Manitoba

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Sat Jun 19 - 83 km - Souris to Glenboro

Got up to overcast skies. Even though the park was crowded, it turned out to be one of the quietest nights we have had in a while. The wind had not changed. South-east and good and strong which kept the speedometers pegged at 14 km/h for most of the day. Traffic increased to the point of being annoying, and a few people passed like fools, including a driver's education car and a huge winnebago which gave us room, but ran two oncoming cars off the road. Still, lots of other people were honking and waving as they passed. Went into Wawanesa for lunch which was off the highway. This gave a brief relief from the traffic. Had to descend down into a valley where we hit 40 km/h, our fastest speed all week! Ate the usual grilled cheese in a junky, rundown restaurant. Bought a roll of film at the general store and then headed back to the highway. Had to climb and fight the wind, but the way out was not quite as steep as the road we had taken into town. Got to Glenboro at 1600h and decided to stay at the motel, hoping that tomorrow will bring a change in the wind. Ate dinner in the motel restaurant (another grilled cheese) and a really good piece of apple pie. The bartender informed me that Manitoba has no micro-breweries, and I got stuck drinking Canadian for supper. Our morale is a little low, even though we are only two days from Winnipeg because of this damn wind. Hopefully it will change direction, or at least let up a bit tomorrow. We figured out tonight that we have been running one hour behind since the Manitoba border. I thought that was where the time changed, but it was not marked on either the Saskatchewan or Manitoba maps. There was also no sign on the highway. I guess they could not figure out which province was supposed to pay for it!

Sun Jun 20 - 74 km - Glenboro to St. Claude

Had a really good sleep last night, but slept in a bit because of the time change. Got on the road finally at 0930h. The day was completely overcast and surprise, surprise, a south-east wind. Today the wind was even stronger than yesterday. At some points it was difficult to maintain 11 km/h. Traffic was a little lighter, but people are a little less tolerant. We got several nasty honks. Stopped for lunch at a picnic area just east of Treherne. There must have been a leak in their septic system, because the whole place smelled of sewage. We ate quickly and left, both because of the smell and the attacking swarms of mosquitos and black flies. Got to St. Claude around 1500h. There was nowhere to camp in town so we decided to stay in the motel. A bunch of people were painting and renovating, but the said that they could fix up a room if we gave them an hour, so we went for coffee and ice-cream at a gas station. The decor is very 1970's-ish. Cooked dinner in a park down the street, which has the worlds largest smoking pipe. It looks like you can actually smoke from it too! After we got back, I called my dad to wish him a happy father's day, and then we went into the motel bar for a drink. They were closed (it was just the owners sitting around drinking inside) but they sold us a couple beers anyway which we took back to our room.

Mon Jun 21 - 99 km - St. Claude to Winnipeg

Woke to overcast skies and our familiar south-east wind. After cooking breakfast in the parking lot, we got on the road. The wind was not too bad as we were travelling somewhat in a north-easterly direction, so it was more of a crosswind for a good portion of the day. The traffic was pretty bad. Lots of trucks and people honking at us. It continually grew worse as we approached the city. Had lunch in Starbuck at a very run-down hotel. Tried to find a map of Winnipeg in town to no avail. We headed on. Finally we reached the perimeter highway where we found a gas station and bought a map. Went into Humptys to get out of the wind for a minute to study it and select a route into the city and out to Pauline's house, a friend we knew. Turns out that there are few roads in the section of town we were in so we had to battle heavy traffic and freeway style riding until we got over the Red River where we were able to turn off onto some residential streets, which we followed all the way to Pauline's house. We ate a good dinner of vegetarian chilli and brown rice. One of her sons is vegetarian and her daughter is vegan so we should be well fed here! Watched 'The Mask of Zorro' on video cassette before retiring to bed.

Tue Jun 22 - 0 km - Rest Day

Bought a few supplies and postcards at the mall. Went and saw Star Wars at the cinema in the afternoon. Went out to dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant with Pauline and her two sons. It was excellent. Met her daughter in the evening who was a really cool person.

Wed Jun 23 - 11 km - Rest Day

Went out for breakfast with Wendy and picked up some more supplies from the mall on our way back. Rode out to a bike shop to buy some spare spokes. The sales person was a complete goof. He did not understand wheel dish until another employee and myself explained it to him. They took my bike (which had Wendy's wheel on it) in the back to measure the spoke lengths. They cost $1 a piece! I complained about the price and the guy told me that they normally cost $1.50! I have never paid more than $0.50 back home. I would hate to build a wheel here. I also got two end caps for Wendy's handlebar. Later I looked at the spokes and all 8 were the same size. I guess the goofs in the shop still do not understand wheel dish. Hopefully, they will suffice when we need them. The end plugs were two different sizes, neither fit. Shipped our blanket, film, and a couple of other things home to Wendy's mother. Packed up our gear and then talked with Pauline until 0000h.

Thu Jun 24 - 122 km - Winnipeg to Whiteshell Provincial Forest

Today we awoke to a really nice day. The wind was howling, but it was a west wind! Finally! As we left Winnipeg we passed a CN yard where two locos with two half height calves were pushing a line of cars over a hump, where they were rolling down the other side. Most of the day we were travelling at 30 km/h and above. It was great! Hwy 15 was really nice with very light traffic, once we had cleared the urban sprawl. Stopped for lunch of bagels along the side of the road. We wanted some cheese, but our cheese had gone moldy. As we were biking along, several times during the day, we got attacked by bees/wasps which circled around us. They must have smelled the food in our bags. Wendy broke yet another spoke. I guess we will see if those that I bought will fit or not. Found a nice spot to camp off the road in the woods. Lots of rock and lichen with a nice bed of ferns to set the tent up in. Took me 30 minutes to get the rope over a near horizontal log 20 feet in the air so we could hang the food. I really need to get better at throwing things. We were being eaten alive by horseflies, mosquitos, black flies, deer flies, and ticks, so we dove into the tent immediately after dinner. I have never seen black flies so bad. There are so many, that it sounds like it is raining on the tent fly.

Fri Jun 25 - 78 km - Whiteshell Provincial Forest to Kenora, ON

Nice and sunny when we left this morning. Unfortunately there was a light east wind. The road turned hilly which was a nice change since Manitoba has been dead flat the entire way so far. Stopped in Rennie for a few groceries in a tiny little shop and then entered the provincial park. The scenery was nice but the road turned to the dumps. Traffic was next to nill, and the silence was nice. If we could only ride like this all the time. Stopped for lunch at a cafe just before getting on to the Trans Canada Highway. The wind picked up as we left which made riding once again a gruelling 12 km/h battle. Traffic on the TCH was also horrible, but there is a wide smooth shoulder. Saw a tourist center near the border so pulled in. It was the Manitoba one, but we had not seen any other signs so I assumed that we could get info here. Nope. We were informed that the Ontario one was two km down the road. Crossed into Ontario and took the usual border photo and then stopped at the tourism center. I asked about hostels, but they could tell me nothing except that there is a camping hostel in Thunder Bay. Managed to fill up the water bottles at least. Battled the wind and traffic for a couple more hours when we saw some nasty clouds from hell behind us. We pulled into the woods and hiked down a hunting trail for a bit and set up camp just in time for the first storm to hit. After it passed I started cooking dinner, but another storm came which dropped some large hailstones, so we had to take shelter in the woods. You are not supposed to stand under trees during electrical storms, but what are you supposed to do when it hails? Get in your car I guess! Finally it let up enough so we could eat, but a third storm hit while cleaning up. We just ignored it as we got everything put away and the food up a tree. We happily got into the tent and changed into dry clothes. It looks like the sky is brightening up, but the growl of thunder is still heard all around.
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