Day 41: Saskatoon, SK to Colonsay, SK

Saskatoon is not a big city (330 000 people), but it takes up a large area of the prairies. We were happy to have a local, Chris Ryder, along for the ride to show us a good way out of town – and it took 15km of winding through the pretty suburbs and outskirts. 

It wouldn’t be us without a forced stop for bike mechanics. Fortunately this one was right at the start. John at Bike Universe dropped everything to put Bron’s slipping derailleur right, and the detour only meant an extra 5km and two additional crossings of the South Saskatchewan River. 

This part of Saskatchewan is all flat wheat fields and potash mines. The ride along the Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16) was fairly easy with a nifty tailwind and polite drivers. We had to put our heads down for a few narrow construction zones but generally we had a wide, comfortable shoulder. 

All three of us know this road well as it leads towards BHP’s Jansen potash project, which we have all worked on at various stages. We’re not actually on the Trans Canada Trail here – we have taken a diversion to get us to Jansen. More on that tomorrow.

A surprisingly pleasant lunch at the very purple Clavet Cafe sustained us for the  afternoon’s 30km to Colonsay where we rolled into the tiny but spotless Colonsay Motel and on to the Colonsay Bar and Chinese Food for another excellent meal. 

The biggest surprise for today is how dry the landscape is. Heat combined with very little rain from May to August meant an early harvest this year. And many of the lakes and ponds that dot the landscape here are dry. 

We thoroughly enjoyed having company for the day, especially on a highway riding day when it’s easy to fall into heads-down trundling to get the kilometres done. 

It’s also great just to be on the bikes and on this epic trip again after a full year. We have missed the pain, sweat and dust!

Today’s distance: 71km on Treaty 6 land

Today’s climb: 120m (mostly on the bridges!)

Total distance: 3,094km