From Minnedosa, it was a short and familiar haul. I was enroute to the Gingras Farm in McCreary, where I spent many weekends in University disconnecting from Winnipeg and relaxing.
About 100 km from Minnedosa to McCreary but it was some good riding, at last. The highways were familiar and decent, with little shoulder but smooth pavement and light traffic.
The sun stayed hidden most of the day so it ended up being very comfortable on the temperature front as well.
Made it into the farm around 2 pm and my favourite pup ever only barked once before recognizing me and launching into a series of excited yips.
As usual, Tammy and Ivan had a lot going on but invited me in and let me make myself at home.
Only a single rest day this time around. On Tuesday, I decided that a Wednesday departure would be for the best to dodge storms and make it into the city before my Uncle Robert took off camping.
Wednesday morning I enjoyed some patio coffee before bidding the dog farewell and heading into town with Tammy. Another short and familiar 30 km into St. Rose du Lac before heading east to the Manitoba Narrows. Originally I had planned on only going a short ways past the Narrows, but Gimli and Winnipeg were farther than I had realized so I pushed through a 170 km day to Eriksdale in order to lighten my kilometers for the days ahead.
Met some other cross Canada cyclists named Vanessa and [name forgotten] at the municipal campground, and chatted with each seperately about the Cross Canada Grandpas and the insect forecast for Ontario, among other things.
Saskatoons were in season and abundant so I engaged berry picking mode and filled a ziploc to bursting before oozing into bed, ready to check out the Arborg Bakery and Gimli the next day.
Just as I was heading off to Sleeptown I wrested tick #3 from my armpit just as it was getting ready to bite. Nice try you little butthole.
Nice, sunny morning with some oatmeal, packed liberally with saskatoons, and then it was on the road by 8 am. The two other bike tourists were nowhere to be seen on the highway, so I can only assume they went into town first.
Ironically, the rural highway to Arborg was in much better shape than Highway 6. The shoulder had a decent amount of gravel, but was smooth and wide for the most part with some of the lightest traffic I've seen in Manitoba. Don't let the "Caution, flying stones" signs dissuade you! It was a great morning ride, complete with a light tailwind.
I made the 70 km into Arborg in less than 3 hours and took an early lunch at the bakery. Well, by lunch, I mean I ate 5 donuts on the patio. Next time someine asks me why I'm doing this bike tour, I'll have to tell them I do it for the 5-donut lunches.
Turning south towards Gimli (and Winnipeg), the wind inexplicably shifted 90 degrees and caught me as a headwind. There is no escape.
Adding in the 30 degree temperatures and the hour and a bit ride into Gimli seemed to take longer than the 3 1/2 hours of the morning. My first choice of pit stops in Gimli, an ice cream shop, seemed to be closed, so I contented myself with iced coffee and a shady patio.
With the severe damage done to my stamina and mental fortitude by the heat, I decided to just go another 17 km to Winnipeg Beach for the night and do a 80 km day into Winnipeg the next day.
I wasn't sure what to expect from Winnipeg Beach, as it is a provincial park campground and only has full service sites, but I got a nice spot near the beach and bathroom and it didn't break the bank at 25$.
I took a quick swim at the beach to get the day's sweat and dust off and opted out of the shower (it was coin operated, I'll need the beer money) to cook dinner.
After my customary dinner gorging, I read in the sun for a bit, drank some electrolytes and settled in for an evening, surrounded by the sounds of children playing, pups barking, and a motorcycle churning off in the distance.
You took a picture of Alpine Archie...your Grandpa would be proud.
ReplyDelete