The nerds are back! Thanks to everyone who was asking if I'm feeling better! I'm fine now after taking a day off in Swift Current just reading, playing 3DS, and watching some Tour de France. I picked up a few meds to help recovery but I think the bug had basically run its course. There's no time you miss home more than when you feel awful and can't even get a decent night's rest. After two and a half days it's good to be back to normal.
Today we hit the road again and took advantage of a massive tailwind to fly all the way over to Moose Jaw! Maybe we were able to channel Mark Cavendish for some extra speed as well. In Saskatchewan we've had to plot two destinations for each day, depending on whether the wind is with us or against us. It's basically a coin toss whether you can do 150+ km or less than 100.
We were told by a cyclist back in BC that each province has its challenges, and we've been thinking about Saskatchewan's. Of course the coin toss of the wind is one, but what we decided is that it's basically a desert in disguise. The sun beats down on you and there's no escape, and rest stops between cities are extremely rare. Even some of the towns we've passed through are basically deserted to the point where there isn't even a place to fill up on water or get food.
Since we got a bunch of questions in the comments, we'll just answer them here!
Why watch TdF on a tour?
To channel the power of cyclists much stronger than we are! It seemed to pay off today. ;)
Clothes and hygiene?
We actually have two pairs of basically everything (cycle shirts, cycle shorts, socks, shoes, underwear) plus a set of casual pants and tshirt. Usually we can just alternate our riding gear until we get a chance to wash them, and our alternate shoes are actually $8 Canadian Tire water shoes we wear around camp so our cycling shoes can air out / dry. We've had to do some ghetto laundry out of motel room sinks to keep our stuff relatively clean, though! Hobo showers are actually pretty common, though ours may be even more hobo since we sometimes just use personal wipes to clean the pits and nether regions.
Cash money?
This actually hasn't been a problem at all. Even in the smallest towns they seem to take debit and visa, but we try to have some cash on hand just in case.
Gatorade vs water?
To be honest we haven't noticed any big performance boost on the days we've been drinking Gatorade. It might give some more energy just because of the sugar but we definitely don't rely on it. It may be hard to tell since we eat lots of little snacks throughout the day.
Bike differences?
My bike is a Brodie Argus but it seems to be more in the road bike family than the hybrid. It's just a tankier road bike with the gearing more suited for hills (which definitely helped in BC) and has wide hybrid tires and disc brakes, along with bar end friction shifters which can take (and have taken) a beating. Jason's Trek Alpha 100 series (we're not positive on the name) is a more typical road bike and is definitely in its element as we ride on flatter terrain. The thinner, higher psi tires definitely have Jason rolling more efficiently here. Aluminum frame vs my steel probably helps as well. Aside from a few derailleur issues it's been doing great!
Playlists?
Not a full listing, but here are some of the albums that have been listened to a bunch of times so far. :)
Jan - Cake (Comfort Eagle), Justice (Audio Video Disco), Kaiser Chiefs (Employment), with the occasional upbeat Japanese rock from The Pillows and Beat Crusaders.
Jason - Blue Sky Black Death, Girl Talk, Trent Reznor (The Social Network), Daft Punk (Alive, Discovery).
Nerds out!
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