ME AGAIN, the world’s greatest living DR650 stunt rider. Today I’ve been trying to think of a catchy marquee name to go with the riding-while-dead-asleep trick. All I can come up with is “The Lullaby Kid.”
Yesterday I rode 430 miles to get to Bill B’s place in Crossfield, just north of Calgary, Alberta. Wind conditions were monstrous, in keeping with the spirit of the journey so far. I had maybe two hours of steady wind, where you can just snug up against it and go. The rest of the day had me making 20 different counter-steering inputs per minute, a continuous struggle to keep the bike under control and in its own lane. And just when you think you’ve got it a 32-wheeler blows by going 20mph faster, so there’s that.
But there’s no such thing as a bad day in the saddle. That’s a fact.
The piglet and I rode Trans Canada Highway 1 through Moose Jaw, then Swift Current (which everyone around here calls Speedy Creek), then out of Saskatchewan and into Wild Rose Country.
Here’s one… They’re everywhere.
Medicine Hat’s the first town of any size you ride through in Alberta. Rudyard Kipling once said, “This part of the country seems to have all Hell for a basement, and the only trap door appears to be Medicine Hat.”
The city’s built on a rock formation saturated with natural gas.
I usually hang my medicine hat on my highway peg.
The day was warm and the night refreshingly cold, down to 40. I slept in Bill and Gerrie’s tent camper in the driveway. Will do so again tonight.
Bill and I took a little tour today of the Canadian Badlands, home to dinosaur fossils from the deep-time history of the Earth.
You can see hoodoo formations being exposed here by erosion.
The softer limestone columns underneath wear away faster than the harder capstones.
Last summer I posted a few pics of similar formations I saw on the road to Zion, in Utah.
The wind ought to smooth out tomorrow when I get off the high plains and up and over the Rockies. Next stop is Bob and Janey’s place in the Fraser River Valley of British Columbia.
Tony DePaul, June 5, 2019, Crossfield, Alberta, Canada
Thanks for great photos and the always excellent narrative. Be safe, stay hydrated!
Regards, Will
Good to see you again Tony! Oil and filter on the Ford have been changed and I’m good to go until it warns me again. Safe travels and hope to see you in Farragut State Park, Idaho in July! We’ll have room for your tent on the pad at our campsite.
Go north young man, then you’ll have the wind at your back.
In spite of the winds, there is something relaxing and calming in the plains. As if your roots are awaking to the return from where they once came. I find the plains mesmerizing, good for an afternoon nap. Oh, yeah, right you did that. Well, next time get the order of things right.
There is a roadside tombstone /carved ceremonial stones on the right after you pass Haines Junction. Stop and read the inscriptions and look at the hand carvings. Very impressive site for the passing of a young native man not too long ago.
You know if the winds are at your left and you’re leaning into them you’re going to wear out the left side the bike much faster… good thing the winds will be at your right on the way home. Even things out and all that.
The beauty of the land…
Welcoming friends…
Still the wind.
Glad you stayed on the road this time! Love you, Dad!