Cycle Canada, Day 21, May 25/06

May 25/06, Thursday                                              Day 21                          1864 Kms

Municipal Campground, Grandeview, Manitoba                                        135 Kms                             ~ 6:25 Hrs

Tail wind most of the day shifting around to the head by about 16:00.

Going down to Lake of the Prairies I almost rear-ended an old man in a minivan who was driving slower than I was coasting.

Idea for Saskatchewan: Along all the highways plant a row of elms on each side af the road then fill in the gaps between the trunks with caraganas. It would cut out crosswinds and reduce headwinds. Increase fuel mileage, decrease snow drifting, decrease greenhouse gas, act as a carbon sink, provide employment during planting. Oh, and make cross-country cycling easier.

There is such a thing as people being too courteous. We experienced it today. Either too courteous or just nervous driving.

One of the things that come up when cycling on the highway is automobile traffic. It can't really be avoided, after all that's really what the roads were built for. Drivers come in many types but I think the 3 main types are aggresive, timid and oblivious. The dangers of the aggressive and oblivious drivers are easy to imagine, both can blast past you at speeds in excess of 100 Km/Hr without a lot of room to spare. It can be un-nerving but both types are at least predictable, within limits. They'll both keep driving as if you're not there.

Timid drivers are un-nerving in a different sort of way. The moment they see anything different along the road (a cyclist for instance) they change their driving pattern and not always in a predictable (or comprehensible) way.

On the road between Wroxton, Saskachewan and Roblin, Manitoba there were quite a few drivers that I would call timid. The worst ones were those coming the other way. With Doug and I on the right hand shoulder plus a complete empty lane between us and on-coming traffic, a surprising number of drivers felt compelled to steer farther right, off the pavement at highway speeds and on to the gravel shoulder. Cars, trucks and big rigs all sprayed up sheets of gravel as they fish-tailed past us between pavement and ditch. I was lucky enough to be hit only by small bits. I was happy for the yellow safety glasses that I'd chosen to wear for this trip. Doug caught one medium size stone in the leg. I know it stung him, maybe bruised too, but there was no permanent damage. I thought about my first aid kit a lot. I didn't have anything if one of us took a fist-sized stone in the face at 120 Km/Hr or some driver rolled his car into the ditch.

The previously mentioned old man in the minivan was another timid driver. He'd passed us on the flats just before the road started to drop to Lake of the Prairies but as soon as the road curved downward he was on the brakes hard. We caught him a short way down the hill but I was reluctant to pass him. I didn't know what he would do next.

After Lake of the Prairies the land became a little more rolling and the number of timid drivers diminished.