Today was a rare day where we got to see our shadows in front of our bikes for the start of the morning ride. We opted for the “Scenic Route” which meant riding west into a head wind for 8 miles and then dipping south and down into the Qu’Appelle River Valley for a 30 mile ride along the river. The detour added about 40 miles to the day, a fair bit of climbing, and about 20 miles of riding into very strong head winds, but was well worth it, as shown in the 180° panorama shot below of the river valley.
The river is nestled about 400 feet below the plains in a valley lined with Canola fields and Flax fields. The Flax flowers are blue, and when viewed from afar, you can’t tell whether you are looking at a field or a lake/river.
That is flax on the right in the foreground, and a lake in the background.
After climbing back out of the valley and a 12 mile ride directly into a headwind, we stopped for lunch and a bit of rest - those lawn chairs were pretty comfortable and we all had a little 20 minute sunbathing session (aka nap!).
We then headed east (once again) with the head wind now at our backs.
We passed through an area of Canada with the largest potash resources in the world (enough to meet the global demands for 500 years at current consumption rates). Apparently a few hundred million years ago the area was a seabed where the sea salt settled providing potash today. In the picture to the left you can see a large mountain of potash mined from a seam about three quarters of a mile underground.
One thing we have noticed over the past few days is a large number of snakes on the road, some alive, but mostly road-kill. At this point I was riding with Kelly and his wife Judy, who had been wanting all day to get a picutre of a live snake sunning itself on the road (not too smart thise snakes!) Here is an amazing shot we just chanced upon.
Well not really, we stopped by a quite large, intact dead snake which Kelly removed from its spot of demise, and repositioned in his best attempt to replicate a slither. Here is a shot of him getting a "Marlin Perkins" photo of the garter snakes of Saskatchewan - notice that the snake is in exactly the same position (dead!) as my earlier photo.
After crossing the border into our 4th province (Manitoba) we had another drop into the Assiniboine River Valley and then up the other side into the town of Binscarth where we are camped beside the highway and railroad tracks. Despite the potential for noise, we should sleep well as we have ridden for 100+ miles over each of the past two days.
Got to go now as the mosquitos which never showed up in Saskatchewan are eating me alive!
One thing we have noticed over the past few days is a large number of snakes on the road, some alive, but mostly road-kill. At this point I was riding with Kelly and his wife Judy, who had been wanting all day to get a picutre of a live snake sunning itself on the road (not too smart thise snakes!) Here is an amazing shot we just chanced upon.
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