It won’t be my first time driving a motorcycle through Saskatchewan, but this year in 2025 I want to ensure I’m more prepared than last time. I’ve compiled a list of a few major preparations I made, for anyone else who might find it useful for their road trip.
2024 was a tough year even if it had it’s ups, so planning my 2025 road trip has been the main shield for my sanity lately. I can’t wait to hit the straight and seemingly endless highways of Saskatchewan again. I put a lot of thought into this, unlike last time when I was a young lass. I need to put a lot of thought into it, because I’ll be going solo, and it’s not always safe for a girl out there, even in Canada nowadays.
Before I share the list of preparations that will help you on a cross-Saskatchewan bike trip, I’ll share some of the mistakes I made last time.
When I last did this trip, I wasn’t solo. I had some biker friends with me, which is a smart thing to do, but my mistake was choosing the wrong biker friends. They were real bikers, those types who wear black leather and smoke a lot. I thought I was cool hanging out with them in my twenties, but now I see they led me down some dark roads, literally as they always insisted on taking the wrong turn. They’d overpower my vote and lead me down dirt roads, to vandalize mailboxes and that sort of thing. They were also young men at the time, and have since grown up to see the errors in their ways, but if I could sum up the mistake in taking those kind of people on a road trip is that you don’t want to feel guilty about it afterwards; remind yourself why you’re doing this trip and choose your company accordingly.
The second major mistake I made on my last ride through Saskatchewan was not stopping to check out all the cool attractions along the way. I know a lot of people choose Saskatchewan for bike trips because of the lack of attractions–they want nothing but the endless, flat road as a form of meditation–but I actually find the history of the province interesting, as it’s unique from any other place in the world. The history of the settlers, the First Nations, the cities, it’s so fascinating! The internet wasn’t a huge thing back then on my first trip, but today you can go to websites like Regina Tourism to see all the attractions worth seeing and plan your trip accordingly, which is precisely what I plan to do this time around.
Now that I got my major mistakes from my last trip out of the way, let’s talk about how my upcoming one is going to be much, much better thanks to these 4major preparations I made:
Preparation #1. Because I’m going solo across the whole province, I made sure my motorcycle is tuned up and ready to roll, with fresh road tires, new brakes, and an extra can of gas I can strap to my luggage wrack. I also installed some slick black leather saddlebags to my luggage wrack so I don’t need to store all my food and water in an over-encumbered backpack like last time.
Preparation #2. As mentioned above, I have a plan to actually do some touristy sight seeing this time around, and have a planned itinerary of all the places I want to check out along the way, such as Wascana Lake in Regina.
Preparation #3. This might be the most important one. My motorcycle is insured of course, but I’m too frugal for a monthly roadside assistance plan. To ease my worries just in case I do pop a tire or have engine troubles, I called around to find a reputable towing company that can assist me in most places across Saskatchewan. I ended up having a great chat with Wreckless Towing and Recovery, and they agreed to come give roadside assistance or motorcycle towing if I should happen to need it during my trip. It’s much better to have a plan for when something goes wrong rather than react unexpectedly.
Preparation #4. Because I’m frugal, I never had a phone data plan. But for this trip I decided it might be a smart thing to do, not only so I can book hotels as I go and research tourist attractions if I feel like it, but so I can use online maps and prevent getting lost. While I have a plan for places to check out, like Wascana Lake, I don’t have my whole route planned out dot to dot, so having online maps will allow me to take fun detours and different routes if I feel like it. Also, I can listen to my Spotify playlist which is a huge plus!
These are the top preparations I made, but of course I could keep rambling. I feel so prepared even though I find joy in preparing further. Some other minor preparations I made are having a decent savings, ordering bulk nonperishable food for my saddlebags, ensuring I have several large refillable water bottles, and a small tent I can use to sleep in if I need to. I’m so excited to hit the road, and I hope you find joy in preparing your trip to make it safe and memorable, too.
Saskatchewan, here I come!