Day 18 Medicine Hat, AB to Gull Lake, SK

Woke up this morning in the Klok guest room which kind of beats my tent.  Cousin Richard drove me back to camp at 6 am and so the day began. It was great being billeted for a night and spending a bit of time with my family.

As today was to be a long, hot day, everything got moved up a half hour and we were on the road by 6:40.  Biked mostly with a group of 5. It was 20 degrees already.  Again the road shoulders along the TCH were excellent.  At least in Alberta. Saskatchewan side could be better, but wasn't as bad as predicted. We were on the TCH the whole day.

The winds were somewhat favourable today, coming from the SSW, so mostly cross breeze right to left with a slight tail wind, so could've been a whole lot worse.

By 9 am we hit the SK border, 51 klm into our ride. Lots of pictures being taken there of course. Our second rest stop was hosted by the Maple Creek Assembly of God church. Lots of goodies and the slightly frozen mixed berries in a cup were the best.

Shortly before that I came by cousin Harry and Audrey. Harry's bike was upside down and the rear tire was off.  I stopped and Harry exclaimed "third flat in three days!"  Yup, one of the two things that  cyclists don't like - headwind and flats.   But we got it fixed and on the road again.  One guy had three flats we heard at pelaton meeting tonight, so then only one doesn't seem as bad. Right Harry?

Not much to look at today it seemed, a few black beef cows and dry land. Surprisingly there were a number of good climbs to keep it interesting.  The last 25 klm, after the last sag stop, were a little tough, but then the last 20 klm of any day are a little tougher anyhow.  It was getting pretty hot, over 30 degrees, and today is probably the most water I've gone through so far. There was an ice cream stand by that last sag stop but I passed thinking ice cream wouldn't be good to do with that many klm left. But the 3 guys I was biking with did and that seemed to give them a lot of pep. Go figure.

Rolled into Gull Lake at 3:00. Gull Lake is on a bit of a hill.  Last guy in was old Jim around 5:00.  He left camp this morning at 6.  Now that's a long  day.  Right now I am at a little restaurant I town having a beer and using their wifi.  Tomorrow is slightly shorter at around 135 klm.

Totals for today: 166 klm (101 miles), 6:39 pedalling, and a 25.0 kph avg. Glad to have this one done, but really glad no head wind to speak of.