Journey Notes

The trip changes today from mountains to prairies. But that doesn't mean there are no hills and that the scenery is uninteresting.

I left my Mom's place in Calgary at about 10 am. I headed east on 16th avenue (the Transcanada highway while in Calgary) and was out of town quickly due to some light tail winds. I passed Chestermere Lake and later Strathmore. Both cities have lots of new development.

The route was fairly straight. I think I turned about 6 corners all day. The winds helped for some parts of the day but on others, they were a hindrance. There was a big black storm cell that seemed to follow me for quite a while but it eventually passed me to the north and only dropped a few drops of rain on me. The wind was another matter. First, it hit me with a great tail wind but after a while it turned into a really gusty cross wind that was challenging to ride in.

There were some long shallow hills that weren't problems but did slow me down (or speed me up) at times.

My allergies really acted up while in Calgary and that stayed with me for most of the day. By about 3pm, my head finally cleared up and my energy came back.

With the hills and storms, it made for a more interesting ride today than I had really thought I would get.

Rochelle arrived at the "Homecoming Campground" in Bassano, which was almost full. It was surprising since most of the campgrounds that we've come across have been next to empty. It turns out there was a Cluny Lions Club Golf tournament at a nearby golf course and many of the participants are staying here. I think that we're the only non-Lions Club members here.

As I sit here, a big prairie thunderstorm is closing in on us! Thunder, lightning and it's starting to hail. Just a typical prairie storm. And, then the double rainbow!

Tomorrow's destination is Medicine Hat, 155km to the south east. I'm hoping for good west or north west winds tomorrow.