Day 15 – Cypress Hills – Maple Creek – Eastend – “Bike wobble, Reno Storm”
Km’s traveled: 153.9km
Overall average: 16.2km/hr
Moving average: 40.7km/hr
Total time: 9hr 30min
Moving time: 3hr 47min
Stopped: 5hr 43min
I don’t know what was worse today, this morning or this evening. I woke up this morning and packed up as normal, got the bike all loaded up and went to leave the park. That’s when I noticed the front tire wobbling. It felt as if the tire was going to fly right off, or wobble so bad it flips the bike. I pulled into the gas station at the park where I got the number for a “Alf’s car service” located back in Maple Creek. Thinking it was the bearing, and with only a small town around, I was pretty screwed, I would need a lot of luck, doubt i’ll be getting out of here today. I made the call before leaving the park, after explaining the bike problem, I was told to bring the scooter up and they would look at it. I said we should be there within 2 hours (normally about 30 min ride).
Finally arriving at Alf’s car service I spoke to Keith who was more then glade to help. They had my bike in and apart within an hour. After discovering it was the bearing, they went hunting for one at the parts shop down the road, I was in luck. They had bearings that would fit my bike.
Slightly after 2 hours later my bike was back together with no added wobble, my wallet was $170 lighter, but I was back on the road. Off towards Reno.
Here’s the man of the hour now…
Keith – the life/ trip saver
Passing Cypress Hills Provincial Park I could see a storm off in the distance. I was pretty sure I could stay off to the east end of the storm, until it decided to wrap around and I got caught in some intense lightening Below are 4 photos from a 2½ min video clip takin while driving on highway 13.
During one of the strikes I was completely blinded for a few seconds, everything went white, thats when I knew it was way too dangerous to be driving a solid metal lightening rod in the prairies during a lightening storm. I turned around and went to the first farm I could find. As I pulled in a fairly big gentle dog came up to greet me as the front door of the house opened and appeared a middle-aged man in the door way. I approached him asking if I could find cover from the storm in his old barn or house next door. He said no, come inside here, warmer and safer (little did I know at the time exactly how right he would be, as I would later find out lightening hit the old house next door, twice if I recall right). After entering and removing all the wet layers of clothing, I was offered a nice pork chop and rice supper with fresh blueberry’s topped with fresh cream for desert.
After supper we talked and watched some TV till the storm passed. It was only about an hour later and the storm was fully ahead of me and this was the view from the back side after the storm
Leaving Bert’s, his 5 dogs, and 110 year old farm behind, I was back on the road. On my way towards Eastend I kept passing things crawling across the road, I couldn’t tell what they were where it was too dark and so were they. When I came across another patch I stopped to check it out, it was a bunch of gecko type things crossing, I have never seen anything as weird as that looked.
Finally arriving into Eastend, I found a self-registration campground, found a site, turned the bike off. And for f**k sakes wouldn’t you know it, it decides to start down pouring again. I rushed to get the tent set up with my stuff and me safe inside for the night. I’m cold, wet, tired and glade the day is over.
