Cana-Indian Guy Cross Canada - Tour Du Canada 2012: Day 14 – Airdrie – Drumheller – Wednesday July 4th, 2012

This morning we set to Drumheller, the world famous sites for dinosaur fossils and the famous badlands with fantastic rock formations. We were also very excited to get here as we get a rest day in Drumheller.

We woke up around 6.20 am and after answering nature calls, having a pancake, oatmeal and yoghurt breakfast we set out around 8 am. The wind was at our back for the morning and we (Keith, Ron and Michael) zoomed past various small towns and Michael and I stopped at pioneer acres for a picture of a tractor on pole (we called it “the bad parking job”). At the next gas stop we stopped for a coffee and had one of our pancakes. We saw a few deer cross the fields and because of bald prairies we saw them run away for a long while. After a few more hours of cycling we were about 120 km in to our ride where after making a turn we were faced with a headwind. How much the wind was helping us we didn’t realize until we faced the winds head on. We were joined by Robert and Chris at around 60km and then saw Emilie on side road trying to fix a flat, which she didn’t have a patch for. We were on road after Keith gave her a spare patch and pumped the tires up.

There was a brief side trip which would lead us through the badlands and mentioned some of the fantastic vistas of the canyon and the reason why it makes the fossil finds more special. This meant that in order to get a good view we would have to dip down the red deer valley and then climb a 12% hill for 1.6 km, cross the river in a short ferry service and then climb another 12% hill for 1.1 km. The first climb was excruciatingly difficult with a 40km/h headwind in our face and even after the hill was done we were averaging around 10k/h at the most. The descent although brought me to the speeds of 72km/h. The second climb although prescribed tough but due to an assisting tailwind we didn’t face as much difficulties as the first one. Since Keith and Emilie were on cooking crew tonight they sped through the Horse thief canyon lookout while we waited to Robert and Michael. Michael had a minor read deraileiur adjustment on the ferry and while climbing the 2^nd hill his chain skipped, got caught in 2 spokes and he ended up breaking 2 spokes which left his read wheel wobbling out of whack. We thought we had missed the lookout point (highly recommended stop) but we saw the lookout directions and Ron and I stopped there while Robert and Michael wanted to get in to camp so they can fix the wheel. The lookout was spectacular and it made the canyon look like the Grand Canyon of Canada. We also discovered (according to the information poster) that “canola oil” has its origin from Canada oil, something we didn’t knew until then. We learn new things on road every day.

From the lookout there was a nice downhill that almost carried us to the camp and we reached speeds of 65+ on the downhill. We set up camp, had dinner (Alfredo Pasta, salad and ice-cream and cookies), had shower and then did laundry. Ron, Keith, Michael and I just sat outside of laundry and had great laughs at the end of tiresome day.

The enlightenment of day today was the fact that anything of value comes, usually, after a bit of tough time. The fantastic views in horsethief canyon would not have been possible if we hadn’t climbed that tough 12% hill, twice. The higher you climb, the better the view, the broader the perspective. The fact that we had solid headwinds made the climb more brag worthy and it also made us realize that no matter what time of day we had come in, we would have faced them as many early riders faced same winds. The saying of “when going gets tough, the tough get going” was clearly applicable today and we can’t deny that we made the best of the day. At one point the wind was blowing sideways and we had to tilt our bike at 10 degrees in to the wind to prevent falling down. Adapting to situations has also been one of the better lessons learned today. So if there are situations that are currently acting as wind gusts and frustrating you, remember that the view after climbing the mountain will be worthy of effort.