Day 19
Kindersley to Outlook
Distance: 154 km
Temp: measured 40 degrees on the road

Amazingly my legs were on deck today, and ready for action.
I hauled them into my office last night (my tent) and gave them a good talking to.
Some harsh words were exchanged and they threatened to call the union, but we were able to come to an amenable agreement.

Luckily Lewis’ legs were also in the mood for some fun; so we hammered it for most of the day, coming into camp second! (He left way before us, and we caught all the other early riser and early leavers.)

The weather was hot and dry, becoming quite oppressive at times, but the roads were generally flat and fast moving, except for most of the morning where we had our trusty sidekick the headwind, now come to be known affectionately as ‘Hedwig.’
Hedwig; our reliable companion who is at our heads more than we’d care to think about and at our tails not nearly enough.
I am way more fond his Hedwig’s cousin, Tailwig, who sometimes drops by for a visit, although we don’t see him nearly enough.

I think I must be getting used to the scenery as today I found it quite meditative, as I was able to get into a good rhythm, with the help of Bob Marley, and some good techno beats-nothing quite like flying past corn fields listening to some good tunes.

At one point we came over a little hill and saw a field of blue, thinking at first that we’d come across a lake, but it turned out to be flax. Who knew it was so blue?

We got into Outlook in good time, (Outlook has the longest pedestrian bridge in the world by the way,) and got into camp all hot and bothered; to remedy this we went for a swim in the South Saskatchewan River, which was freezing cold.

Galley duty was not without drama, as it started thunder showering mid way through, although we had cover under a picnic area which saved is from certain soppiness.
To add to the drama, our ‘team’ is still having issues, as one member decided to go into town just as we started preparations, to find Saskatoon berry pie (he didn’t) and left the three of us to prepare the meal.
In addition to this, one of the riders insulted our meal, and told Lewis that he wouldn’t feed it to his dog!
(We were all taken a back as we made fettuccini Romano which as far as I could taste, was as good as restaurant quality.)
Poor Lewis has taken it personally, but I figure when you cook for 27 hungry sometimes grumpy cyclists, you’re not always going to please everyone.
The offending party later apologized and was forgiven, tempers do flare when one is tired, hungry and having to deal with the Canadian elements, bugs included.

We’ll see what drama unfolds tomorrow morning.