Earth is Round

Day 24: Bragg Creek to Vulcan. 90 miles. 2178 feet elevation. The weather chased me.

This morning, I awoke in the Rustic, cozy cabin. It was my VRBO in Bragg Creek. It was only about 5 km out of town in the wrong direction. But what’s 10 km in a 14,000 km journey? The Rustic advertising was accurate. It was essentially a very small log cabin. So small, in fact, that every time I walked in and out of the kitchen, I banged my head against the top of the door frame. I should never have taken my bicycle helmet off. The cozy part was definitely some fancy marketing. I can only assume that, by not having a bathroom in the cabin, which was about a hundred feet away from the main house, they thought the three rooms would feel cozier without a distracting fourth room as a bathroom.

Today, despite wandering but not being lost, across hundreds of square miles of prairie with seemingly no people, I was miraculously given the opportunity to complete my three goals. I pedaled up to a repaving operation. I was the first one there, so I got to talk to the flagger. A few minutes later, an older lady pulled up and got out of her car. She came up hurriedly and said she was completely lost while trying to find the hospital. She had gone in the ambulance to a hospital the night before. I assumed that it was probably her husband in the hospital. Fortunately, with Google Maps, I was able to give her directions, and since it wasn’t for a bicycle, I felt she could probably get to the hospital safely.

Speaking of Google Maps, this little double dirt track was one of the “roads” Maps tried to send me down today. I’m not even sure it led to the next road. I ignored it. Fortunately, on the Prairie, it’s just a giant grid of roads, so going to the next corner makes little difference, except that it’s a road instead of just a track.

Look closely at the above image. If you blow it up, you can see the road that is as straight as a ruler extending on forever. This particular section had a little bit of a roll to it, but in other parts of the prairie, I’m certain I could see the curve of the Earth as the road dropped over the distant horizon ahead of me. I thought that having a mountain pass looming above you was somewhat daunting. Now I realize that seeing the curve of the Earth as your road goes off into oblivion is even more daunting. Thankfully, the wind mostly cooperated, and the ride was generally pleasant.

The final 20 km into Vulcan, this black beast loomed behind me. Despite being a bit worn out, the black beast was a great motivation to keep pedaling and get to Vulcan. Thankfully, I only got a little dripped on, but I suspect this is just a taste of a much larger dish of what might be to come as I continue across the prairies.