18h 38min

I've done it again!
Everyone has really been clamouring for details and it has become rather bothersome. I have taken the liberty of compiling an FAQ. I suggest you have a look at it.

Q-What are we talking about?
A-Saskatoon City Quest. A once-every-so-often physical challenge of titanic proportions.

Q-And that is...?
A-Essentially, it is a hike. I jog some, walk some. Visit when I have company and despair when alone. I take pictures when I can be bothered to carry a camera. The journey started out being roughly 55km (circa 1994) and now stands at 70km in 2008.

Q-Why would you do that?
A-Pleased to meet you. My name is Mike... Mike Diakuw

Q-Can you give me that distance in miles?
A-No.

Q-Your time is slower this year, isn't it?
A-You could say that.

Q-Care to comment further?
A-Not really. Why don't you try it and let me know where to shave off some time.

Q-Did you hurt yourself again?
A-Hurt myself? What would make you say that?
Q-I'll be asking the questions here.
A-Was that a question?
Q-...

Q-Do you have a map I could look at?
A-Funny you should ask... Here it is. The dark orange line is my route from 2006. The light blue is from 2008. The push-pins are commentary and pictures from the 2006 trip. I will add colour coded pins for this year as I have time.


View Larger Map

Q-Impressive...
A-You should really brush up on your questioning skills.

Q-So, if I can't see your pictures on that awesome map, where can I see them?
A-Unless I am wrong -- and I am never wrong -- they are located here:

City Quest -- 2008

Q-Are you getting tired of this "FAQ"?
A-I thought you'd never ask.

Well, I was worried that the first time might have been a fluke. It was a great start to the day. James arrived at 4:11am and we were gone by 4:32. Some might have thought that the inverted pick-up truck atop Stonebridge was an ominous tiding, but I chose to think of it as one more reason to do more walking. I was a little nervous about taking pictures, but any injured people seemed to have been efficiently whisked away already, so I didn't feel too paparazzi.

The morning is always the most fabulous time for a walk around the city. Don't get me wrong, getting up at 3:30 to do it is a little wacko, but the resultant sunrise is very sweet, indeed. We did a little jogging and James and I goaded each other into semi-dangerous feats of physical prowess. Other than a little incident at the train bridge involving James' map and a 15 meter drop into the Saskatchewan river, there seemed to be no stopping us.

We had some help, of course. Wendy, Jaime and Vin all came out to the Husky on highway 4 to share lunch with us. It was a terrific feast. I especially enjoyed changing into sandals for the next section of the walk. The fresh Saskatoon pie was my favorite. Wen and I picked them at the Strawberry Ranch earlier in the week. With the girls out of town, picking berries was our version of a 'date.' cooking the pies was steamy too. Just like that movie, chocolat. Ahem! To get back on topic, here are my little elves. With them, every walk around the city is like Christmas.

I'm not going to give a full journaled account of the trip. Most of the page would be taken up by "and then I took another step followed by another and eventually, I looked like this..."

So regrets to all the former participants who couldn't make it with me this year: Dave, Geof, Nathan, David and Kyro.

Special thanks to Erin for giving Wendy the ride and to Ellen for calling to offer support.

And Wendy. You make so much possible.