IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED...

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IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED...

Saturday, 23 June 2007

Took Silver out today, as I REALLY wanted to locate the TransCanada Trail in Moose Jaw, and I wasn’t sure how rough it would be. It would pretty much be my last chance to do so, as we’re leaving for Regina on Sunday. Needless to say I completely botched up the first times I tried to locate it. I rode directly from our motel to where I though it would be & in fact found a large sign which seemed to indicate I should turn left at the next corner. I wound up in an industrial area, which went nowhere, so I returned to the sign & after examining it closely, as well as the surrounding terrain, I said “oh, well, I’ll just go for a ride”.

Went along some gravelled roads for about 15-17 km, past nice farms, one or two abandoned homes, trying to get back to some pavement, as it’s hard to go as fast as I’d like to on gravel. I also hadn’t packed much for lunch and wanted to get back to town to eat. However I’d chosen one of the many back roads around here which end in someone’s driveway, so I had no choice but to go back the way I’d come. The GPS showed clearly how I’d come (which I did know) and it showed the highway I was trying to reach. It just didn’t show how I’d be able to get there.

On this return trip I happened to notice what looked like a trail just to the left of the TCT sign which I’d seen earlier, so I gave it a try. FINALLY - the TransCanada Trail! It was basically just a cut-grass trail, not particularly well-groomed, compared to the one between Kanata & Carleton Place, but it was quite obvious & easy to follow once I recognized it for what it was. It took me back to a street in Moose Jaw from where I could go downtown, do some banking (thank goodness for ATM’s), get some sundries at the drug store, and get some lunch. After lunch I went to a Moose Jaw mall dollar store & got a few more things, which all but exceeded my packing capabilites (more for bulk than for weight), then phoned in & reported to Bob that I was OK & planning to be out another couple of hours.

Then I went exploring some other trail possibilites - there is an even longer trail around Moose Jaw called the Rotary Trail and I wanted to test it out as well. With some trial & error I did find it, as well as a huge parkland area in the middle of a housing development which had prairie dogs all over the place - it was all I could do to avoid them at times. This trail took me to the southern end of the city, from which I worked my way gradually back up to the motel. One thing I found really weird there is they have two or three small stretches of road, say, Manitoba Street, which are separated from each other by railroad tracks, rivers, or what-have-you, and there is no physical connection between them. So I could have been on one stretch of Manitoba St, which I was, and it would not have taken me to a stretch of Manitoba St which I wanted to go to - kind of difficult if you’re not used to it.

DAY 5: Out & about Moose Jaw - 60.7 km, in 4:07 hours, ave. speed 14.7 km/hr, max speed 40.4 km/hr

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