Before GASP, there was SaskBike, here at the Doukobor Village in Veregin
by Marion Perry, April 2013
Over the years the Wascana Freewheelers Club has had some great storytellers and writers. Until 2011 they shared accounts of their cycling adventures or misadventures in the club newsletter, Freewheelin‘. Of course, the most interesting stories involve overcoming challenges – Freewheelers taking refuge from a hailstorm in a biffy while touring on the Hansen Lake Road; having 13 flats on a Rocky Mountain tour, encountering a grizzly bear in a snow squall and experiencing near hypothermia in Kananaskis, overcoming snow and numerous wildlife encounters at Teddy, and receiving special delivery of a port-a-potty and drinking water at the Watson campground where the waterlines were still frozen in May. Many of stories will be found in the issues of Freewheelin’ archived here.
From the first decade or so of the club, there are tales of the Heritage Rides which visited small museums along a 3 day route over the May long Weekend. Who recalls small communities welcoming riders to their museum and catering to hungry cyclists; club founder, Bill Stewart, conducting the “Freewheeler Chorus” from a diving board; tents being washed out in rainstorms?
“The Archive” is an area to find treasures from the past. Some of the early club documents have been submitted to the Saskatchewan Archives, but past editions of Freewheelin’ and copies of other historic Wascana Freewheeler documents will be posted here. Enjoy.
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