Green Energy

Day 26: 75 miles. 650 feet elevation. Weather wonderful tailwind.

I will likely just use the above picture for the next 10 or so days as the scenery is probably not going to change significantly as I cross a little bit that’s left of Alberta and then tackle Saskatchewan. Although the scenery may not be gorgeous, I am enjoying cruising.

My morning started quite early as I was mildly anxious about winds. The weather suggested that I would probably have a tailwind, but I trust the weather about like I trust Google maps. Google Maps did take me down a decent dirt road for quite a ways. Once again, I was shocked by Canadian and maybe even more Albertan kindness as vehicles would almost stop when passing me so as not to throw up any dust. I’m not sure what to do when they’re so kind. Blow them kisses?

Eventually, Google Maps tried to dump me onto a road that was labeled unmaintained. Obviously, I’m not opposed to riding on unmaintained roads. However, when you don’t really believe the directions and you go down a road like that, you can end up in a farmer’s field or a dead end which is no fun on a 70 plus mile day. Accordingly, I diverted over to the trans-canadian highway. As you can tell, it doesn’t really matter where you join the Trans Canada Highway because everything looks the same for hundreds if not thousands of kilometers.

This is where the green power was really enjoyable. Ultimately, my bike moves mostly because of a two cylinder engine: my left and right thighs. These two cylinders are essentially green powered as the hamburgers at A&W are from beef that is grass-fed, hormone , and antibiotic-free. I don’t know if the root beer is green, but it tastes amazingly good on a hot day, especially in a frosty mug. Today, I had the added benefit of a marvelous green energy tailwind. It was not massively strong, but it pleasantly pushed me along. I was able to make great time, and even the huge trucks passing stopped bothering me as a smoothly sailed towards Medicine Hat.

For some reason, I had an image of medicine as being a dusty, barren wasteland on the prairie. I was pleasantly surprised to find it quite green with some beautiful riverside trails and a lot of large trees on the side streets. Unfortunately, Google Maps failed me once again and dragged me through about five extra kilometers of the city, eventually dumping me onto his street that was a busy uphill with no shoulder. That was fun. I did finally make it to a bike shop where I’m planning on doing some repairs. Thankfully, the bike, other than some broken spokes, got me to this point. We’ll see if fixing the bike is more cost-effective than buying a new one :-).