June 22 - Day 19 - The Whitewood Century

Our day began today with a scrumptious breakfast in the Home Suites Hotel on the east side of Regina.  I have to say this is the best roadside hotel I have ever stayed at and one that all the others should take a lesson from.  Many small comforts that made our overnight stay a real treat, with my favourites being the coffee machine that dispensed fresh ground coffee by the cup any way you wanted it, and the fresh baked cookies available 24/7. 

 Ready to roll out of Regina

 We could tell from the flags in the area that the wind was again in our favour, and with our snazzy new outfits, how could we not have a great day.  The Champion Systems gear was extremely comfortable, lightweight, and looked like a million bucks, even if I do say so myself.  They are turning some heads, ok a lot of heads, but I guess if you walk around looking like a 6’4” banana, that is going to happen

Sid and I have been trying to put in a strong 2 hour stint every morning, to get our day started, and today we managed over 60km, even while stopping twice to repair flats on Sid’s rear wheel (changing the tire for tomorrow) making the score 6-3 for Sid.  We realized that at this pace our scheduled destination for the day, Grenfell would be bypassed by lunch so Plan B was to target one of two locations farther down the road which might give us a shot at Brandon, Manitoba on Monday. 

Pretty cool 3D Grenfell welcome sign

Mother Nature turned on the faucet at about 90km, and we ditched into a gas station/convenience store in Wolseley and tried to wait out the rain.  When that appeared pointless, we called trusty Jon, and he was there in 15 minutes so we could grab our rain gear and get back on the road.  As always happens when you put on the rain gear, the sun comes out, so it was off, then on, then off again, as localized storms appeared all around us, but we were quite lucky and missed most of the wet stuff.  Our pace remained strong all day, and we were able to reach our farthest option Whiterock, SK., at around 5pm. 

One of those storms

Our total distance for the day was 168km, making that a second century ride for the boys over the last three days, and getting us close to being back on our original schedule.  Sid and I are quite proud of that, and hey, we know we had wind assist, and it was relatively flat terrain, but that is a lot of miles for these old dudes, or anyone for that matter.  Brandon is still a long way from  Whitewood…….we don’t have wifi or phone service to check, but we are thinking about 190km, which would mean yet another century ride…….if the wind gods are in our favour it could be done, but will make that a game time decision in the morning. 

Great chicken fajita dinner tonight prepared in camp, and every bit as good as those I had at Chilis in Regina yesterday.  Only cold showers available here in Whitewood, so I stood and stared at the water for 15 minutes hoping it would magically clean me……..eventually took the plunge and froze my ass off.   Good night all.......will have to post this tomorrow......no wifi.......love y'all......Hugh

Just another one of those unique properties you see out on the road........I think this is brilliant

LYJ