North to Westlock

If this is Westlock it must be lunchtime …

Today was the day to push the distance a bit further.  To Westlock and back.

It was a nice, cloudy morning when I left on my ride.  As I pedaled north past Morinville the pavement started to get damp.   I was thinking that the air sure smelled nice after a morning shower and how lucky I was that I had missed it.  Wrong! I soon found myself in light rain.  By the time I stopped for a rest break at the highway gas station at the Legal turnoff I was pretty wet.  Fortunately the rain stopped a short distance north of there.

By the time I got to Westlock shortly after 1 pm I was ready for lunch.  A Teenburger never tasted so good.  After about a 45 minute lunch break I was on my way again.

While cycling north and then west to Westlock the wind was from a northerly direction.  As I pedaled hard into the headwind I thought “at least I’ll have a tailwind on the way home”.  I should have realized this is Alberta.  While I was enjoying lunch the wind shifted to the east.  My hopes of a tailwind to take me home were dashed.

Heading south I could see several storms off to the east but fortunately none of them hit me.  The crosswinds were fairly strong and when I passed by the various storm cells the gusts grew even stronger.  The leg from Villeneuve east into St. Albert, heading straight into the gusty winds, was a pure delight at a time when my legs were getting quite tired.  But eventually I was winding my way through the streets of St. Albert to home.

Total distance: 148.76 km.  Total time including lunch: 9 hours.  My legs were happy to get off the bike after a little over 8 hours of grinding into wind.