Day 24 - Regina - REST DAY

Day 24 – Regina – REST DAY

June 6, 2026

Start Time: N/A

Stop Time: N/A

KM Travelled: 0 by bike

Elevation: 0 by bike

Special Stuff: Wisdom of fellow bikers, Mosaic Stadium, weather forecasts

My circadian rhythm wakes me up at 4:00 am. I had one episode of leg cramps in the night (which I very seldom get). I need to do some research into what nutrient I may be missing. I suspect it is calcium, potassium and/ or magnesium. Maybe I need to eat more bananas because monkey never cramps (see the bottom of this post for the link to the Blue Jay player Kawasaki’s comments on this - it makes me laugh every time I watch it!).

I eat 2 bananas with breakfast.

I haven’t thought much about what I will do today – all I know is that it needs to be super low key. No walking or biking for long periods out in the sun. I find being in the direct, hot sun is one of the biggest challenges for me – I’d rather ride on a rainy day. I’m going to look for some tips for helping me out with this.

Using my rest day effectively (not necessarily efficiently) is important. It can prevent problems down the road.

My ‘to do’ list for today:

-              Find out more about keeping things cool on the bike

-              Book chain replacement in Winnipeg

-              Laundry

-              Restock supplies – which might mean going to a bike shop

-              Maybe a treatment at the spa. (I know it’s a big luxury, but there is a spa right next door to the hotel – maybe it is meant to be.)

My body is pretty tired – I’ve ridden 528 km the past 4 days.

Something I’ve noticed about the prairies is that things are super-sized. Big fields, big trucks, big equipment, big sky, spread-out cities, etc. To get around Regina would take me a lot of pedal power – power I want to put back into the ‘battery pack’ for the next stretch of the ride. Sightseeing will need to wait for another day when I have a vehicle.

At noon, I have energy to venture out of the hotel. I get a cab to the bike shop – Western Cycle Source for Sports. The cab driver has a cold, which I really hope I don’t catch! At the bike shop, I have a great conversation with the sales manager who says dark clothing is 10% hotter on the bike (I wear a dark wool shirt because light coloured wool is hard to find). I need to find lighter clothing. He also tells me to hydrate with electrolytes in every drink – I have only been doing this here and there. I buy my goods and get a taxi back to the other end of town where I hit up a post office, London Drugs, the Bass Pro Shop and Subway for supplies. En route to the shops we pass the Mosaic Stadium that seats 50,000 people. My first impression is that Regina is a bit underwhelming, but that stadium is pretty darn cool!

I opt to skip the spa and instead choose to stretch, roll out my muscles and sit in the hot tub. I figure I’ll get more out of self care than a spa treatment.

With all my materials now in hand for getting on the road tomorrow, I go for dinner. I check my route and the weather conditions. The weather forecast puts me on guard – ORANGE ALERT - TORNADO WARNING for tonight with thunder shower and hail tomorrow. This requires a “go”/ “no go” decision! I know nothing about tornados except what I learned watching the Wizard of Oz. I also don’t know the land that I will be travelling into. The forecast into Monday looks more agreeable. I think Mother Nature is telling me to take another rest day. I check in with Brian to make sure I’m not overreacting. I make the call to secure my room for another night and book a spa treatment (why not).

In the hot tub after dinner, I chat with some travellers who live in Saskatchewan. I ask about the region I will be travelling into and a woman tells me it is quite different than other parts of Saskatchewan with more extreme weather conditions. She lets me know that in Saskatchewan, you can see bad weather coming from a long, long ways ahead because the sky is so big and it’s so flat There has been, and continues to be so much to learn.

Here’s a sweet picture from Brian. He’s been plotting my journey on a map.

Videoclip: Blue Jays player Munenori Kawasaki’s comments on “monkey never cramps”: https://youtu.be/LdGai72Tt8Y?si=r5GoSJqRPXhenGMc)