XCAN Day 23 Swift Current to Besant Camp Ground

Distance: 143 km
Time: 6:18
Weather: Sunny and partly cloudy for the morning, then windy and rain in the afternoon
Flats: 1, total now is 3
Shower Rating: 2-3

Dave, Mike, and Nancy decided to draft for the morning which worked out quite well.

We met Heidi in Herbert for a coffee at a Chinese Restaurant - one of two restaurants in Herbert.  We had a great time - the owners only spoke Chinese and were very impressed with our bikes.  They used a translate app on another patron's phone to ask how old we were, where we were going, etc.  Nancy was wearing her team bike kit with our route on the back so we showed them where we started, where we were going, and where we were today - that was quite a hit with the owners and other patrons of the restaurant.  Really nice people.
From there we continued our congo line where we were interrupted by a coyote chasing us down the highway.  This is what happened:  Dave and Mike in the front were looking at a huge bull in a field on the right, Nancy in the rear notices an animal running beside her.  She thinks its a dog until she notices it really is a coyote at which point she yells "coyote" and the guys think there is a coyote in the field and start to slow down.  She then yells "I'm serious guys, its a coyote" at which time they start to brake and the coyote goes behind Nancy.

Nancy makes a bee-line through the boys and decides its every man for himself.  Mike decided to fend it off using his bike but the coyote only circled him - at this point he's now scared too.  Eventually it did decide to leave and we reconvened at the top of the next hill where Heidi called to see if we were OK - turns out the same coyote had chased her for about 2 km down the highway until a woman driving by used her car to get between Heidi and the coyote.  We have no idea why this happened, or if it was a sick animal - needs more investigation.

Dave, Mike and Nancy continued riding to Chaplin for a lunch break.  Chaplin is known for their salt flats.

Kitty, the owner of the restaurant used to own the restaurant in Herbert and we had a great chat with two farmers about why the crops were bad this year, why its so windy in Saskatchewan, and what the highway was like to Besant, our campground for the night.  After leaving lunch, we waited out the majority of the rain, Nancy got a flat and Mike continued on to the campsite - he had done his heroic act for the day!
A really fun day.
Cheers,
Nancy and Dave