Chuck:
The 1 km road into the RV camp that was so muddy yesterday afternoon had mostly dried. Nice day for riding; cool no wind, billowing clouds covering most of the sky. The past few hundred miles have been through mostly forest; aspen, birch, etc. Today we emerge from the forest onto the Grand Prairie. This huge prairie, known as Peace River Country, covers thousands of square miles. It was settled by farmers in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s and is the largest such area between here and the Arctic Ocean. As with the prairie land in U.S. and southern Canada, nearly all of it has now been tilled or otherwise converted from virgin prairie. In a few places across this prairie, small circular hills jut up from the flat landscape. They are almost straight up on all sides and maybe a hundred or two hundred feet high. Called kleskun hills, they were formed as the areas around them eroded since the last Ice Age, the sod on top was of course hard to access and not large enough to till, so it is still virgin prairie.
What seemed to be almost flat terrain, abruptly descended into the Smokey River valley. It is a “35mph hill”; 30 mph going down and 5 mph pumping back up. It is the longest, steepest climb yet. My cell rings as I was crossing the river, no shoulder, can’t stop now. Just across the river, but still in the valley, I lift my bike over the guard rail and return the call to Betty. Should have known the deep valley would not have good cell coverage. About half-way up is a wide spot, I’m ready for a break, I try the cell again, connected. The B-Team will be in a Staples parking lot in the city of Grand Prairie. Out of the valley, smooth sailing. The miles slowly slide behind me. “Kazing”, a little wobble in the bike,
harder to pump; better stop and check the bike. Another flat, the rear tire again. Called Betty to let her know I’ll be delayed, she said the car is already unhooked from the RV, she will pick me up and I can fix the tire in our parking lot home for the night.
Grand Prairie is much larger than I had remembered. Seems to be a clean progressive little city. There is a Canadian Brew Pub on the other side of our parking lot. We decide to visit. Brendan has been doing all the RV driving for the past week or so, I think he can smell these pubs as they approach. It was a good time, rained most of the night, never did get that tire fixed.