KRAC Tour!: Day 13 - a "rest day"

During the Grand Tours and other multi-stage bicycle races, the organizers will often schedule rest days - that is to say, days when they do not race. It's a chance for the riders (and support crew) to sleep in a bit and relax, catch up on other things and to get ready and focused on the days ahead. Of course the racers all ride - they have to. The legs start to sieze up and won' turn over properly if they took the day completely off. "Active recovery" is the term generally used to describe it. Today was my rest day and the plan was to sleep in, take my time getting ready and then enjoy a nice easy spin for a few hours - 75km to Regina.

I did sleep in. Woke up at 08:30, and didn't rush to get out of bed. Had breakfast, updated the blog, did some other stuff online, and then took a nap after arranging for a late checkout. I was still feeling pretty tired, but was on the road by 12:45.

The weather forecast had been for thundershowers, and the sky was cloudy and grey. I felt a solitary drop of rain as I set out, but that was it. The tailwinds that had pushed me along so well yesterday had changed however. They had swung around and were now blowing directly in my face. Rather than "cruising" in the mid 30s I was working to maintain 19kph. This was not going to be the easy day that I had planned. Oh well - at least I hadn't planned a big day!

It started to rain. Slowly at first. Just a drop, here or there. Then another. Soon it was coming down harder than I cared to ignore, and I had to stop to pull on my rain gear. Of course the rain slowed considerably after that - just spitting enough to make me hesitate in pulling over to take of the rain kit, But the vents were all the way open and I was roasting. I met a cyclist - the first I've met since leaving BC. That isn't entirely true as I did meet two people touring yesterday - one French Canadian heading West, and another guy who had been on the road for 2 months and would eventually find his way East. But no "real" cyclists. This guy was on a new Cervelo S2 and was riding to Regina for the football game. We chatted for a while and then he went on ahead, having to be there in ~1.5hrs (that was with ~55km to go, into a stiff headwind). I laboured on, fighting the wind and wondering what had become of my "rest day". The ankle was "tweaky" - not significant pain, but enough to be ever present.

I was losing my sense of humour, and realized that my timing had been pretty poor. After breakfast at ~09:00, I hadn't eaten before rolling out at 12:45. I stopped and had some chips, and stopped again for a Snickers. I also stopped to remove my rain kit at some point. Still no decent small towns on the highway, and after being burned in the past with forays off the Trans Canada to a town that was supposed to not suck, I opted to stay the course.

Finally I made Regina in ~4:30, and stopped at Canadian Tire for some WD-40 and then at Sobeys for some chocolate milk. On a recommendation, I had Google mapped a local brewpub called the Bushwakker and rode there to scope it out. Then I found a hotel fairly closeby. Apparently the local government sets the hotel rates on Riders' game days at $160/night. All the hotels charge that or more. I managed to talk the guy into giving me the Government rate (ironic, no?) and checked in. Another ice bath, and I was on to the Bushwakker to sample its wares. (WELL worth it! If you find yourself in or near Regina, definitely check it out.) I watched the Riders come back to win in OT over Montreal, which was cool as the locals were really jacked up.

I have a line on a good massage therapist in town so if I can get an appointment I might stick around for another day. We'll see when they open in the morning. If not I'm going to hightail it out of here and see if I can't make MB by nightfall. That's another hefty day, but if the winds are with me it should be doable.

Stats:

Total Elapsed Time: 4:30hrs
Actual Ride Time: 3:52
Distance Traveled: 80.9km
Avg Speed: 20.8kph
Max Speed: 40.4kph

Apparently Robin Hood hides out in BFN, SK