Day 19: Bassano to Medicine Hat, AB (155.88km)

Warning: Objects viewed across the prairies are much further than they appear.

We've been finding the vistas incredible since dropping into the badlands. Although the road isn't as flat as you might imagine, the endless fields play tricks on your visual assessment of distance. Any large object, like a single tree or tower, rises tall against the flatlands and can be seen from more than fifty kilometres away. While we find this fascinating to marvel at, it can also be discouraging when you can see the only settlement for miles but have no idea how long it will take to reach it. We now consciously avoid looking too far ahead so we can focus more on our immediate surroundings. Our favorite sight so far has been the prairie dogs. We are completely enamored. We always see them standing on their hinds at the edge of the highway, watching us approach until we're within ten feet. At that point they scurry forward for another few metres before finally diving into the long grass at the side of the road. It doesn't strike me as a particularly effective survival instinct but it sure is cute.

We also had a few other characteristic 'prairie moments' throughout the day. We started from Bassano with some early storm warning signs carried by a heavy headwind and stinging rain. We had an early 'first lunch' in Brooks, where we had intended to camp when we plotted our route months ago. When we got back on the road the wind had died down and we were able to stow our rain gear so we decided to embark on the extra 100+km to Medicine Hat. Around 90km into the ride we could see a dark, ominous cloud enveloping the road and landscape in front of us. Contrary to Ontario where the sky simply opens up and storms crash down across whole regions, here it is very localized. You can distinctly see where storm clouds begin and end against a blue backdrop. So we could see a massive billowing cloud and lightening heading toward us but had nowhere to go but forward, wondering how far it was and when it would hit. It took about twenty kilometres of watching the cloud swell down the road before an eruption of machine gun like rain pelleted us while the wind tried to force us backwards to BC. We slogged along trying not to look at the endless expanse of road ahead of us before we would arrive at any form of shelter. Eventually we passed through it and came out to blue skies on the other side as we finished our ride to 'The Hat'.

The sparse settlement out here means there is literally nothing between towns (no gas stations, campgrounds, or food service). Our original trip plan had cut today and yesterday into four shorter days as we had no idea how we would handle the prairie winds or how strong we'd be feeling at this point in the trip. Because on both days we had hit our planned destinations before lunchtime, it just didn't make sense to hang around a rainy campground for an entire day. We didn't exactly want to cycle over 155km, but it was either that or 50km and another day of riding with predicted thunderstorms. Now that we have completed these two double days we are ahead of schedule. As a result we have settled into Medicine Hat and will take a day to check it out tomorrow. We are already thrilled with this decision after our delicious dinner and pint at 'The Local' pub. Our short walk has shown us a really cool city that we're happy to have the chance to visit. We will also be using one of these new free days in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan to visit with our favorite Kim and meet with a Cardiac Rehab Group.