Wendy
- The only hill that matters is the one you're currently trying to get over, so don't worry about the really big one coming up until you get there, because there's really no point (unless of course by thinking about it ahead of time you can arrange to not have to go over it).
- People in cars and people on bikes mean different things when they say that the road is flat.
- The road between Gleichen and Bassano really is flat.
- When you have a head wind, every road is uphill.
- When you have a tail wind, every road is downhill.
- Going downhill can be worse than going uphill, just depends on the weather conditions (picture going down a 60km hill with 8% grade when it is 5 degrees outside and pouring rain... going uphill required work but it lets you warm up again).
- When you're working hard enough, all food tastes great.
- Having a reliable source of hugs is a really good thing.
- When you really need something, somehow you'll get it.
- Nothing makes getting over the next hill easier than having a really good distraction (thanks Matthew).
- The more stuff you take with you, the more your butt will hurt.
- Walking a mile in your bike shoes is a bad idea. It is very conducive to spending lots of money on a comfier pair of shoes. With that said, biking in your biking shoes is a wonderful idea... unless of course you try to stop without unclipping.
- Falling over with your feet still attached to your bike (because you were so tired that you forgot to unclip them) is a really strange experience, makes for an interesting change of perspective. Especially when your traveling companions are so tired that they just stand there and look at you funny.
- Optimists will get you into trouble, but pessimists will just suck the life right out of you (courtesy of Shayne).
- Dirt roads suck.
- Highways without shoulders are worse.
- Prairie dogs can run pretty fast (one of them kept up with me for a few minutes).
- If someone says to you "Once you get past blank the road is pretty flat" it means that just before you get to blank there is a really big hill.
- If you see a river on your map, odds are that it is at the bottom of the valley and you are going to have to bike down into the valley and then back up again.
- You really can see Regina for most of the day when you're biking from West to East, but we could only see Winnipeg for a couple of hours.
- I'd rather bike uphill than into a 70km/h wind.
- Saskatchewan smells like honey.
- $40 worth of fresh fruit makes a great afternoon snack for six people (as long as you throw in a few bagels and croissants and stuff).
- Biking for 6 hours a day is a wonderful cure for both insomnia and indigestion.
- Drivers on 2 lane highways are often more considerate than those on 4 lane highways.
- Sweating a lot is really good for your skin.
- If you have a deadline for getting somewhere it will turn out that you've horribly miscalculated the distance that you need to travel (this happened to us on our first day and to Christine and Erin on their last day).
- Only biking from Victoria to Winnipeg when you had originally planned on going all the way to Toronto does non mean you failed, it just means you succeeded in getting to Winnipeg.
- They call Saskatchewan "The Land of the Living Skies" and I think they're right. Sunsets there are amazing.