Saskatchewan

Mr. IIk's camp in the morning.

Day 13: 190 km. These prairies are all the same. You can't tell one day from another. So far all of them were good, but there's nothing particular to say about today. Just the usual procedure, the breakfast and coffee in a petrol station to get you going, sailing with the wind up to midday and a stop for another coffee, optionally a light snack and to wait out the storm that passes over in half an hour, then another few hours of gliding in wind, then comes a bigger town this time, Moose Jaw, which offers a possibility to have a beer in the pub and at the end of the day putting up a wild camp not far from the road.

A hole in the sky.

Day 14: 158 km. A cold morning. Canadians are complaining about this year's summer: it is supposedly one of the coldest and rainiest. The wind had turned during the night, it's now blowing from the south-east against Mr. Iik and he progresses slowly to Regina. It seems to be a big town, but he goes around it, it is too early for a stop and today is Sunday, so no chances of getting a replacement tyre. Shortly after that he gets another puncture on the front. Again, there is no trace of what caused the puncture, even if there is a small hole in the tyre at the puncture location. Is it possible that the stones are so sharp to puncture the tyre and the tube without leaving any trace? These kind of punctures are new to Mr. Iik. He changes the tube in a hurry (mosquitoes are quite active here), moves on and manages not to be angry about the whole thing, he even starts singing and shooting videos.
Upon arriving in Indian Head he sees a girl on a racing bike, catches up with her and asks her if there is a bicycle shop in the town. There isn't, she said, but she could give him her spare tyre. Wow, that's great, he says, and they ride together to the girl's home. There it becomes clear that the girl confused the tyre and the tube, but that's all right, he will get one in Brandon, if not earlier. He checks into a campground and learns that he could try to get the tyre in the Indian Head's hardware store next morning.

A road in Saskatchewan.

Day 15: 147 km. In the hardware store there were some bicycle tyres, just for mountain bikes. Mr. Iik bought a patch kit; there were three small patches appropriate for the type of puncture he gets, and that should be enough until Winnipeg, where he will get the new tyre.
He was working hard this day, there was no respite from the headwind (not a direct one, but still unfavorable one). What a difference a wind makes! Still, it seems that even the headwind can't spoil the good feeling he has about this trip. At the end of the day, when he found a secluded place for a camp between the road and the railway line, he wrote in his diary: 'It was an interesting day'.