Day 21 - Walsh, AB to Swift Current, SK

Day 21 - June 3, 2026

Start Time: 6:10 am

Stop Time: 3:45

KM Travelled: 172.6 km

Elevation: +743/ - 721 m

Special Stuff: Longest distance ride (ever), tailwind, getting better at tire changes

Today is another milestone day in that I will cross over into the third province – Saskatchewan!

I had an okay sleep last night. I felt more comfortable sleeping on the RV couch in my own sleeping bag. I wrapped the pillow with my t-shirt and used one of the hot packs that I have packed along 1,600 km.

Tonight, I want to have a shower, get some laundry done and sleep in a real bed. I’m motivated to get to a bigger town that can provide these – Swift Current! The trouble is, Swift Current is 170 km away. I look at the weather, the wind conditions, and do a check-in with my inner She-Ra: Princess of Power and decide - I can do this!

To maximize the tailwind, I need to get moving ASAP! The bike is fully loaded and balanced by 6:00, I make a bathroom pit stop and am pushing the pedals by 6:10.

3 kilometres down the road, and I’m in Saskatchewan!!! Just like that, two provinces done.

Somehow, I thought that Highway #1 would be busier than Highway #3 – that does not seem to be the case – well, for this time of year. This morning’s ride there is hardly anyone on the road. It is foggy with a reasonable visibility. I put my head up high when I hear vehicles coming (my flashing light is on the back of my helmet). The vehicles all move over to pass me, so I must be visible. I decide that if the fog gets too dense I will pull over and wait it out (but it’s not necessary).

Whoever said Saskatchewan is flat has never ridden it by bike. I was expecting a ‘flat as a pancake’ ride today, but it turns out there are a ton of hills! My elevation shows that I went both up and down, but the only downs I experience are just before the ups (when I pedal my ass off to get a run on the hill).

I have talked about coming to Saskatchewan for several summers. It was supposed to be a solo road trip with the RV. I never found the time (seems so ridiculous now that I could not find 10 days to make the trip). It feels like there is a key to a door here that I have been missing - I will look for it in the sky and listen for it in the wind.

Riding with a tailwind is amazing. I feel like I’m just biking along normally, but I look at my speedometer and I’m going anywhere between 27 and 40+ km/ hour! A tailwind does not mean an “easy” ride as I still need to put in the effort to get the favourable output. I decide that the only stops I make today are toilet breaks – and status check-ins where there is a township. Today, I fuel as I ride (a practice I normally don’t do).

I have a great chat with the gas station attendant in Tompkins and learn that a lot of bikers come through in the summer. A few have stopped in already this year. He describes one biker who flew from Montreal to Vancouver to buy a bike, and then rode it home. (So many ways to do this biking thing.)

I come to Piapot, and of course, I have to go to the bathroom. I’m super disappointed that they don’t have a gas station at the entrance to the road that goes to Piapot. This is a missed tourism opportunity – who doesn’t want to stop for a break at Piapot? I am excited to discover that 2 km down the road, there is Piapot Rest Area with the cleanest outhouses! I’m ‘relieved’ to get the full Piapot experience! Well done Piapot!

I am excited to get to Gull Lake where I plan to take a status check break – it’s a bigger town and should have services. 9 kilometers out, for no particular reason, I get this feeling that I should check my tires. The big rigs give me a good spray of water as they pass by. I squeeze the front tire – all good, I squeeze the back tire – and it is soft.

Oddly enough, I don’t feel annoyed. If I can just get to Gull Lake, I can sort this out. This time, I don’t even bother to take off my luggage. I pump up the tire and ride 3 km. I do this three times and I’m at the gas station/ restaurant in town. The tire change went pretty well. The biggest challenge was getting the tire off the rim. Once that is done, the tube change and getting it back on the frame went incredibly smooth (my cousin & her husband will be happy to hear of this progress). When I pump up my tire this time I hear two pops - which excites me - this means that the tire has seeded (where the rubber part of the tire sits firmly into the metal part). I’ve never heard this sound before - it makes me wonder if I have solved part of a problem with this back tire. Only time will tell. I decide to have a sit-down lunch at the restaurant (compensation for my toils) as I warm up, contemplate the next leg of today’s journey and consider that I now have 3 tubes left.

About an hour from Gull Lake I’m riding along a lonely stretch of highway when I hear a man shouting. I look around and there, going in the opposite direction is a bike traveller - like me. What an amazing feeling! I wave and shout back an excited “Hello”. I wish I could have crossed the meridian to have a chat - but that’s too much work. A few kilometers later, another biker did the same! Perhaps they were travelling together. Had our timing been an hour different, we might have met in Gull Lake. In that moment, I a little bit sorry for them as I realize the amazing tailwind that I a am enjoying is a nasty headwind for them.

As a rule, I have made 4:00 the absolute end of my day for cycling. I roll into Swift Current at 3:30 and it takes me 15 minutes to find my hotel. I just made the cutoff.

Today’s ride is a whopping 172.6 km! This is my longest ride ever! It may very well be my lifetime high score. It makes me smile to know that at 55 years old, I am capable of doing this! It feels good.

Now time for some food, laundry and sleep for tomorrow’s shorter ride to Chaplin.