Half a day to Rosetown

5th July: Kindersley to Rosetown

Odometer: 84 km, Start: 10.00am, Finish: 2.15pm, Avg: 23.8 km/h,
Weather: Overcast, westerly wind, Temp: 14-17°C
Mosquito Bites: 50, Hills walked: 0
Road Conditions: #7, 1.5-2m shoulder, very good. Traffic light to moderate, some trucks. No services. Ascent: 160m up/240m down.

I had a shorter ride today from Kindersley to the next town Rosetown. It was still 85km, though. This will help me with the distances between destination towns for the next few days. There was also the warning of thunder storms this afternoon / evening that I didn’t want to be caught up in. (A tornado touched down yesterday near a town I’m passing through soon). The weather will be slightly better over the next couple of days (then sunny and hot after that), so it just wasn’t worth pushing on today.

Nice barn and battered old wind vane

Close up of the wind vane

So I had a steady ride just rolling along, still with a welcome westerly wind. The scenery was still flat and featureless and the weather dull and overcast, but every now and again the sun would poke through a hole in the clouds and illuminate something below. I’d wait for these moments and get the camera out quickly for a photo.

The sunlight just caught the roof as I cycled past

Clouds over Canola

I had a lunch break about half way. I even managed to find a spot just off the road by the side of the rail track that was bug free! Actually there weren’t that many bugs today. It rained overnight, which helped, I suppose and the grass by the roadside had been cut back around here. This gave an extra few metres to the mosquito front-line.

My lunch spot. Mosquito free!

If the Prairie wind should ever come from the east...

I didn’t take too long over lunch as the skies were already beginning to darken. After a while, I could see showers falling at various spots around me ahead. I rode on wet roads, but I seemed to miss the showers. That’s not to say I didn’t get wet. Every now and again a truck would pass and hose me down.

Storm clouds gathering ahead

I spent some of the afternoon in a cafe in Rosetown. I proved a popular attraction and I had quite a few conversations with people about my trip. Rosetown is a friendly place. I also spoke to a British guy who was able to give me some info on the road coming up that was very useful.