A recent article in Trail Runner (Aug 2010) gave me reason to reconsider ditching my bike. I headed out to a favorite route that loops from South Cooking Lake to Miquelon Lake Provincial Park (100 km with a couple of side trips thrown in).
I've cycled this route many times, particularly when I was training for my tour to New Mexico. The main roads have wide and generally smooth shoulders and the secondary roads have little traffic, including bike traffic. Cars are still few, thankfully, but cyclists were everywhere. (In reality I probably only saw a dozen cyclists but it seemed like a lot compared to the typical zero.)
Roads are fun and relaxing to ride when they look like these.
These horses were more tightly coiled in a single mass when I first passed them. It was some sort of group grooming/petting/fly-swatting maneuver.
Miquelon is not quite halfway but the beach is a good place to stop for lunch. I watched a kite surfer bob up and down in the water as his kite repeatedly caught then lost the wind. I've always wanted to try kite surfing but the learning curve looks super steep.
I stopped at this memorial to the local Frontiersmen that served in WWI. It sits on a slight rise on the side of highway 14. Despite having ridden this loop several times, I don't recall seeing it before. It was erected in 1935 so I can't use that as an excuse. I wonder what the monument saw 75 years ago? It probably looked pretty much the same as today except the cars were fewer and slower.
I can confirm that running is transferable to cycling. I finished the 100 km without difficulty despite a 60 km run the previous day. The only pain was my sit muscles, which leads me to conclude that desk work is not transferable to cycling. Bummer.
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