June 2, 2014
Happiness is relenting winds, glimpses of the sun after a few days of wet and overcast skies, crossing another provincial border, making it out of the oilfields to pasturelands and wheat fields. Happiness is the realization that it takes very little to feel like you’re cycling on top of the the world again. Today was a day for happiness.
June 1, 2014
Usually I write about the interesting places I encountered or the lovely lanscapes I’m rolling through. As a whole my portrayal has been fairly upbeat, which isn’t simply presentation but reflects my experiences. Of course challenging days invariably come but challenging is different than miserable. Miserable describes today fully. If I were to say it was a day requiring exceptional pedaling technique, I think you would get my drift. (Hint: wind, wind, inexhaustible wind!) That little gift of the prairies compounded with chilly, overcast, and wet conditions left very little to get excited by. Unfortunately, the scenery was no more inspiring as I travelled through oil fields all day and ever so slowly. I’m not sure if it’s simply the association of oil with the derogation of the environment but oil fields are depressing. What a change from the wheat fields of yesterday. The road starts to become unending and the little towns so far apart and the wind is all you can think about. But battle I did and persevered.
May 31, 2014
I now understand why the grain elevator is so indelibly imprinted on the psyche of the prairies. Most obviously is the economic importance it played in agricultural communities and wheat farmers but they are more than places to store grain. Grain elevators dominate the landscape and tower over the towns. The businesses and watering holes sprang up across the street from them. I can only imagine the rich life that conspired in their shadows-the exhilaration and despair of rising and falling wheat prices, gossip shared about so-and-so’s latest scandal, world affairs discussed and solved, and surely more than a few furtive romances.
May 31, 2014
Cycling across the country assumes some unity or meaningful connection exists between the many and varied places I come across. And as we come to July 1 in a month’s time, there will be great celebration of this land we call Canada. While I don’t want to deny the many worthy celebrations, I’m also trying to leave myself open to seeing the wounds across which we are stitched together. Today I visited the tunnels of Moose Jaw. It was one of those days you feel ashamed about the atrocities and discriminations of the past not with judgement, thought we cannot excuse our past, but with a realization for how easily our prejudices can be visited on the ‘other’ and the cost of that power. The legacy of Mennonite settlers from yesterday and the treatment of Chinese immigrants today created a sharp contrast highlighting the irrationality and devastation of prejudice against one people for their racial, ethnic, or cultural origins while another is welcomed and supported. Mennonites were welcomed farmers praised for their industry; Chinese immigrants were despised and every effort was made to make them disappear despite their hard work and sacrifices.
May 29, 2014
In British Columbia I wrote about the unreliability of the mountains. It turns out that in the prairies, the wind plays as cruel a trick as any mountain. Yes, I’m talking about wind again. For a cyclists, winds alone defines a good or bad day. Today was a good day…no a great day! Getting onto the road this morning it felt as though someone secretly installed a motor on my bike. I flew along with so little effort, so quietly. Stopping sharply reminded me again the gusts that were in fact there all along. I came across a guy going across the country, or at least to Ottowa, on a unicycle. The wind didn’t help his stability. So if you thought me crazy for biking across the country, at least I’m not doing to on a unicycle! Or if you need other comparisons, I ran across Ben from Newfoundland for the second time today and he’s on his fourth trip across the country. As he put it, he swore never to do that again after the first time but every spring he feels the itch to do it once more. I can appreciate that as I’ve been thinking about doing the Erie Canal trip when I only have a short time off in the future. Anyway, to returned to the wind again as I likely will until I leave the prairies, one day it curses you and the next blesses for no apparent reason. However, when you’re trying to setup or breakdown camp, there is no good wind. A tent tarp blows in remarkably many ways but the one you want. When you end up in a campsite without any protection, you begin to feel particularly exposed. I can’t imagine what the early settlers thought.
May 28, 2014
The sun rising in the east over the cliffs of Medicine Hat and dark ominous clouds approaching in the west forecast the rest of my day. It began to rain as I packed to leave camp and then got hit by momentary downpour as I left the city. The same thing happened in the evening. Just as I set up camp the wind gusts, lightening, and rain began. I did wonder whether my lightweight tent would survive a thunderstorm but it made it through wonderfully and I remained dry. The real story of the day though was the wind. I know another rant about wind but it’s a force to be dealt with. I battled head on most of the day and learnt again the importance of proper pedaling technique. When the going is so tough, the temptation is to just put your weight into the push down and then alternate to the foot. It is in fact a very wasteful technique. Wearing clipless shoes, there are in fact four motions to every rotation. Push forward, push down, pull back, and pull up with one foot while the other is two steps ahead. It seems difficult but you know you’re doing it correctly when you feel yourself getting heavy in the seat and light on the pedals. The real kicker is that with less effort you feel yourself picking up speed. Nevertheless, it’s rather counterintuitive when the cycling gets hard but it is when technique makes the difference.
