Unintended rest days, part 2

It looks like we're once again going to be taking an unplanned rest day or two here in Regina. More accurately, we're camping 1km east of Regina just off highway 1. The reason for our extended stay is that at some point yesterday afternoon, Andrew's bike developed a voracious appetite for tubes, and he went through all four of his spares in a single day. The first (rear wheel) was a rock, the second (front) was a staple, the third was the same staple, which was small enough to miss our rigorous inspection of the tire after the last flat, and the fourth seems to have just been a defective tube (pinhole leak near the valve right out of the box).

Normally, this wouldn't be the end of the world. We'd just saunter over to the nearest bike shop, pick up a few extras and be on our way. Things aren't quite so simple on Canada Day, unfortunately. Every single bike shop in Regina is closed today, and the only places open (Walmart, Canadian Tire, Sport Chek) are all very mountain-bike-centric. There's not a lot of love for the road cyclist at the big chain stores, it would appear.

At first we were pretty irked, but our campsite for the night is looking pretty swank right now. It's got a slushee machine, a pool table, a lounge with a bigscreen TV with satellite reception, comfy couches, and the piece de resistance (for my inner 10 year old, at least): an 8-piece vintage early 90's video game arcade. And all the machines take single quarters. Hey, if you're going to take an unintended rest day, you might as well make the most of it!

Hopefully we'll be able to find some spare tubes early tomorrow morning and be on our way. 220km to Manitoba!