studio, which I thought would be a absolute delight for Frances, being an aspiring journalist. You can watch the CTV Regina interview here.

TV interview

At CTV Regina

My first time in a news studio

I then went to Western Cycles, which very kindly gave my bicycle a tune-up for free.

On my way back to the hotel, it started raining very heavily, and I was soaked even before I set off for the day!

I waited to see if the rain was going to stop before setting off. It wouldn’t, so I had no choice but to go. I had 155 kilometers to do, it was already 2 pm, and the wind was against me. A few minutes after I started going, the rain stopped — thankfully. However, as soon as I turned west, there was an insane wind that went against me, which slowed me down for the rest of the day.

Regina

I called Frances to talk about the options I could have for the night. We checked the wind, the weather forecast, which towns we could go to… I knew that with that the crazy amount of wind with me today, cycling to Chaplin would be too much of a challenge; it would be past midnight if I do it. Since the forecast said that the wind was going to be behind me the next day, we decided to go to Caronport instead. Caronport is about 94 kilometers from Regina.

The flatness of the prairies

I passed by Moose Jaw, a surprisingly sprawling town despite being in the middle of nowhere. Around 10 pm, I finally arrived at Caronport, and had a sandwich at the gas station. I talked to a guy working there, and asked him if there is any place we could camp at… he said there was none. I then asked if there was anyone who would be willing to host us for the night, and he called his father. A few minutes later, he told me that his father is willing to host us, and came to the station five minutes later. You could see at once that he is a very kind man, very interesting to talk to — we spent about 20 minutes talking while waiting for Frances’ bus to arrive. It finally did, and we went to his place — a charming home, where he gave us the space resembling a full apartment. He introduced us to his wife and children, who are also interested in cycling.

Moose Jaw

Who would have expected that we’d be welcomed in such a lovely home in the middle of the night? We were expecting to camp in the middle of nowhere, even if it was raining. My schedule said I should have gone all the way to Chaplin, but I decided not to because it would be too much of a struggle for nothing. I guess sometimes it’s better let glide with the tide (or with the wind in my case), to go on the past of the least resistance. Why do I have to push myself too much when the circumstances are clearly dictating otherwise? I’ve learned to simply go with the flow, and, you know — you might end up with a nice surprise.