Another glorious day for a bike ride. The day began with a big slow breakfast and a little tour of the town of Wynyard whose large chicken processing plant appears to be keeping the town economically afloat. Did not hit the road well after noon.

It is a flat run between Wynyard and Yorkton. I get the benefit most of the day of a gentle tailwind. Here is an effort by Leisa to get a photo of me on the road. The careful observer will note the one part of my body that is getting sunburned. My right calf.

All along this stretch of road, there is a big effort to maintain the natural roadside sloughs, where water can collect, marshland can be maintained and waterfowl can breed. Many farmers instead flatten their fields right up to the road edge destroying this habitat and only ever so slightly increasing their growing acreage. In seasons like this one, where 11 inches of rain has already fallen compared to the average full year rainfall of 8-10 inches, those who flattened their fields have suffered the most because they no longer have the marshland to absorb the extra water. Those that have left them natural also make the landscape look beautiful.

The town of Foam Lake has a motto that reads “the best place on earth to live.” Apparently there was a survey done that proves it. In any case, it, like Wynyard, is very much connected to all the conservation efforts associated with the birds of Quill Lake.

The visitor centre has direction and distance signs to a variety of cities so I get permission to add the town where this journey began.

I make it to the town of Theodore, which has preserved its grain elevator. Shortly thereafter, I cycle over what must be a bed of razor sharp staples as I get a double puncture, all the way through the thick rubber, carbon and Kevlar tire bead.

I decide to take advantage of my sag wagon and hitch a ride to Yorkton and do the repairs in a hotel room after dinner at a Japanese restaurant and ice cream at Yorkton’s famous hard ice cream shoppe. Yorkton makes the audacious claim to have more restaurants per capita than any other city in Canada. I am not convinced.

We get to enjoy our last sunset in Saskatchewan the night before we head into Manitoba.

Stats – for Friday 29 June 2012

Start: Wynyard
Finish: Yorkton
Distance: 101 km (to Theodore)
Time on Bike: 3 hrs 56 min
Average Speed: 25.5 km/hr
Distance to Date: 3,212 km