Two More Border Crossings - Regina, SK to Kenora, ON

Today was another amazing rest day - this time in Kenora - and I would say that it was very well deserved after the past 6 days.  We left Regina to finish crossing Saskatchewan, rode across Manitoba, and just started into the Canadian Shield, all the while battling sweltering heat, some headwinds, dodgy roads, and a few less-than-friendly drivers across Manitoba.  It feels incredibly satisfying to look at a map and see how far we've come, and it's also amazing to see some trees, hills, and water in Northern Ontario.  After a couple weeks in the Prairies - as nice as they are - all of the fields start to blend together a bit!

Look guys, more canola!!

Our first day of the six was my first real century ride (100 miles), and I was looking forward to successfully completing this after my last and only century ride attempt ended in despair.  Last year, I went to do the "One Helluva Ride" in Michigan, and while the first 150 km went swimmingly, I ended up learning my tire was worn out and getting three consecutive flats by 154 km, sadly necessitating a ride in the Sag wagon a mere 8 km from the finish (Alex and Bryon, this may sound familiar to you guys!).  Anyway, this year had a much happier finish!  It was actually a fairly easy day; rode quickly in the morning with a bit of a tailwind on a not-so-nice road with not-so-nice drivers.  Oh well... the terrain was mostly flat and fieldy, but we did go through the Fort Qu'Appelle Valley briefly, which was gorgeous, and the afternoon was lovely with a much less busy road and sunshine.  Rode in at a very leisurely pace, took a stop in the tiny village of Neudorf (where we were asked to sign the guestbook at the local grocery store) and easily reached Grayson to make the century.  Had an awesome dinner of local sausages and apple pie, and went to watch one of the famous Saskatchewan sunsets (apparently Saskatchewan is the "Land of the Living Skies").  It was alright, though some more clouds would have made it even more impressive!  The full moon at night was pretty sweet, though.

Fort Qu'Appelle Valley

Sunset outside of Grayson

Next day was scorching hot but fortunately we were scheduled for a much shorter ride this time - only 109 km (I still can't believe that I'm saying only 109 km!).  More of the same terrain to finish Saskatchewan and we crossed into Manitoba which, coincidentally, has much the same terrain as Saskatchewan at the start.  Not a super-exciting day, but we did stop at a local BBQ in the town of Esterhazy for lunch.  The road in the afternoon was in pretty poor condition with lots of loose gravel, so not-so-good for my bike, although on the upside, one of the construction workers was an incredibly good-looking girl.  After crossing Manitoba, traveled briefly into and back out of a valley and then onward to Binscarth to camp.  Cooked in the evening and then continued my ridiculously long winning streak in Hearts.

We're in Manitoba!!

Valley near the end of the day

Next day was more of the same - fields, flat.  Manitoba became increasingly flatter but also greener than Manitoba.  Rode really lazily in the morning and really quickly in the afternoon (35-37 km/h for most of the ride).  Met a couple of Albertan girls who are also biking across Canada, and then we stayed in a wicked campsite on a lake at night.  The swimming was definitely a treat after yet another scorching day!

More canola!! More flooded fields!!

Awesome waterfront campsite in Minnedosa.

Next day I rode really easily with the sweep crew (meaning we stayed at the back of the pack), another 140 km day in boiling heat.  We rode through the hometown of Margaret Lawrence in the morning, then continued along to Portage la Prairie (which none of the locals pronounce in a French fashion, as the name suggests).  Again, we rode over flat land, seeing lots of fields, more green, and battling a bit of a wind.  Had a bit of riding on the TransCanada Highway at the end which unfortunately had to be on an unpaved shoulder, since the road was quite busy.

More flatness, but awesome clouds on the day! (click for larger panorama)

Unfortunately with the wear and tear with all of the gravel of the past few days, my rear tire was toast after this day of riding.  I replaced it with the spare I packed, but while doing so, I noticed that my rear wheel-frame was pretty much done as well.  It had a ton of cracks and holes, but I was lucky enough to make it to Winnipeg the next day without it breaking down.

One of many cuts in my tire.

At night in Portage, me and another rider continued our search for an old Risk board.  We've been looking for a board to play on rest days, although unfortunately the new boards are totally updated and not the same as the Risk I grew up with.  Our search has included thrift stores, and since they were all closed in Portage on this Sunday, we inquired at a video store where we may look.  The owner was very helpful and called home to see if he could give us his personal copy of the game... sadly, it was missing pieces and the search continues... Instead, we spent the evening playing "Bohnanza" - a ridiculous yet fun German game about planting and harvesting beans. 

BOHNANZA!!!

Day 5 of 6, rode to Beausejour, Manitoba via Winnipeg.  Again, it was blazing hot and the heat was even more pronounced going through the big city... the traffic and frequent stops/starts definitely did nothing to help keep me cool!  After riding quickly to Winnipeg (the TransCanada had a beautifully paved, wide shoulder all the way), spent a couple hours in the bike shop getting a new wheel (phew!), drank a ton of Gatorade, then continued to our destination.  Unfortunately in Winnipeg, I lost the other seven riders I had come with, due to a combination of getting stopped at stop lights and poor direction-taking on my part.  Of course we all met up again at camp, so no biggie.  Fortunately, I ran into another rider who was riding in an even more wrong direction than I was, and just as we were about to take off in a different wrong direction, a third rider rolled by and pointed us the right way.  It was very lucky to have a big city nearby to get my repairs, but I do much prefer the days of riding long country roads with only 2-3 turns total!!  Anyway, had a good afternoon, and the camp was on an amazing river for swimming.  Finished the night with a great spaghetti dinner and yet another loss at chess.

Finally, the sixth day of the series was the longest of the trip so far (and the second longest of the trip overall) - 177 km and mid-thirties at least temperature-wise.  To add to that, we battled a pretty wicked head/cross-wind for a good part of the day, and had an interesting run-in with an a-hole driver.  Anyway, despite this, I still really enjoyed the day!  We rode hard for a lot of the morning until we made a stop at a wonderful small bakery.  After gorging on cinnamon buns and monster cookies, our group decided to ride at a slightly easier pace to prevent burning out as the day went on.  We got almost halfway by lunchtime, when we stopped in the town of Rennie (with yet another sweet claim to fame -- see photo below) for a bit of respite from the heat in an air-conditioned diner.

Bakery in Whitemouth

Best claim to fame yet.

As we got closer to Ontario, we saw the terrain changing from the flat, green Prairie fields to becoming more hilly, rocky, treed terrain with more and more lakes along the way.  We continued for about 45 km after lunch before stopping to fill our water bottles and realizing that, where we decided to stop, there was an amazing lake for swimming!

Reaching the end of Manitoba...

Caddy Lake - best rest stop yet!

Much refreshed by the swim-break, we continued on until the end.  The heat was unrelenting, and at times the blacktop-road was literally melting underneath us.  While pedaling, one of my fellow riders nearly fell when his tire started sinking into freshly-paved road.  We persevered, though, and finally made it to the Ontario border!!

The road that melts...

Finding some respite from the sun

 

 

 

Ontario!!

Welcome to Ontario, pt 2

The rest of the ride was rolling hills, trees, and more beautiful lakes until we reached Kenora.  Kenora is located along Lake of the Woods and it seems like we turned one final corner along the TransCanada Highway and - BOOM - massive lake.  Probably the most beautiful sight that I've seen throughout this trip (although it might just be because I'm comparing mostly to the couple weeks in the Prairies...). 

Lake of the Woods

Kenora

Instead of going to camp for dinner, a number of us stopped at a pub and I feel I fully earned that milkshake, poutine, and burger! (and of course, a couple more liters of water!).  From our campsite, we have quick access to the lake, so we swam after getting back.  I re-discovered that I could back dive, which I hadn't actually done since I was maybe 9 or 10 years old... Early to bed in the evening, and then spent the rest day doing the usual routine... internet, food, laundry.  We FINALLY found a Risk board!!  And in the evening, went to see Harry Potter in town and wrapped up the evening with more ice cream and more swimming.

Over the next four days, we're heading to Thunder Bay, and I'm pretty pumped for a) the slightly-shorter days that we're riding, and b) more of the awesome Northern Ontario scenery.

Take care!

Regina, SK to Kenora, ON Riding Stats
6 Riding Days
879 km

Overall Riding Stats
24 Riding Days
2988 km

Peanut Butter Sandwiches consumed, to date: 47