Day 21: July 19 Fort Qu'Appelle to Spy Hill  107 miles (172 km)
Picture: The infamous red signs that warn of bad pavement (they missed a few spots)

Today is my birthday.  The day began with breakfast in camp.  I was serenaded with a pretty good version of Happy Birthday.  All of the practice on Alan's birthday paid off.  Then came the gift.  Brook gave me a set of pink, white and sparkly streamers.  You know the kind.  They go on the end of your bike handlebars.  Boy, did I look cool!  I received more honks and waves from passing cars than normal.

The day was cold and a little rainy.  Fortunately, the big downpour held off until after I reached camp.  I rode alone and was feeling great.  Around the mid-point I started thinking about lightening my load. If Brook passed I wanted to give her my Camelbak and just keep water and emergency tools.  Her shopping must have kept her because I was about a mile from camp when she passed me.  She told me later that she thought about staying behind me because she saw I was riding pretty hard and it was my birthday after all.  She decided I needed someone to chase, so she zipped past!  It was a great ride.

The landscape is changing a bit.  Instead of big open fields, there are now some wooded fields and marshlands.  We're not out of the prairies yet, though.  I passed a lot of canola fields and cattle grazing in fields.

Day 22: July 20 Spy Hill to Minnedosa  99 miles (160 km)
Picture (upper left): Craig ("New Craig"), Ron, Jules, Sue, Alan, and Neri at the Manitoba border
Picture (lower right): Jules taking a break

Finally, we're back to nice weather.  The day began with a popcorn sky - blue with small, puffy, white clouds.  We rode out of Spy Hill without ever seeing the town (and not missing much from what I hear).

I rode with Alan and Jules today.  The first stop was the Manitoba provincial line.  We're now into our fourth province.  The road surface was noticeably better.  Unfortunately the traffic increased a bit as well.

After crossing the border, we dipped into the Assiniboine (my mind thinks of cinnamon buns every time I hear that word) Valley, a beautiful little hollow with a creek, lots of shrubs and short trees, and cattle crazing.  Very idyllic.  Except for one turn, the route was straight (what a surprise, eh?) until we reached Minnedosa.  Much of the scenery was the same as the past several days, but there are a few more trees and ponds.  Also, you can't always see to the horizon as you could in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The ride was a long one.  We almost take rides of 100 miles (161 km) for granted now.  John told us how he prepared for his first "century" back home.  He planned it out, followed the Bicycling Magazine training schedule, hydrated well the night before, and went to bed early.  Now we just go ride them day after day.  I'll stretch, eat breakfast, fill up my Camelbak with water, and hit the road.

What I'm noticing now is that my backside hurts.  (Canadians refer to it as your bum.)  The seat that feels comfortable at 7:00 a.m. just isn't the same around 1:00 p.m.  Riding in a pack it's not uncommon to hear someone call for a butt break.  The collective groans indicate that we agree.  Alan, Jules and I set up a paceline that rotated the lead every 2 kilometers.  In the front I would concentrate on doing a nice even pace.  In the back I could stand up or wiggle around as much as I needed to.  The hardest part was riding in the middle.  With someone behind, I had to sit still.

My cooking crew was on for dinner tonight.  We made veggies with a sour cream dip for appetizers, cream of corn soup, corn on the cob, and hot dogs.  The hot dogs were a late substitution, we were supposed to make a chickpea gratin.  I had a craving for camping food when I arrived, so I hit the grocery store.  I didn't hear any complaints.  (Retraction: I learned later that the vegetarians in the group weren't happy that we didn't have a meatless alternative.)

Now that we're into the trip, the cooking crews are left to do the cooking and cleaning up by themselves.  Early on, people pitched in and helped quite often.  Now, we're on our own.  Breakfast tomorrow and we're done for another week.

Day 23: July 21 Minnedosa to Portage La Prairie  86 miles (139 km)
Picture (right): The Stone Angel monument in Neepawa
Picture (left): A flax field

Two wonderful days in a row.  Pretty soon I'll start expecting it.

Herb, Jeff, Catherine and I woke up early to make breakfast.  Our designated fare is oatmeal, also referred to as porridge, so we made a potfull (Is that a word? My spell-checker doesn't like it).  In addition we went a little wild and cooked up some hash brown potatoes and scrambled eggs.  To give an idea of the quantity of food we consume, here's what it took to make breakfast. To make the oatmeal, we boiled 2 gallons of water and used as much oatmeal as you'd find in a big Quaker Oats canister.  We peeled, chopped, boiled, and browned 10 pounds of potatoes.  We scrambled 6 dozen eggs.  There was some oatmeal left over because we're getting a little tired of it, but everything else disappeared.

Jeff and I rode sweep for the day.  Herb headed out solo for the first time because Catherine needed to take a few days off.  We were so slow getting out of camp that the truck left the parking lot before we did.  It was a beautiful, warm morning.  The road was flat and straight and we had a slight tailwind   What more could we ask?

About an hour into the ride we came to the town of Neepawa, Manitoba, the hometown of author Margaret Laurence.  One of her better known titles is The Stone Angel.  (Dad, are you familiar with any of her works?)  We took a slight detour to visit her house which has been turned into a museum.  It does a nice job of chronicling her life and the period in which she wrote.  We also visited the cemetery up the road to see the real stone angel that inspired the title of the book.  Now I'll have to go read it.

Did I mention that the road was straight?  There were hardly any bends in the road today.  Our toughest decision was whether to take the route that went down a dirt road for about 9 miles (15 km) or take the alternate route that put us on the Trans Canada Highway with no shoulder.  We took the TCH because we had reports from the group ahead that the dirt was deep.  Jeff and I did the final few kilometers ("clicks" or "klicks" in Canadian) and rolled into camp around 4:30 p.m.  Not a bad day in all.  We spent 7 1/2 hours on the road, with only 5 hours of actual riding time.  Some of the missing time was spent in Neepawa, some at food stops, and about 30 minutes was a nap on the side of the road.  One woman stopped to ask if we were okay.

After dinner a few of us went into town to see a movie.  It was Friday night after all.  (I have no concept of what day of the week it is.  The differentiating factor is whether it's a day or a rest day.)  We ended the evening by going to my very first Tim Hortons.  It's the Canadian version of Dunkin Donuts.  Jeff told the woman at the counter that this was my first time in a Timmy's.  She looked at me like I was from Mars.  He laid it on thicker by referring to the newspaper article that appeared that day about our ride.  I paid for a donut and she gave me a free cup of coffee. (Thanks Jody, I hope your boss doesn't read this).  Both the coffee and the chocolate glazed donut were very good.

Day 24: July 22 Portage La Prairie to Beausejour  102 miles (164 km)
Picture: Jules in front of my very first Tim Hortons

Tim Hortons could be addictive.  I started the day with breakfast in camp then rode to Tim's for a donut (okay, 2 donuts, but I saved one for a midmorning snack).  I started the day with John, Karen, Jules, and Alan.  Of course they stopped at Tim's with me.  A couple of them claimed it was to use the washroom, but everyone came out with donuts.

The destination for the day was Beausejour, northeast of Winnipeg.  The route map had two options, one through the city, the other around.  I was surprised to find that nearly half went around.  From the way they wrinkled their faces, it was if I'd suggested they go through Des Moines.  They said "Why would I want to go through Winnipeg?  I've been there before."  I guess it's not in the same league as Toronto or Ottawa.  The group I was riding wanted to go into the city for two reasons.  First, they had bike (toy) stores.  Second, we wanted a real restaurant for lunch.  We found both.  At the bike store I bought a bag and a rack.  The rack attaches to the seat post and sits over the rear wheel.  The pack attaches to it with velcro straps.  I wanted the pack for a simple reason, to save my butt.  I'm hoping that I can shift some of the weight off of me and directly onto the bike.  As I unloaded the Camelbak, I realized how much I was carrying: sunscreen, lunch, bike cable and lock, bike tool, power bars, tube, boot, wallet, camera, and map.  It took me a good 5 minutes to unload and repack.  I'll see how much it helps tomorrow when I start out fresh.

Lunch was great.   We were back in civilization, if only for a few hours.  The menu had more than 10 choices.  The table was set with real napkins, not paper towels.  The silverware was metal.  And the service was slow.

The ride itself was uneventful.  We rode on bumpy, secondary roads until just outside of Winnipeg where we picked up the Trans Canada Highway. We've decided that Bud, the trip organizer, really likes to have us start the day with a big hill climb.  The next best thing is a bumpy road.

Yesterday I was lamenting that we weren't racing for town signs any more.  About 20 miles (30 km) into the ride, Karin caught me off guard and sprinted for one from about 50 feet away.  I chased but couldn't catch her.  She beamed for the next 100 kilometers.  That set the tone for the day.  I sprinted with Alan, Jules, and John several times.  (I won enough to keep my head up.)

I pulled into the campground around 4:30 pm after having downed a huge hot fudge sundae in town.  It was a mail day.  I received a birthday card from Mom and Dad and a package of birthday presents from the Myers family (a mixture of toys and outdoor take-care-of yourself products like sunscreen).  Thanks all of you.  For those who haven't sent anything to me or the other riders, the mail stops are listed on the home page.  We played with the toys immediately.  The yo-yo and frisbee were big hits.

Note to the friends/family of future riders: mail days are lots of fun.  You don't have to send packages, a note or a card says "I'm thinking about you" quite nicely.  

Day 25: July 23 Beausejour to Kenora  108 miles (173 km)
Picture: Ron, Sue, and Karl in front of a convenience store/gas station in Whitemouth, Manitoba

I'd forgotten what it was like to bonk.  Now I'd like to forget again.  I left Beausejour on my own, wanting to ride at my own pace again.  This was the fourth  nice day in a row.  Now I am expecting it.  The first part of the trip was on a four lane divided highway and was smooth and flat.  A little bit further it narrowed to a two lane road and it got a little bumpier.  Around 50 miles (70 km) out the road narrowed as it wound through Whiteshell Provincial Park.  It was obvious that we were out of the Prairies.  The road through the park was narrow, winding, and hilly.  There were granite outcrops along the roadside, but there were big horseflies that kept me from stopping to admire it.  A slight headwind helped keep the flies at bay.  The riders a day ahead had a tailwind and the flies were able to keep up with them -- and these were the biting kind.

At 72 miles (116 km) I passed into Ontario, province number five.  We're going to spend the next 1,550 miles (2,500 km) inside this province.  They say two states the size of Texas can fit in Ontario.

Right about here my energy started to disappear.  The day had gotten hotter, but I was drinking what I thought was a huge amount.  I finished 7 bottles of fluid on the ride, nearly 50% more than normal.  I coasted down the hills and still didn't have much energy to pedal up the next.  "New Craig" (from Niagara Falls, who just joined the trip in Fort Qu'Appelle) and I had been playing leapfrog through the morning.  I caught up with him about 25 miles (40 km) outside of Kenora.  He slowed down and rode with me the rest of the way.  A couple of times I suggested he go ahead and ride on but he stopped and waited every time I needed a break.  He told me later that I had a glassy eyed look.  (Thanks Craig.)  I guess 501 miles (807 km) in 5 days is a lot to ask of your body.  The good news is that I arrived without a sore bottom.  The rack is a success.

I hit the sack at 6:30, right after dinner.  I didn't get up until 7:00 am. Thank goodness for the rest day, again.

Stats to date
Total Distance: 1,789 miles / 2,886 kilometers
Total time: 103:33
Average speed: 17.3 mph / 27.9 kph
Average distance/day: 81 miles / 131 kilometers

onward >>  Northern Ontario: Hills and food

backward >>  The Prairies, continued: Headwinds and tailwinds

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