Day 18 – Emerson Bridge to Medicine Hat (T.D.: 157km!!!; S.T.: 7h41min)

Big day today. We had planned to take two days to cover this stretch of road, but the only camping option between here and the Hat was only 50km away, so we decided to go for it and do it all in one sweep instead. Our first stop was Brooks, where we made use of some Tim Horton’s gift cards to fuel up. When facing a day this long, the two most important things are eating well and often, and getting off the saddle to give your body a break. A bodybreak

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SHDDA4mi4U&feature=related)!

Stopping at a convenience store on our way out of Brooks, we learned from the lady behind the counter that an “older gentleman” doing a cross-country bike tour had been by earlier in the day. Wayne McInnis, perhaps? We think so.

We arrived at Tillebrook Provincial Park before noon – our scheduled campground for the night – which reaffirmed our decision to carry on and cover the rest of the distance to Medicine Hat in a single day.

Our fiercest obstacle proved to be boredom, with hardly a ground squirrel or gopher to be found. We made lots of stops en route, mostly to eat the delicious snacks we’d packed (blueberry cheesecake, apple strudels, etc.) and give our aching bottoms a chance to recover.

We were happy to see signs of civilization as we approached RedCliff, which is a small municipality on the edge of the Hat, but didn’t manage to locate a good restaurant until we were well within the city limits. Had a delicious meal at a place called Mauro’s before finding our way to the abode of my long-lost, first-cousin-once-removed Kelly, and his wife Anne, who would be putting us up for a couple nights, while we did some work on our bikes and prepared for the long haul through the rest of the prairies.

Stats:

Av. Spd.: 20.4km/h

Mx. Spd.: 42.5km/h

Butt pain index: 82% (dangerously high)

Cracks in the pavement counted: 10302

Range roads passed: 86

Km traveled by 2pm: 80

Km traveled by 2pm yesterday: 15

Skills learned/developed en route: Whistling, riding with no hands, on-road catnaps, bird calls, telepathy, etc.

Most unfortunately named town en route: Bowell (on the way to Gas City, no less!)