Mark's Tour du Canada: Day Twenty Two

Last night the rain fell periodically on my tent. Not nearly as hard than it did during diner when we were under the tent shelter with the walls on (the walls have never been used until this point). Every so often I would have to use the end of a broom to remove the pooling water in the roof before it clasped the shelter.

After a very good sleep out of the rain I got up a little late at 6 because today we were only going 126 km. I know that sounds ridiculous but we have already done two days over 170 km back so 126 is "easy".

The cue sheet today said that the route was mainly flat with a couple of climbs out of the Qu'Appelle valley and out of the Asineboine river valley. Both valleys were very beautiful and peaceful. The were very green and most people would not recognize these areas as Saskatchewan.

I was lucky enough to ride with Arlen today. He is a very strong cyclist and he has a lot of stories to tell about his life of 68 years. People can learn a lot from him if they listen. He is also very positive and has a lot of knowledge about the tour as this is his second time doing the tour.

There was an option for an alternate route to avoid some rough road. We chose the rough road to avoid doing the extra 40 km. That rough road also cost me a PBJ that dropped from my bag when I hit a bump. Also one tube that has a slow leak that I still haven't changed as I was on galley duty and had to cook dinner once I finished my ride.

The perogie and salad that we ate was good. It even made it better to have cake as dessert because we celebrated the leaving of another province. We are in Manitoba now. Three done and more than I want to think about to go.

As John says most days when he rides into camp "Day 22 in the books".