Spring reminds me of our Saskatchewan bike trips over the years and I can't resist writing about one more. These photos still make me smile.
It was 2009 and we were raring to start the 4-day tour. We puffed straight north up TV hill, then flew down the slightly scary curve to the Landing for lunch. Chugging up the incline to Kyle made for a healthy 75 km ride that first day. It seemed easy twelve years ago, might be a little less fun now.
A friendly host, some goofy decor, and giant burgers were waiting for us at the legendary White Bear Hotel restaurant. Perfect!
A talking deer head activated by a button on the wall kept us entertained and got funnier as the evening went on.
This is one of my favourite prairie biking photos ever. The Clearwater Lake Drive-In Theatre is in the background, a landmark in the area still in operation. I love the horizontal striped fields all the way to the horizon. What a great memory riding beside our friend Glen R.
The planning challenge for this trip was where to eat that night. There was no restaurant available in the town of Beechy and we certainly weren't carrying groceries on this trip.
The solution was the hospitable Beechy Hutterite Colony who agreed to feed our group and insisted there would be no charge. (Of course we were happy to leave a cheque with the kitchen boss when we left). There was nothing fancy on the menu, they served us exactly what the women and children, and later the men, were eating.
The kitchen girls giggled in disbelief when Dave S. was determined to help with the dishes. What?! A man in the kitchen??! It was unheard of!
They liked all our men, judging from the crowd around Kim and Dave.
I used to think Hutterites didn't like having their pictures taken but times have changed. We soon had mothers bringing their kids to us and asking for a photo. I later printed them and the "combine boss" picked up a stack of pictures at our shop, Nodge Manufacturing, a few weeks later.
The young girls sang for us in the church, and then expected us to reciprocate. Oh no, we looked at each other with fear and hesitation but came up with The Land is Your Land or maybe it was You are my Sunshine, a fairly weak effort in any case.
They coaxed us to visit the gardens and the pig barn and then invited us into their homes to chat. There was nothing secretive or closed about these people, they were willing to answer all our questions with lots of good will and plenty of humour.
I've always been interested in the Hutterite culture of communal living and the evening was a special and fun experience.
Before we left the area we wanted to see the nearby Beechy Sand Castle formations on the shores of Lake Diefenbaker. Hard to get to, but impressive to see. Local landowners have since restricted access, citing risks from increasing visitations and lack of respect for the land. What a shame.
Early the next morning we pedalled on to Lucky Lake, took the ferry to Palliser Park, and ended in Central Butte for another successful touring adventure of the Swift Current Cycle Club.
I miss these trips which we did every year from 2008 to 2017. The participants varied, but it was always a fun gang.
