Brandon to Sidney
On the road by 8:05 again to extreme cloud cover, therefore, raingear! Brandon, like Medicine Hat, is one 'drawn out' town. When we came in from the south yesterday we travelled 5 km to our motel and it was another 8 km to the Trans Canada with 'one honking climb' out of town. Heading off on the Trans Canada was when the real challenge began. Another very strong 'EAST' wind challenged our stamina for the first 40 km. Good thing in this area that the road was good with big wide shoulders. After kilometre 40 things got much worse. It began to rain and the highway deteriorated into a shoulderless mess. Hard to believe that this is our 'National Highway' linking the country together by road! We were forced to put our red flashing lights on and 'go play in traffic'! Not a fun situation when it is also 8 degrees and raining hard!
Today was another one of those days where it is hard to see anything as concentration on where you are riding was of the utmost importance. We passed through cropland where potatoes are grown and irrigation equipment re-appeared. We passed through lots of bushland (good thing because it partially blocked the wind) and then into some gently rolling areas of not much at all.
We are camping in the Shady Oak Campground (really do not need the shade since it is still raining) outside of Sidney. We are sitting on a veranda of a small cabin in the campground staying out of the steady rain. We intend to have dinner under the roof.
Daily Distance = 77.01 km. Time on the bikes = 6 hours. Average Speed = 12.75 km. Maximum Speed = 31.12 km. Wildlife Sightings = Ruddy Ducks, Blue Winged Teal, Shovellers, Red Headed Duck, Black Tern (all before it started to rain). Phoebe.
Kevin = 3 Sue = 0.
I 'think' we are still having fun!
