On sneezing my way the edge of Alberta

Over a decade ago, I put a “no farting” sticker on Chris’ bike. Today, I wonder if someone should put a “no-sneezing” sticker on mine. I have been sneezing all day despite taking an antihistamine at breakfast this morning.

Over breakfast, I chatted with a motorcycle tourist of the “backroads adventure” type travelling on a Honda Africa Twin which is derived from motorcycles used in Paris-Dakar rallies. He was from Vancouver and was enthused by my Ortlieb bags which he used for commuting and cycle touring in his younger days. He was about 70 and described himself as undergoing treatment for prostate cancer which robs him of testosterone and therefore energy.

The forecast had been for gentle winds out of the Northwest. This would have been a boost as Highway 9 went roughly East-South-East. Unfortunately, for much of the day, the winds were out of the Northeast, thus posing a thankfully only mild hindrance. The road was rather flat. There was a 60 km section under repair. I braced myself for loose chips. Thankfully, it consisted of twenty plus km of beautifully smooth, recently repaved road without rumble strips, about three km of road where they had ripped off the old surface, ten kilometres of road where they had repaved the other side and the rest prepped for more work. It being a Sunday, there was no work in progress. As I crossed the construction zone, I noticed port-a-potties standing by the side of the road every few kilometres. I eventually deduced that they were where for the use of the road crews.

In Youngstown, I stopped at a gas station cum convenience store. It had bulletin board ads for things such as “two year-old virgin Angus bulls” and a small aircraft with only 67 flight hours on it! Rather different from what you get on the board outside LeBaron’s!

I stopped for the night at a motel just outside of Oyen. At the gas station next door, there is a caterpillar crane being transported on a trailer with 40 tires in 5 rows of 8 being pulled by a tractor truck with 14 tires on 4 axles! I cross into Saskatchewan tomorrow. With any luck, the sneezing will have stopped by then.