Am I Canadian

I find myself in downtown Regina on a Saturday. This is following a second 1710km dash from Surrey to return a rental Cargo van and avoid a $1400 drop fee…

I awoke at the corner of Victoria Avenue and Broad Street, not under a park bench, but in the Quality Hotel. This is an older hotel and now part of the Choice Hotels group. Although older, the rooms are comfortable, with space large enough to park a Hummer at the foot of the bed, with ample room left to walk around.

After a lazy morning brewing coffee in the room and sipping my least favourite coffee in the world…Van Houtes, I was ready to search for breakfast. The Quality hotel provides no complimentary breakfast, which usually means you aren’t missing much. The front desk staff is happy to direct you to the Ramada (kitty corner) or the Regina Inn (across the street) for their breakfast menu at the former, or buffet at the latter. This has a dubious effect of ensuring subsequent visits to Saskatchewan’s capital are booked at these two hotels. In winter, this means not having to venture outside for breakfast.

Next up was the farmers market, a Saturday ritual adjacent to city hall, running during “non-winter” months – a.k.a. 9 weeks. Farmers markets are pretty well established in virtually every city, town or village in Canada. This is where you can go on a Saturday morning and pay two times what you normally would for the same produce offered in local fruit and vegy markets. The higher “agri-tariff” is charged for the privilege of meeting the people that produce, build or make the stuff they display. It is also the opportunity to roll the dice on just what went into that bread, fudge, muffins or bannock. Foodies with allergies keep clear…you may wish to stick with the cheaper alternatives. It is usually worth the price of admission to watch the entrepreneurs protect their merchandise from the current “in-season” insect, pets or small children. This time it was the wasps…electric whacking racquet was mandatory equipment. A “what’s in that?” question usually reveals two things: a smile from the seller and evidence that perhaps they did not make this after all…

The most interesting was a group from Oliver BC who drove in a Budget rental truck loaded with apples, peaches and nectarines. Looks like they will sell out!

From here, no visit to Regina is complete with out a visit to the Royal Saskatchewan Museum. Apparently there were not many visitors to Regina today as the staff outnumbered the visitors. The price is right (free with a donation) and inside is choc-o-bloc full of displays of the evolution of Saskatchewan, including fossilized remains of your favourite prehistoric creature, how uranium, potash and gold were deposited, how dinosaurs, mammals and people eventually arrived in this area. The information is educational and you learn how the province was formed as it meandered north and south. Interesting that they describe how Saskatchewan moved north, south, east and west by impressive distances. This might lead one to believe that Saskatchewan was a lone entity that for some, yet to be determined reason, just happened to land in the middle of North America! I discovered that the continent was covered by five unique ice ages which shaped Saskatchewan as we know it today.

Time for lunch at the Bushwakker Brew Pub, one of the top three places to eat in Regina. Interesting that within two blocks of the hotel are two premiere steak houses, Golf’s and the Ambassador. Where you too can spend $35 on a steak that is rumored to be no better than the same at the local Bonanza chain… The walk up Albert street was eventful. First the annual “Toy Run” was crossing Albert at Victoria Avenue. I waited with several other amused pedestrians while a procession of over 1000 motorcycles, in double formation, crossed Albert without interruption through several cycles of stoplights, much to the chagrin of motorists who were compelled to wait on the entire procession, thanks to police manning the intersections. In addition to learning about every brand of motorcycle, you can also check out all the latest varieties of kids toys. Some of the younger pedestrians were under siege by candy projectiles launched by sack totin’ passengers on the back of the bikes. They were well disguised with their heads mysteriously covered in gear cleverly made to look like helmets…no doubt to blend in with the innocent bikers. Those on the sidelines who survived the attacks, racked in quite the sugar haul.

Second, and not the least significant was the throngs of Rider faithful, snaking their way to the open air Mosaic Stadium (aka Taylor Field) for Saturday afternoon football in the Rider nation. All funneling towards the stadium were garbed the mandatory green.

Even those who accidentally wore something green today were compelled to attend the game as some sort of ritual expected by the masses. Checking my clothes, I was relieved to find nothing remotely resembling green. I quickly tossed a small piece of green paper into one of the street trash cans before I was hypnotically led inside with the procession.

At last safe inside the brewhouse, with the game on the big screen, I can agree with the top three rating given this eatery. For less than half the price of a steak at the elite steak houses, you can dine on a steak and a pint of one of their 30 unique brews is thrown in for good measure.

The area now known as Regina was once owned by the Hudsons Bay Company, who at one time or another owned all of Canada. It was a popular slaughtering grounds for the massive bison herds but largely deemed unlivable by the nomadic tribes. Due to the immense pile of bison bones left behind, the area was named “Pile o’ Bones Creek”. The Canadian Government in cooperation with the CPR, who now owned most of the land after pushing the railway through, mysteriously decided that the Pile o’ Bones would be the capital of the Northwest Territories. This was after many explorers had surveyed the land and decided it contained no redeeming features to render it livable. The government asked Princess Louise to give Pile o’ Bones a new name and she decided to name it Regina, in honor of her mother Queen Victoria.

Fed up, I now found the streets largely deserted and once again safe to walk, even wearing something green. Apparently everyone in town was either riding a Harley, or present at the football game. There was a skeleton crew of paid volunteers driving the streets in a demonstration that life does go on beyond football. I decided to check out the open stadium to see what all the fuss was about. You could enjoy all the sounds of football without having to leave your tailgate party, as many had chosen to remain in the adjacent parking lot! They don’t make stadiums like this anymore!

There was one open section, where you could watch the game at street level just outside the fence. The stadium was built next to the rail line and the open side a concession made to the CPR who could charge a premium on passenger tickets during gey cup games. The train would slow to 30mph so the paying passengers would connect with a bit of grey cup history.

I’ll say goodbye to Regina with a 6am flight, happy to be heading home…again! Last interesting fact is the cost of a cab in Regina. It is roughly $10 for a cab from downtown to the airport. This is the same fee for a cab in Moose Jaw for travel from one end of Main Street to the other (less than 5 minutes).

Having reached a decision to suspend the final 2500km left in the cross Canada ride until 2012, we packed the bikes and gear in a rental cargo van and made a dash from Moose Jaw to Surrey on the Trans Canada Hwy.

We traveled through the heart of the wheat belt and on to the seemingly endless grasslands. The dry and sparse grasslands support the odd herd of cattle, perhaps one head per five acres.

With an overnight stop in Calgary, we graduated the next morning from the grasslands to the foothills and beyond the Rockies! We live in constant sight of the mountains, so they are not an unusual sight. Being away four months, the mountains sprung up as if they were growing in front of us. Suddenly we were surrounded by majestic peaks and we were in awe all over again. West of Canmore we raced through four National Parks (having spent time in each before). Banff, Yoho, Glacier and the newest Mt Revelstoke.

The drive through the mountains was spectacular and thouhgts of riding the bikes with these views brings excitement. Next year will not come soon enough. The route plan is already complete and training prior to the final 2500km our winter project.

I managed to locate a set of bike tires which should be able to manage all types of terrain. From prairie grid roads, ATV tracks to the Trans Canada Trail, these should do the trick! This pair is being delivered to Moose Jaw ready for installation next summer.

We are looking forward to months of home cooking!

Planned distance ? – Actual distance traveled 78km

Highlights:
- quality 8 foot paved shoulders on the Trans Canada Hwy #1

Lowlights:
- not much to look at today
- an on and off again headwind

Today’s forecast was for blazing sunshine with a high of 32 degrees and not much wind. We were off to a good start from the Comfort Inn. It’s always a pleasure to roll our fully loaded bikes out the “patio door”. We were hoping to beat some of the heat of the day.

We started out on a bike path that led us past the university of Regina. There wasn’t much choice of a route between Regina and Moose Jaw, if we wanted pavement that is… The Trans Canada Hwy (TCH) takes a southern jog through the city, then resumes it’s westerly course at the city’s southern limits. The bike path led us to an on ramp on the southern jog. We cycled down the on-ramp prepared for the day’s journey on a busy highway.

We found the eight foot paved shoulders to be in excellent shape. The traffic still feels close when zipping by at 110km/hour. Once we cycled out of the western city limits, the frequency of passing traffic lessened until later in the day, when it became busier with trucks, despite being a Saturday.

The route was mostly flat and similar to other highways, littered with the ripped apart remains of “re-tread” tires from trucks. The wire lodged in my front tire, causing the puncture in the tube, appeared suspiciously similar to the wires from these steel-belted tire pieces. Few trees were to be found, with a smattering near the edges of the highway and a few more around the now less frequent homesteads along the route.

Other than the shadowy “Blue Hills” approximately 30km south of Moose Jaw, this is what entertained us for most of the day:

We did encounter five other highway cyclists today, although only one looked to be in a “long haul” mode. Highway #1 will certainly get you across the country in the shortest time, but based on our experience, you will miss most of this great country’s character, it’s people, various cultures and much history. Two sensory experiences one completely misses on the highway, are the multiple and complex weaving of sounds and smells across the land.

There were few amenities en route with one bar/restaurant in Belle Plaine where we bought two cold drinks and found a bit of shade beside the building. Shade was a rare commodity along this route and it was hot in the blazing sun. There was a variable wind which switched continuously throughout the day from South to West to North and back again. Once in a while it was a factor, slowing our pace.

We cycled into Moose Jaw and past their two city symbols being “shown-off” to highway travelers…a big moose and a Canadian Snowbirds tudor jet.
The world famous Snowbirds, were formed in 1971 at CFB Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan where
they still call home today.

Bet you always wondered where the name Moose Jaw came from! Well, I’m here to provide that answer! The Coteau Range, part of a vast area including the USA Dakotas, provides the valley with many a “warm breeze”. The Cree word Moosegaw with a “g” meaning “Warm Breezes” is translated to the city’s name Moose Jaw.

Moose Jaw’s first homestead was established in 1882 and is famous for it’s underground tunnels built to both hide Chinese immigrants as well as facilitate bootlegging!

Today also closes the chapter in our cycle adventure for the 2011 riding season. Our drop dead date for arriving at the Alberta – BC border was September 8th and snow is already beginning to fall in the mountain passes. So it was no longer a matter of completing our tour this year, it was only a matter of when we would end this chapter, where we will resume next year for it’s completion. We have never been willing to sacrifice our “tour” mode, to be replaced by a let’s just get it done mode, and many more discoveries await us in 2012.

For those that have followed the blog, thank you! We hope you have enjoyed it as we have. This is not the end, merely a temporary suspension. I will post some reflections on this chapter of our journey within the next ten days. Also, my handlebar camera snapped some 150,000 pictures along the way. I look forwatd to posting some of these sorted by themes!

For now it’s been 120 days on the road and 6,987km ridden on our bicycles!

Distance traveled 0km

Highlights:
- a day out of the heat

Lowlights:
- none

Regina, capital city of Saskatchewan, home of the green Roughriders and the training centre for all RCMP cadets. Louis Riel, leader of the Red River Rebellion and the Northwest Rebellion was hanged here in 1885. Regina was established in 1882 and with a current population just shy of 200,000 is the second largest city in Saskatchewan.

Today was another record setting hot day in the Province. At 31 degrees, it is 11 degrees above seasonal normal. The next two days will be more of the same before the daytime high drops by 16 degrees on Monday!

We remained in the east end of the city, home of the big box stores, doing our best to keep out of the sun for a day.

On returning to the hotel (Comfort Inn), we discovered my front tire was flat. Pulling the tire off and tube out, I located a small puncture which I repaired with a patch. Upon examining the inside of the tire for any remnants of pointy culprit, I located a sixteenth of an inch piece of sharp wire protruding where the tube rests. This had embedded itself in the tire somewhere on our journey and resulted in the tube puncture. I pulled the sharpie out and all seems to be back to normal.

Tomorrow we will ride to Moose Jaw. Our route choices are limited and will most likely spend a good part of the ride on the trans Canada hwy (TCH).

Planned distance 72km – actual distance traveled 80km

Highlights:
- a cat almost came along for the ride

Lowlights:
- too much high speed traffic
- were passed by over 1000 transport tricks in a 16km stretch!!!
- another hot day with no shade
- crumbling shoulders

Our room was on the second floor, so it was necessary to haul our gear, plus the bikes, first up, then down three flights of stairs. We enjoyed a relaxing breakfast before packing up and heading out. While we were loading our bikes, a neighbourhood cat, who seemed more the size of a kitten, jumped on Wendy’s panniers and was ready to head out of town. The innkeeper suggested we take the friendly beast with us but, what to do with a cat on the open road! As we cycled out of town, we continued checking our gear for a cat stowaway.

The first thing on our agenda was to climb back out of the Qu’Appelle valley to exit the town. The valley floor is expansive in this portion of the Qu’Appelle. The term “fort” was never for a military station but instead was the name of the Hudson Bay trading post established in the 1870s. The “frontier” trading posts were often built as forts complete with walled protection. Here are a couple of pictures of the Fort Qu’Appelle area:

The cycle up out of the valley was challenging but we cycled it and at the top we welcomed a cycling generated breeze as we picked up speed. The morning, already heated considerably, as we reached the prairie once more, we were literally a ball of sweat!

Following a yesterday’s long ride in the heat, we decided to cycle the shortest route possible to Regina, highway 10. We were warned that it was a high speed two lane highway and the warning well deserved. The shoulders out of Fort Qu’Appelle were paved and eight feet wide, perfect for some isolation from the speedy traffic. The luxurious shoulders lasted fo 8-10km and the remainder of the ride on this highway was on cracked and crumbling pavement, mostly four feet wide. The challenge of navigating around the holes, sharp edges and otherwise crumbling mass required continual focus. Not to mention the need to monitor traffic when swerving onto the main road waas required to avoid particularly precarious hazards!

We also confirmed something we did not understand about the open prairie. While it may seem flat at first glance, the open prairie is slanted. For the first 34km of our ride, we cycled a series of “slopes” varying from 2-5% grade, all fighting gravity in our westerly direction. At this point there was a plateau and we began a 2% average decline. There wasn’t much new to look at today as we encountered wheat fields as far as the eye could see, the odd wetland parcel and a large woodland area. This was a good thing as we spent most of the time scanning the terrain immediately in front to avoid the continuous hazards. One new sight we caught while on a water break was that we cycled across the major cross Canada flight paths for commercial airlines.

Highway #10 ended a half kilometre from the small town of Balgonie. We cycled briefly on to the Trans Canada Hwy (TCH), and took the exit a half kilometre later. We stopped in Balgonie to take a break from the blazing sun and the 30 degree hot air. We enjoyed some ice cream and re-stocked our depleted water supplies. We learned from locals that Balgonie is part of the quad sister cities of Balgonie, Bologna, Baloney and Kielbasa.

From here we cycled onto highway 46, apparently a “quieter” alternative to the TCH. The shoulders on this two lane highway were in great shape but the traffic heading in and out of Regina was fast and furious. Vehicles passed us at a rate of one every three seconds with one out of five being semi trucks. It was a most unpleasant dash to Regina along this route. Prior to reaching the outskirts of Regina, we cycled past the town of Pilot Butte, famous for the testing of fighter jet ejection seats.

Our planned turn into the western part of the city (Prince of Wales drive) turned out to be a gravel road loaded with high speed dusty traffic…scratch that one. We then cycled into the industrial zone and pulled over to recover from the extreme traffic. We found a road link back to the east end and cycled up to the Comfort Inn.

We need to take a break from the hot sun and will spend two nights in Regina. The forecast for the next two days remains at 30 degrees and glorious sunshine.

Planned distance ? – Actual distance traveled 107km

Highlights:
- a dog owned us for a while
- not a cloud in the sky
- discovering one of the most welcoming communities in Canada!

Lowlights:
- a long day in the saddle and not by choice
- 30 degrees and no shade
- Saskatchewan roads
- we had to say goodbye to Bender
- Trans Canada Trail impassable due to previous flooding

This morning we had a delicious and filling breakfast at the B&B. Crooked Lake was calm as we sat at the dining room table looking out over the lake. We packed up our bikes and headed out on the Qu’Appelle Valley road. The forecast was for sunny skies with a high of 30 degrees. It was already quite warm at 8am. Our original plan was to cycle the valley just shy of Fort Qu’Appelle on the Trans Canada Trail (TCT). Unfortunately, the late spring flooding had washed out many sections of the route and it was impassable. Too bad as now we had to climb back up out of the valley for an alternate routing.

We cycled along the valley heading for a junction to hwy 47 which would lead us back up to the open prairie. Just over 5km in to our ride, a dog (let’s call him “Bender”) came racing up the road from behind seemingly out of nowhere! Being wary of untethered dogs, we stopped and he raced past. We watched and he appeared to be on a mission. We began to pedal with Bender up in front, watching him closely. Occasionally, he would bound into the brush, hay field or forest, after some noise or movement. He never made a sound. About 3 km later, he began to check behind, looking at us riding, and then running on ahead. He wore no collar to identify him.

We reached the junction and headed north on 47. We cycled for a bit and then walked the bikes up the steeper grade until we again reached the surface of the planet. All this time, Bender stayed with us. He marked his trail continuously so he was equipped to retrace his path. Bender had street smarts as he took care to avoid any speeding vehicles. Returning to cellphone coverage, we called our B&B hosts, described the dog and what was happening. Vic had no idea whose dog it might be. Finally out of the valley, we began to cycle with speed. Bender loped along the road with us, occasionally leaping into a duck pond for sport, to quench his thirst, or merely to cool off.

We were traveling at a good clip but were held back due to the uphill slope so Bender had no trouble keeping up. We stopped for a break and Bender hung around, occasionally whimpering at us to go further. Here he is waiting for us to get back on the bikes.

He was never threatening but also never approached us close enough to seek affection. We were beginning to think the dog would be permanently attached to us for the long haul home. We reached a flat section and increased our speed. Bender, now beginning to tire, tried to keep up, but could not and after 12km of traveling with us, gave up and headed back from whence he came. This is both a highlight and a lowlight as we felt guilty having to abandon him by speeding away.

We continued to cycle north until we rejoined highway 22 heading west. This was a lonely road (falling apart and being repaired with tar and loose gravel). Often we felt as if we were the only people on the planet. There were many abandoned farms and while some fields remained productive, there were no homesteads to be seen over the plains. Every once in a while, a speedy vehicle would come by to remind us that life continued to exist on Earth. We cycled by many old rotting abandoned homesteads such as this one:

Many appeared majestic still standing unused in the open fields, the wood turning grey and black with age.

Wetlands again dominated this section of our trip. We encountered thousands of ducks and startled many who took flight or “ran” in the water, to move to a safer distance. The odd hawk circled the sky and the roads were littered with carcasses of snakes who had slithered up onto the road at a bad time for them. We encountered snake remains every 50-100 metres.

We cycled into the village of Neudorf to restock water and find a cold drink as the blazing sun was hot. The first citizen we encountered shouted a friendly “Welcome to Neudorf”. We cycled down Main street and the mayor came out to greet us and welcomed us to Neudorf a second time. Murray Hanowski is both mayor and administrator for the tiny community. He passed us a 100 year anniversary coin and some other souvenirs. We asked about the history of the 100+ year old town and Murray informed us this was once a major resupply and watering depot for the trains. All of this has vanished as well as the grain elevators which would fill the grain cars. He said the town is struggling to survive and pointed out the store and a restaurant in town. The store staff asked us to fill out their guest book and many locals stopped by on their way to pick up groceries to chat with Wendy.

The Main street has one of the stone houses that seem to he a hot item for purchase due to their history and heritage. Here is one such stone house in Neudorf:

We believe Neudorf is one of the most welcoming communities on our adventure!

Resupplied, we carried on, eventually hoping to reach Belcarres for an overnight. We were advised there was a motel in town. Following alongside route 22 was the abandoned and now unused rail bed. Old telephone poles followed the old rail line and you could trace the route by the poles. The farmers have cultivated much of the former rail bed and stacks of rail trusses were seen at odd intervals.

The road was often rough and dusty when the odd vehicle passed by. We have discovered many of these signs placed on the road:

After a propaganda campaign by the highways department, the above sign is widely accepted all over Saskatchewan to mean: ” Meteorites showered from the sky and damaged this portion of the road. IT’S NOT OUR FAULT!”

We were beginning to tire from the heat and we checked in at tiny Abernethy to see if there was somewhere to overnight. The locals said their was nothing any longer and we should check in Balcarres.

We cycled up to busy highway 10, a popular route to Regina, and turned west. We entered Balcarres and were informed the the one hotel/motel in town had burnt down and the only accommodations were in Fort Qu’Appelle, 18km further west. Restocked with water, we headed back on #10 and cycled with the sun in our eyes as it was lowering on the horizon.

Fort Qu’Appelle is located at the bottom of the Qu’Appelle valley and as we approached the decent into the valley (for the second time in two days), route 10 was covered in loose sandy gravel (more pothole repairs). This provided a treacherous decent for us to the valley floor, trying to maintain balance in the soft surface, while visibility was limited by the low sun and clouds of thick dust being kicked up continuously by vehicles travelling in both directions.

Finally arriving, tired and covered in dust, we checked into the Country Squire Inn, which everyone recommended. We found it to be…in need of more than just a paint job. Oh well, we are tired and there is a restaurant and lounge so what we need is here.

Tomorrow we make a ride for Regina!

Planned distance ? – Actual distance 77km

Highlights:
- the Qu’Appelle valley is a hidden gem
- great weather

Lowlights:
- crumbly roads

Esterhazy’s The Wander Inn is one of the few drive up motels to include a continental breakfast and it was surprisingly descent. We retrieved our bikes from the garage, loaded them up and cycled off…to the nearest Subway for lunch. Actually we picked up lunch for the road.

Heading out of town, the temperature was warming quickly, the winds light and not a cloud dotted the blue sky that stretched seemingly forever all around. We cycled west on highway 22 until just before the town of Stockholm. You can have one guess at which old country’s citizens settled in this area…

Congratulations, it was the Ugandans… The Swedes settled in and around Stockholm on their pre-selected parcels of land in 1886.

We turned south on highway 9 and headed towards the Qu’Appelle valley. Along this route, we could see the challenges facing the Swedes as the area is dominated by wetlands and the farmers were obligated to work around the densely scattered patches of wetland. Good thing they were lacking giant farming machines as today, those wetlands may not exist at all! Here is an example of one such modern monolith that we had to dodge by riding amongst the Canola fields for several metres.

When we finally reached the Qu’Appelle valley, we were stunned. The descent was long and scenic:

The valley was wide and the now tiny Qu’Appelle River, is mostly invisible to those not on the valley floor.

We shared the valley road (hwy 247) with a number of hawks who were unusually quiet today and often remained perched on bales of hay as we cycled close by. Prey must have been close at hand. Highway 247 snakes along the north side of the valley and the contours it followes for the 40km ride made for a winding route with gentle ups and downs. We approached our first of two lakes in this part of the valley, Round Lake.

As we cycled past the end of Round Lake, I jokingly said: “it looks like a ski hill up ahead”. Jokes on me…as we closed in, it was a ski hill!

As we continued to snake along the valley wall, we caught sight of Crooked Lake where our destination for the day, Melville Beach, would be found near the far end.

Now, be honest, do these pictures confirm or alter your impression of scenery in Saskatchewan?

After waving down a couple of vehicles for precise directions, we cycled into “Lodged In The Valley B&B” and met Vic & Betty. Our gracious hosts had chilled water waiting for us and invited us onto their waterfront deck for juice and casual conversation. As not one store appeared along the way, we asked where we might find supplies for our ride tomorrow. Vic mentioned there was one store on a First Nations reserve across the river about 10km back. He gave us the keys to his 1975 Ford and off we went to stock up.

On our way, we were forced to follow a Qu’Appelle Valley street cleaner for a few kilometres. The Provincial highways department has contracted with entrepreneurial locals who have cut down large tree branches packed with leaves, tied them together and mounted the stack in the back of a pick-up truck. The street cleaner was so effective, it was actually removing sections of recent blacktop used to patch some of the six foot deep pot holes on the road. I would have snapped a picture but when driving an unfamiliar vehicle around mogul sized monds of loose blacktop and giant potholes, I need to focus. While we were following, it was impossible to see what was actually carrying the tree branches. We only discovered it was a pick-up when it was forced to stop to dislodge several farm animals who were too close to the road.

We spent a good part of the evening figuring out tomorrow’s route. We learned from Vic & Betty that there has been extensive (one in fifty year) flooding of the valley floor to the west and they doubted if the Trans Canada Trail (a.k.a. Valley floor grid road) was passable. Since there is no cell coverage on in the valley (that is why this posting is late), I used the satellite phone to call Jo-Ann (our Sask trails provincial contact) who confirmed the route is no longer passable due to washouts including one dameged bridge. We then plotted an alternate road route, which is unfortunately longer, to work our way towards Regina (a few days cycle away).

Planned distance ? – actual distance traveled 79km

Highlights:
- it warmed up again
- coyote

Lowlights:
- battled a wind for 24km
- paved road? Hmmm…

Today we ate breakfast at the Inn and were ready to go with our fresh Subway sandwiches. Our original plan was to take route 579, which zig-zagged it’s way to the Saskatchewan border. Upon investigating with the highways hotline, there is a one kilometre section closed due to a washout – scratch that one. The second option was to cycle south on the Yellowhead and turn west on hwy 8. Two locals recommended against this due to the condition of the road. They both instead recommended we cycle west on the Yellowhead, cross the Sask border and turn south on hwy 8 at Langenburg. We decided to go with the local recommendations.

Today’s forecast was for sunshine and winds of 20km from the south. As we left the mercury was hovering at 8 degrees and the south wind surprisingly cold! We headed west on the Yellowhead while enjoying eight foot paved shoulders and light traffic through the remaining 15km of Manitoba. We crossed the Assiniboine river once more and descended onto the valley floor of what was a mighty river draining the ice age glacial flow to Lake Agassiz (first level prairie). Today, the Assiniboine is classified as a “misfit” river (unless it’s flooding of course), and it is merely a trickle of it’s former self, fed now only by annual precipitation.

Descending into the valley and climbing back up the other side on a bicycle impresses a feeling of every inch the former mighty river carved into the path of least resistance. Whoever said there were no hills on the prairies, hasn’t sampled the river valleys carved by ancient glacial drainage.

We were fortunate, prior to parting ways with Manitoba to run across a rare species, native to this Province. The Manitoba provincial weed is on the endangered species list. This grassy weed is now protected in it’s natural state merely by a plastic tube. We spotted this one a few kilometres from the Saskatchewas border:

We then crossed over to the 8th Province of our journey.

The paved shoulders on the Yellowhead immediately shrunk to 3 feet, no doubt due to some provincial cost saving measure. Traffic remained light throughout the remainder of our journey on the Yellowhead. This was, thinking back, our first ride on a Trans Canada Hwy since Nova Scotia.

We cut over to hwy 8 via a grid road, our first ride on a prairie grid road to-date. It was mostly hard pack and, with a speed limit of 275 km/hour, fortunately no stone chucking speeding vehicles came our way for the 2km stretch. We turned south onto hwy 8 to face-off with the 20km southern headwind. We found the “sort-of” paved hwy 8 to be similar to a grid road, copious quantities of loose stones, some hard pack and, the only difference, some pavement thrown in for good measure. The speed limit of 100km/hr is no real challenge for the Saskatchewanians and it was often necessary to pull to the side and shield ourselves from the possibility of loose rocks being catapulted in our general direction by the local drivers.

After a mere 24km on hwy 8, we can pronounce Saskatchewan secondary roads the worst in Canada (confirmed again after cycling hwy 22). Apparently the provincial highways deptartment have creatively found ways of repairing pot holes on paved roads with hunks of hot tar and loose gravel, then asking motorists to drive over it and pray that rubber tires somehow pack it all together.

One of the motorists who slowed to prevent a rain of stones on our parade, stopped, turned around and drove up behind us. A young lady stepped out of her car and asked if we were ok, and if we needed any directions or anything else. That was very sweet and a most satisfying welcome to Saskatchewan!

Completing our drawn out battle with the wicked wind of the south, we again swung west, this time on hwy 22 for our straight shot to Esterhazy. The wind at our side at times gave us a push as it did during our 30km on the Yellowhead. With the wind off of our face, we began to feel the heat of the day at 26 degrees.

We passed by the massive Mosaic potash mine where the potash is mined 1100 metres below the surface.

The tailings and water tower are so massive, I spotted the pair near Russell, over 50km in the distance. The tailing pile is 2km+ long and so tall, semi trucks parked on top of the pile appeared to be hot wheel toys. The mine is a major area employer. We then cycled up to and almost on top of a young coyote who wandered onto the highway just to check things out. After spotting us and a pickup racing in his direction, he bounded away with the grace of the wind!

We arrived in Esterhazy (population 2500) and checked into the Wander Inn. Esterhazy has proclaimed itself as “The Potash capital of the world” as the two joint mines outside of town produce more potash than any other mine in the world. The area is also known for it’s Hungarian settlers.

Tomorrow we ride to Crooked Lake Provincial Park.

Planned distance 0km – actual distance 0km

Highlights:
- a day off
- a town of 1800 feels like the big city
- a comfortable room at the Inn

Lowlights:
- none

Today was our day off from the bikes and time to carry out some maintenance. That is the routine cleaning and re-lubrication of the chains and gears, my favourite task…

The town of Russell, population 1800 feels like a big “place”. After traveling through a crumbling rural environment, finding a large hotel feels “big”. We are situated on the Yellowhead, a.k.a. The other Trans Canada Hwy. Yesterday, the highway was bustling with traffic and since there is a gas station, Tim Hortons, Subway and four other restaurants on this small space, it is a major pit stop for those traveling east or west. Today was a different story. Traffic was light to non-existent at times.

We took a walk through the town of Russell, guided by a walking tour pamphlet, pointing out the age of the homes and businesses, who built them and what they were used for. Also, the Main Street features several towering wooden arches. Here is one:

These were support structures that originally held up the roof on an arena in Dauphin Manitoba. About to be relegated to the land fill, someone from town spotted them and came up with the idea for the structures on Main St. It gives it a bit of the…McDonalds look…just kidding…

Also, while walking around town, we spotted this for sale sign, tacked onto a bulletin board:

Someone said, “it was the mayor of Saskatoon in disguise who posted this ad”, now popping up all over Manitoba. Apparently, he only wishes to keep the “thawed out” portion of Saskatchewan’s largest city!

As in other Provinces and States (exception Quebec and to some extent Ontario), rural life is slowly fading. Towns located on the major highway survive, at least the businesses on the highway do. In each of the smaller towns that we visited on our route, there might be one convenience store. Otherwise, buildings in various states of disrepair dominate. Even the rural Canada Post offices appear run down…it’s a bit sad. All the former active grain elevators along the long defunct railroad stand silent, appearing majestic from a distance, but upon closer inspection, are on their last legs.

The route we have been following the past few days is described in tourism brochures as “From woodlands to wetlands to prairie”. A more appropriate description cannot be found. Russell is also the gateway to Asessippi (pronounced “assessippi”) Provincial park complete with downhill ski area and abundant outdoor winter and summer activities.

Time off always provides a chance to tally our latest kilometre total and, have cycled 6566km to date.

Tomorrow we cycle into Saskatchewan and head towards the Qu’Appelle valley.

Planned distance 38km – Actual distance traveled 39km

Highlights:
- a dance of the birds

Lowlights:
- viscious wind from the north
- dangerous dog

We enjoyed a pleasant overnight at the Rossburn hotel. Another storm cell blew through last night with fireworks and heavy rain. The rain was continuing to fall in the morning. During breakfast at the hotel restaurant we chatted briefly with the cook and two of the locals who came in to have a cup-o-joe.

Today’s forecast was a chance of rain and high winds from the north. Steady winds at 30km/h with gusts up to 60…yikes! Our route today jogged around in a westerly and northwesterly direction, so we expected a tough battle with mother nature. It was cold so the riding pants, head tube and warm gloves were the today’s additions to the riding attire. Our planned ride was a short one and a good thing, since it would be slow as well.

The route out of town to reconnect with highway 45 was due north and the push back from the wind was strong. We rounded on highway 45 and headed west, which was less of a struggle forward but a challenge to stay upright on the bikes.

We soon found ourselves descending into the Birdtail River Valley. A beautiful view and here is an attempt to capture some of the detail on the Blackberry camera:

In a car, the descent to the valley floor and back up again might take but 45 seconds. Heading northwest and basically into the headwind, our trip through required 30 minutes. Pedaling downhill was required. On our journey through the valley, one of the Rossburn hotel coffee drinkers we chatted with passed us slowly for a friendly honk and wave. Later in the day he came by once more and stopped to chat on the side of the road.

Once on the valley floor we cycled through the Waywayseecappo First Nations reserve. I’m not sure how closely they are related to the Keeseekoowenin First Nation, whose reserve we cycled through yesterday. They must be related in some way as they enjoy the same number of letters in their names!

The cycle back up the other side of the valley quickly became a walk as the combo headwind and climb made any forward progress cycling near impossible. The reserve continued on our south side, with non-reserve land on the north side of the highway. Some portions of the reserve are in farmland while others appear to remain as untouched forest. With the south side of the road in forest and the north side in wheat, we couldn’t help but imagine the daunting task of the early settlers. The enormous task of cutting, digging, rock and stump removal to turn the land into a productive farm must have required decades and great faith! Looking at the forested rolling hills, I credit the early settlers for believing they could carve out a life as farmers. Many of he farms we have cycled past during the last three days, are complete with out buildings in various stages of disrepair, perhaps dating back to the original settlement. Here is a typical farm stead scene from today:

Clearing the valley we neared the end of the reserve and met with a vicious dog who bounded over 300 metres from a house, then crossed onto the road to try and take a piece out of us. Using our bikes as protective shields, we were ready with further measures if necessary. It was a standoff until a few vehicles zoomed up the highway whereby the dog decided it was unsafe on the road and retreated. We carried on into the wind, making best speed of about 8km/hour.

Up on the open prairie there was little shelter from the wind. Infrequent groves of trees were most welcome where we could pick up the pace for a hundred metres or so before being mauled by the wind once more.

We encountered yet another long stretch of wetlands and the usual ducks and hawks. One scene that we stopped and watched was a dance between a hawk, and a major flock of small black birds. These are the flocks of birds that appear to be imitating a massive black fish net being thrown up in the sky and blown around changing shape and direction. The hawk, playing a feint, was making it look like it was scanning low over a wheat field and then darted quickly up into the midst of the flock of 400-500 birds. They scattered quickly, with the hawk trying to match maneuvers with a few stragglers. The large flock, and a second flock, observing from nearby, all decided to make for a grove of trees and landed inside, chatting feverishly. The hawk, quite nonchalantly, circled off to the side, then quickly dove into the trees, scattering the now massive flock in many directions. Again the hawk tried to match the moves of the agile small birds. We still aren’t sure if the hawk was after the small birds for a meal or was simply looking for some afternoon entertainment. It was though a most satisfying display of aerial acrobatics on the part of all participants.

We are nearing the end of our ride through Manitoba and one missing participant has been the Manitoban mosquito. Yesterday, one small one performed a Jonathan Livingston Mosquito and landed on my kneecap and bit me while we were in full flight at a good clip in a tail wind! Other than that brief altercation, which I lost, they have been missing in action. However today, a flock (not sure if “flock” is the right term to describe a bunch of mosquitoes) of steroid enhanced Manitoban B52s spotted us on the road and made a mosquito line in our direction. We cycled like crazy into the wind and managed a top speed of 8.5km per hour. The buzzing sounded as if a squadron of P51′s or Sopwith Camels were in an aerial battle. At seemingly the last minute prior to our impending doom, a major gust of wind blew out of the north and sent the flock to Burton Cummings house. Safe, at last, I snapped this picture of the mosquito flock being blown southeast:

Finally, after a longer than normal day to cycle a mere 39km (approximately 4 hours), we arrived in Russell Manitoba, our last Manitoban stop. We are settled in at the Russell inn at the corner of the Yellowhead, hwy 83 and the western terminus of hwy 45. It’s time to take a day off from the bikes which will be Sunday of this last long weekend of the summer.

Planned distance ? – Actual distance traveled 77km

Highlights:
- Hawks, Ravens & Ducks
- Cows and a horse followed us
- wetlands galore
- no wind issues

Lowlights:
- none

We ate a self made breakfast and headed out of Erickson at 8am. It was cool and sunny and the jackets were not optional equipment this morning. We continue to receive unsolicited comments from motorists who spot us in towns after passing us on the road. They usually say, I could see you a “mile” back! The bike lights, yellow paniers, yellow jackets and all their reflectors are working well!

We left on highway 10 and after a few kilometres, turned off to the beginning of highway 45. For the first twenty or so kilometres, we encountered some long low grade hills, then leveled off to a massive area covered in ponds, small lakes and general wetlands. This route is a short distance south of Riding Mountain National Park. Ducks were numerous and as we cycled by, some of those we startled close to the road “ran” in the water. Others took flight to move to a safe distance from the two wheeled beasts on the road. These aren’t your usual pond ducks, they are the sleek flyers made for high speed flight.

Also keeping us company at the start of our day were Ravens and our attention was often drawn to hawks circling over an adjacent field, searching for prey. We were treated to frequent calls of the hawk along our path. Traffic was infrequent on hwy 45 so the screech of the hawk could be heard far over the open prairie.

Mixed in the wetlands were grain farms and large fields in hay. We passed several small communities, each of which were formerly serviced by the railroad, directly through the town centre, the old grain elevators now silent. The highway passes by about one kimometre from the town boundaries. This route, with the Yellowhead a dozen or so kilometres to the south, sees little traffic from the “outside world”. No amenities are situated on highway 45. Here are a couple of Manitoba prairie scenes from today.

At Sandy Lake, 2-3 foot paved shoulders suddenly appeared and, just as suddenly, at the Oakburn exit, disappeared. We stopped in Oakburn at 1:30pm for our first coffee of the day. Our ride today and much of yesterday took us through a part of Manitoba settled long ago by Ukranians. While in Oakburn, we spotted this Ukranian church and out building next door.

Besides the company of birds, in the fields along the highway, there were several herds of cattle and horses. Wendy usually calls out to the herds of animals. Twice, herds of cattle broke into a canter to follow alongside us, on their side of the fence. I do believe she stumbled upon bovine talk for “It’s lunch time!”. Also, one gorgeous mustang horse trotted along with us for a good distance.

It is interesting with all the climbing over the past two days, we would again arrive on the vast open prairie, much higher above sea level than our recent time on ancient Lake Agassiz. The only significant decent of the day was into the Little Saskatchewan River valley, then back up again.

The wind today was out of the southwest. It began as a gentle breeze, then increased in intensity throughout the day. Traveling westward, the breeze wasn’t a factor. As the highway broke northwestward, the SSW breeze occasionally provided a nice push.

The Trans Canada Trail (TCT), for the most part, followed the highway and was never out of site for more than 2-3km. Here is a section between Erickson and Rossburn:

The TCT in this section can be classified as a primitive trail. While it looks cyclable (I think), it is best not to attempt it with loaded tour bikes. Many areas of the trail are indistinguishable from the adjacent hay field. Only the TCT and stop signs indicate a trail exists. All the trestles we observed are in their unmodified state, minus the rails with the addition of stones. The sole user of the TCT, in our journey through Manitoba to date, has been one ATV.

We arrived in Rossburn, our destination for the day. Last night I had called ahead to the Rossburn Hotel to confirm they had rooms available. Everyone had mentioned that someone new had taken over and it would be an improved operation. As we cycled through town, a woman on the sidewalk said “the hotel was this way!”. When we arrived, the owner said he saw us cycling through town and was trying to get our attention to let us know where the hotel was. The woman who pointed us here turned out to be half of the husband and wife team who took over the hotel 2 months ago. They moved from Calgary to operate the hotel. They selected a nice room for us, with which we are pleasantly surprised. The laundramat is around the corner and in addition to the restaurant at the hotel, there are two other restaurants in town, both Chinese…interesting!

Tomorrow we head to our last overnight stop in manitoba…Russell.

Planned distance ? – Actual distance traveled 63km

Highlights:
- discovering an old Ukranian settlement

Lowlights:
- cold
- wind
- rain
- climbed a mountain road

Overnight in Neepawa, a major thunderstorm cell moved through the area packing all the usual fun stuff. It didn’t keep us awake too long. When we woke, the air was cool, the sky heavily overcast and the winds light. Today’s forecast was for 25km/hour winds from the northwest, the general direction we are traveling…uh oh!

Hoping to have a head start on the winds, we headed out on highway 5 and enjoyed somewhat of a paved shoulder as it began to rain. The wind was light, but in no more than ten minutes, the northwest wind kicked in and dropped us by two gears. It was a slow go as we progressed northward towards our turn-off, provincial road 357. The rain was a light mist and it turned on and off throughout the day. The wind picked up to it’s full force as we cycled past the village of Eden. No gardens in sight… Traffic was frequent this morning as this is the main route to Dauphin. We kept eyeing the Trans Canada Trail (TCT) beside us on route 5. The old railbed looked cyclable but it was completely covered in grass, hiding the stones that were littered across the trail. So, we continued on the blacktop. Just prior to our turn, the railbed trail crossed the highway and began to snake it’s way across the countryside towards Erickson.

Reaching our turn off we stopped shortly after to stare at the giant hill in front of us and feeling the wind, we knew this would be a struggle. We later found out this road also has a name: “Mountain road”. It is appropriately named as we climbed off the open prairie into what felt like the middle of nowhere. As we climbed over each peak, another appeared, and so on and so on. This lasted the rest of the day on “Mountain Road”. It was hard to believe we were on the vast open prairie earlier in the day.

There were remnants of farms and some who looked to be continuing the good battle with the elements. However, most seemed to have given up and had changed over to hay harvesting. Most had several years of unused bales stacked in various stages of rot. Then, out of the blue, was a wheat or lavender field, but these were the minority.

As we climbed the wind grew cold and we were feeling the constant chill in the air despite our strenuous workout. We kept the coats on all day, both for the on-off rain and for the cold wind.

Near one of the peaks, we cycled into an old Ukranian community also called “Mountain Road”. We visited a plaque, commemorating a corner where, in 1903, the first of four stores once stood (one on each corner). The last was torn down in 2005, and the plaque remains to honour their memory. A short distance up the road was the old and new Ukranian Catholic church, side by side.

It was the one highlight of our difficult ride, uphill in the cold wet wind.

Just before the turnoff to highway 10 and Erickson, our destination for the night, the TCT crossed Mountain road. Here is how it looked in both directions.

We decided to give the short stretch a go. It was grassy, but fairly hard packed and several rocks scattered over the trail, both loose and sticking out of the hard pack. It was a slow ride picking a path along the trail. It is cyclable but not great with fully loaded bikes.

We pulled into Erickson, which is into the Nordic theme:

The TCT also crosses between the town and the lake where the sun actually does set over Sunset Park.

Even the street signs sport viking boats in black iron. We are staying at the Nordic Inn which also houses the one restaurant in town.

Tomorrow we head west to Rossburn.

Planned distance ? – Actual distance traveled 90km

Highlights:
- wind at our back
- constant changing scenery

Lowlights:
- lots of roadkill

Following breakfast we were happy to be parting the Spruce Woods Inn, with the sketchy room and their metalica water. Shortly after 8:00am we were on the road on highway 5 heading north. This would be our route for the day. The morning was overcast with a comfortable cool temperature and no wind. The forecast called for clearing with highs of 29 degrees and increasing winds from the south. Perfect for our northerly ride.

Hwy 5 took us first through farmland over rolling hills, and then through about 5 kilometres of a primarily treed area with the odd farm mixed in for good measure. We encountered another pair of the lizard looking creatures we last saw in Minnesota (also a pair):

We were careful not to step on the thousands of these along the way:

We entered Spruce Woods Provincial Park. Shortly into the park, the road swung down into a valley which is part of the Assiniboine River basin. The road through the park has re-opened six weeks ago following a 16 week closure. This was following severe flooding from the Assiniboine. Evidence of flood damage was everywhere in the basin with several impromptu lakes holding on to some of the flood waters. These temporary “unofficial lakes” have caused re-routing of traffic to some of the park facilities.

The terrain through the park is varied with many hiking and cross country ski trails. Climbing up out of the river basin, we cycled through Manitoba’s only desert. Here is one of the many sand dunes along the roadside:

We continued cycling up a long low grade slope and a small car slowed alongside, and the driver rolled down the right side window for a chat. He drove beside us for a few minutes. The parkland was varied from river, lakes and marshes, to dry, groves of pines and birch, then rolling hills. Since the flood damage, the park has unfortunately seen few visitors.

Highway 5 meandered a little in exiting the park and we once again left the rolling hills and entered the open prairie. We cycled into the small town of Carberry, famous for being close to the Trans Canada Highway (TCH), but not close enough for anyone to stop there. We found a picnic table near a campsite and enjoyed a peaceful lunch. Here we spotted our first prairie dog and he was prairie doggin it, up, down and up again, then in and out of his ground hole. Ready to carry on, we cycled through the town and up to the Trans Canada Highway (Hwy #1). Hwy 5 crossed the TCH via a stop sign, so we carefully traversed the four lane divided highway.

Today we encountered much road kill. Birds, a badger, a fox, a wolf, raccoon, a muscrat and several other unidentifiable remains. Fortunately the traffic on highway 5 was infrequent. With the light wind now blowing out of the south, truck traffic produced no wind shear. The road north on the open prairie looked as if it was continuously downhill. Problem is, looking back on the route already traveled, also looked as if it was continuously downhill. The earth curvature effects on the prairie are something to behold. Here are some classic prairie scenes:

We then encountered our first of many crop dusters. We stopped and watched the acrobats for a while.

We also stopped to watch the first of the big round hay balers. Quite compact, every 50 or so metres, it would stop, complete some mysterious hidden process, the drop the large bail out of it’s rear…uh…compartment.

The wind increased throughout the day, continuously from the south, providing a comfortable push to our northerly pedal. We are loosely following the path of the trans Canada trail (TCT) through Manitoba. There was a long section situated in…for lack of a better word…a ditch. It is signed, but not cyclable: here is a look forward to one of the many signs marking the ditch trail and then a look back at the “trail” between two signs:

At the end of this section, the TCT turned on to a soft dusty cattle path. We stuck with the blacktop, thanks.

The giant swaths of greens and golds coloured the land on both sides. Every once in a while wild lavender lined the ditches alongside the road providing a refreshing smell to the air. Also, large fields of sunflowers with impossibly large heads went on seemingly forever.

The scenery would change quickly, even on a bicycle. We encountered large groves of pine, fir, then white birch, then back to massive wheat farms. Our ride today was a visual feast for the senses.

Near the ned of the day’s ride, we cycled up to the Yellowhead Highway (TCH route #16) and the town of Neepawa. We stopped for some cold drinks at the Tim Hortons and checked in at the Bay Hill Suites. Dinner at Mr Ribs was delicious and we are comfortably relaxing in our room for the night.

Tomorrow we head in a westerly direction.

Planned distance ? – Actual distance traveled 72km

Highlights:
- wind at our back for 24km
- cooler overcast weather
- stunning views of rolling hills for many kilometres

Lowlights:
- lots of traffic on hwy 2
- two broken spokes
- flaky WIFI and no cellphone coverage

Last night, it was impossible to send the daily blog update as the hotel WIFI kept choking the blackberry and as we now know, there is no Telus coverage in 90% of Manitoba. So, after several attempts, we gave up. In the morning I scouted about town for any other open WIFI netword to transmit the daily blog, but all were causing the same issues. So, yesterday’s blog entry had to wait to be sent much later. With technical issues parked for a while, we enjoyed a deluxe and delicious breakfast at the Somerset Hotel restaurant.

This morning was a later start, mostly due to my messing around trying to find useful WIFI zones. The lady running the hotel this morning came out to see us off and made some recommendations on routing for us. It’s always great to confirm the route we have already chosen with a local!

We have discovered something about Manitobans and distances. While we still get the usual “it’s 30 minutes from here” (by car), we do find some that quote “it’s X kilometres from here”. After cycling to that spot, we find out that it was really X “miles” from there. So, rural Manitoban’s kind of successfully made the transition from British units to metric units of measure. I understand why moving to metric measures of large distances must be a pain. After all, many decades ago, the entire Province was divided up into grids (a.k.a. Grid roads) that are exactly one mile apart. So counting grid roads to measure distance is part of the prairie culture!

We were off and down the road at 8:50am. It was overcast, a nice comfortable temperature with a light breeze coming out of the south. We were back on route 23 heading west with the breeze at our side. The traffic was light and we made good time until we reached Swan Lake and our turn north on hwy 34. We were in for a treat. Not only was the light breeze at our back, the scenery was stunning. We were surrounded by rolling hills that went on for kilometres on both sides. Giant swaths of gold, green and brown painted the landscape, while cattle often dotted the tops of hills. The road seemed to be the high point and we spent our time riding north soaking up the magnificent views on both sides of the road. I tried to capture the essence on the blackberry camera, but cameras never do justice to vast open landscapes. It was an amazing find for us!

We also came across many old run down farms with buildings in various stages of decay. Here is an interesting one!

We continued in a fairly steady descent until we arrived in Holland. We stopped in the small town to refill our waters, have some lunch and our usual chocolate milk. Holland came with a windmill out on the town frontage and all the women we encountered, seemed to look alike…this somehow seemed ominous.

Fed up, we headed west on highway #2, another of those east-west thoroughfares. The grain trucks were out in force today and there were no paved shoulders to ride on. While traffic going both ways occurred every 4-6 minutes, bailing to the 10 foot wide gravel shoulders was a challenge due to the 2-3 inch drop off. The southerly breeze had picked up speed and was now a force at our side. When the first grain truck came at us from the opposite direction, the wind shear was as if someone whacked us with a sheet of plywood. We weren’t sure if we should be thrilled or scared, as each new one approached. One thing for sure, every one was an adrenaline rush! The other transports (different air flow) didn’t pack the same punch of the big grain trucks.

Our original planned destination was Cypress River but all the people in Holland said to go further to Glenboro as they thought our options would be better. We arrived at Cypress River and cycled into a park with many signs describing the virtues of the wetlands, some of which graced the park. The trans Canada trail was in evidence in the park as well. We enjoyed a snack and used the satellite phone to call ahead to Glenboro’s Spruce Woods Inn (everyone’s recommendation) and reserved a room.

Back out on the road, my back wheel (the “super indestructable” wheel from MEC Toronto) had suddenly developed a significant wobble. So significant, it was rubbing hard on the right brake pad with every revolution. Stopping to see what was going on, I discovered a broken spoke! But at least this one was on the opposite side of the back cassette…whew! Since Glenboro was but 10 kilometres away, we decided to ride for the Inn to make the repair. Finally with Glenboro in sight, we were happy to be off of highway #2. It was the least cycle friendly road we’ve encountered in Manitoba, to date.

We arrived at Glenboro and found this:

First we thought that perhaps it was advertising a new brand of cigarettes, you know, a way for the town to add to it’s annual budget… But no, it is to celebrate Manitoba’s only desert, 10km (or maybe that’s 10 miles) north of here. We will cycle there tomorrow.

We checked in at the hotel and the place, is a bit of a dump. The electric heat registers are rusty buckets and there are hard water and other water corrosion stains in and on all the plumbing. The owners have apparently put all their money into the bar and restaurant and left the rooms to rot. But the inn is full tonight, supporting crews in pipeline constuction and other large projects in the surrounding area. We enjoyed a dinner at “Ho Ho’s” the chinese restaurant in town (everyone said it was good), but we found the town water has quite the metallic taste.

Since everyone said this place was better that the motel back in Cypress River, we are glad we didn’t stop there…yikes!

It was time for repairs and during the repair I discovered a second broken spoke. After a bit of a struggle, I installed two new spokes (I have 3 spares remaining) and then went about tightening the new spokes to “re-true” the wheel. While Wendy held the bike, I adjusted the spokes using my brake pads as crude calipers. The result isn’t perfect but it will do until the next bike shop!

Tomorrow we head northward towards Neepawa. Not sure if we will make the whole distance but we will see where the wind blows!

Planned distance ? – Actual distance traveled 77km

Highlights:
- Little wind and it changed direction continuously
- a hot sunny day
- Lavender
- we stopped over in Miami

Lowlights:
- no shoulder on roads
- flat tire
- we found hills in southern Manitoba

After the Days Inn Complimentary breakfast, we slipped over to WalMart (behing the hotel) to pick up supplies we were running low on…how convenient! We have stayed at the Days Inn chain a few times in the US and now a few times in Canada. The Canadian versions are definitely a bit more upscale (in every way) than their American cousins…interesting.

We were on the road and once again heading west on highway 14, which then inexplicably changed to it’s number to highway 3. The highway is a four lane divided version for the 12 kilometres between Winkler and Morden with 8 foot shoulders. Judging by the morning traffic, everyone who lives in Morden, works in Winkler and vice versa. Both communities are similar in size. We arrived in Morden to find remnants of the Corn & Apple festival everywhere. Corn cobs were stacked up like bales of hay and apple seeds were being used to fill potholes on the gravel roads. We cycled onto a peaceful sideroad through the residential streets and into the town park, which was undergoing a mass resetting to it’s pre-festival self.

Reaching the end of town, we turned north onto 432. We are loosely following the trans Canada trail (TCT) route through Manitoba with one major exception…we are sticking with the blacktop routes. The TCT largely follows the dirt grid roads in this part of Manitoba. It is a bit meandering, no doubt to include some of the most scenic spots. The TCT in these parts is also signed, albeit signs so small you would never notice unless you knew where to look. We asked about cycling some of the TCT dirt roads and so far everyone has said that the dirt roads remain quite soft, this late in the summer and have all suggested we keep clear of them, so we are! This is unfortunate as we would have enjoyed cycling some of it. Since we are loosely following the path of the trail, we have encountered it frequently where it crosses the paved road or joins the paved road for a kilometre or two. We also stopped at two of the TCT pavilions which are impressive in their detail.

Road 432 is a minor north-south route which was busy with traffic today. So far, all paved roads in Manitoba have 100km/hour speed limits so cyclists beware! In addition to the usual, several tractor trailers were hauling packed up Midway rides to their next “festival destination”. We bailed to the soft gravel shoulder (no paved shoulder here) many times while on this route. While the winds were light, they were blowing from the north-west pushing back on any westerly or northerly travel. We could feel the resistance but it was merely a “one gear” breeze today. While riding northward, the wind changed direction three times, first from the NW, then N, then NE.

About halfway along this route, my front tire went flat. No punctures that I could see but we were bailing off and on rough edged blacktop that was sometimes two inches above the gravel. This may have caused the tube to pinch on the rim of the wheel. We stopped and I re-inflated the tube back up to regular pressure and we carried on. We were also introduced to a new flying insect. Waves of tiny black beetle-like insects would land on us, apparently not to bite but to simply become better aquainted. I marvel at their skill to fly right at my face and land safely on a slippery surface, my sunglasses. Their skill is also shared by some even tinier greenish bugs that seem to only land on the sunglasses. We both agreed that it would be most unfortunate to sport a beard at this moment! Also keeping us company today were thousands of those smallish white butterflies, doing the intertwining air mating dance. Their numbers are increasing and so is their frenzy in their search for anything white. We both wear white riding shirts and I wear a white helmet so I won’t say anything more about that. I even caught a glimpse of one trying to mate with a tiny weed poking through a crack in the pavement.

It was becoming obvious that my front tire was continuing to lose air slowly and we began to search out good spots to change out the tube. Some shade would be nice as the sun was high in the sky and the temperature in the high 20′s. We rounded on highway 23, which is a primary east west route, also with no paved shoulders but plenty of room in the soft gravel if we needed it. We targeted Miami for a possible spot to repair the leaky tube. It was 6km to the west but we were compelled to stop to re-inflate the tube one last time and have lunch, before we reached Miami.

The signs indicated Miami was a colony but, upon exiting the highway and riding into the village, it appeared no different that any other small village. They did have a very nice park with a campground conveniently located in the middle of town so we pulled in to monopolize one of the picnic tables for the repair. The big grove of oak trees in the park provided the shade. Wendy headed to the store adjacent to the park to pick up some cold beverages and chatted with the people in the store who were quite amazed by our trip. Since this isn’t the usual cross Canada cycling route, touring cyclists are a rare breed in town. The towns folk were very friendly and enthusiastic! They also suggested that we cycle to Somerset for the evening, as our first option…Altamont, had no commercial establishment where we could eat a meal.

The repairs complete and then enjoying some cold drinks, we cleaned up, re-loaded my bike and continued on our westward trek. We snapped a picture of the refurbished Miami train depot:

This Miami station is a rare surviving example of a Northern Pacific and Manitoba Railway station.

We continued on our long trek westward and noted that the light winds had changed direction yet again, this time from the east. Since we were heading west, the net effect was to eliminate most of the breeze in our face (like riding in a vacuum) and we began to feel the heat of the day. We also encountered several Lavender fields which was a great break from the usual assault on our senses from “natural farm fertilizer”

Despite having no paved shoulder, the traffic was so infrequent, it was rare to encounter vehicles simultaneously in both directions. Almost all vehicles pulled over to give us the widest berth possible. We continued westward and then, not quite believing our eyes, there was what looked to be a hill ahead. As we closed in on the target, we confirmed that yes, it was a real hill on the prairie. It also wasn’t the last, as we climbed off and on for the next 24km. But the first climb was the most significant and no wonder: We have spent the past few days cycling on the bottom of the ancient glacial Lake Agassiz. The ancient lake is what area farmers owe their success to as the silt deposited from the glacier runnoff left behind copious quantities of fertile soil. Our climb was up over the edge of the glacial lake, today known as the Pembina Hills. The view of the open prairie after climing up the edge of the ancient lake was stunning. Here is an attempt to capture it on the blackberry!

Twenty five or so kilometers later, we seemed to reach a peak in the land and were smack in the middle of a giant wind turbine “farm”. While these giant modern windmills promise “clean energy”, they certainly are packed with controversy. Small villages such as Somerset thrive for 2-3 years while crews set up shop to build the giants and the farmers who own the land are paid for the space. But the constant swoosh of air has proved disturbing to anyone living within earshot of one of the monoliths. We stopped for a water break beside one about 300 metres from where we stood. Even though it was turning slowly in the minor breeze, the swoosh as the blades sliced through the air, was eerily loud with an unnatural sound.

Still with no cellphone coverage, we pulled out the Globalstar satellite phone and called ahead to the one “hotel” in Somerset to confirm they had rooms available. Reserving one, we carried on to town. Not only do we have a room with all the comforts, there is an on-site bar and restaurant for both dinner and breakfast tomorrow. We stocked up on supplies for tomorrows ride at the grocery store across the street and the hotel WIFI-blackberry combination is flaky making it impossible to post the blog at the usual time!

Tomorrow we continue our northwestern path as we complete our exit from the Pembina Valley.

Planned distance ? – Actual distance traveled 74km

Highlights:
- roadside encounters
- great weather
- light winds

Lowlights:
- none

Today started with a “home-made” breakfast. It was a warmer morning at 14 degrees with light southerly winds in the forecast. The sky was clear and the route was flat! As we parted Emerson, we passed the original Customs House and Jail:

Yesterday evening, the friendly Maple Leaf Motel owner took us for a tour about town and pointed out some of the Emerson area history. The original Customs House (above) is also where the RCMP assembled before heading out to quell the first Louis Riel “insurgency”.

Emerson was one of three towns that were in the running to become the capital of Manitoba, with the other two being Selkirk and Winnipeg. At the time, this border town had grown from a Hudsons Bay Company post, to a bustling community sporting a population of 5000, with several businesses, school and restaurants. Today, with a population of 500, most of the old structures have vanished, but there remain old and new contrasts in town. Also, the southern part of the dyke around town borders two states. If you step down from the dyke in front of the motel, you are in Minnesota, while 100 metres to the right, over the Red River, is North Dakota. There was even an invention credited to a town resident: Mr. Thomas Carney, a resident of Emerson in the 1880′s invented the cash register before he moved to expand the business in 1884.

We cycled out of town enjoying the beginning of what looked to be another perfect cycling day. We headed north on highway 75, passed the remnants of Fort Dufferin and into the municipality of Montcalm. Turning west on #421 we cycled by and through the German communities of Halbstadt, Sommerfeld, Neubergthal and Gnadenfeld. During our ride along this quiet road, a motorcyclist pulled up and rode alongside with us for about 5 minutes. Turns out, he wants to do the same type of bicycle tour we are enjoying and was interested in how things were working for us. Based on his garb, it looked like he was heading home from his night shift at the border. He lives in Altona, which we were heading to, next.

We stopped at the corner of #421 and highway 30 for a snack and drink. Suddenly a car pulled over and the driver asked us if we needed directions, or anything else. We said we were ok and he asked where we were heading, then gave us some tips on the best route to avoid traffic. We thanked him and off he went. We cycled north to Altona with a slight breeze at our back, always a pleasure to kick it up a gear or two… Arriving in Altona, we stopped first at a McDonalds, then at a gas station to pick up a few supplies. The gas station convenience store being the sole retail outlet open on a Sunday. Turns out, the Manitobans in these parts take their Sabbath seriously with even the mighty Walmart in Winkler being closed on Sundays.

At the gas station, we chatted with two other motorcycle riders who were relaxing outside. They had waved to us when passing several kilometres back and were surprised that we made such good time! They also provided us with routing advice, this time for the “smoothest” surfaced roads en-route to today’s probable destination, Winkler.

We headed out and just prior to exiting the town, Shaun caught up to us on his bike:

We had a great time chatting with Shaun over several kilometres and for about another 20 minutes while stopping for a water break. Shaun provided lots of advice about the area including cautions where the “bad drivers” hung out. We then exchanged dog stories and other tales from “the road”. Shaun warned us of hail in the forecast today, so we would be on the lookout for suspicious looking cloud formations. We parted and continued a westward trek on #201 before heading north once more towards “Plum Coolie”. Where do they get these cool names from? We then cycled west on highway 14 towards Winkler. Highway 14 is more of a major thouroughfare and the two foot shoulder wasn’t enough to provide a safe margin from the busy traffic. We ended up on the hardpack gravel shoulder often. The wind from the south had picked up a bit and while not a huge factor, it added to our core workout when large rigs blew by and forced us to work to keep our balance. We finally arrived in Winkler, a cultural and religious mixing pot and checked in at the Days Inn.

The Corn & Apple festival in nearby Morden was ending today and the Inn had just finished processing the 75 checkouts. We were fortunate to arrive today and not the day before when everything was full! Later, walking around town we spotted several mint looking specimens of muscle cars, from the 50′s, 60′s and 70′s. Earlier in the day we spied a few heading east to Winnipeg as today is the weekly impromptu Sunday muscle car parade on Portage in downtown Winnipeg.

Armed with a rcommendation, we walked a couple of kilometres through town to the sole Chinese food restaurant and well…it wasn’t worth the walk. Heading back, the Dairy Queen was sounding good for Ice Cream but, it appeared half the town had a Sunday evening ice cream ritual with a huge line-up both inside and out. We crossed the street to Warky’s dairy bar and grill who sported a similar line-up. As restaurants are the sole businesses open on a Sunday, the townspeople were turning out to support them in force!

Another Manitoba fact: Turns out that outside of a circle around Winnipeg, there is no cellphone coverage for Telus phones over the remainder of Manitoba. So, the vast percentage of Manitoba is the only large area in North America where there is no cell phone coverage for Telus! Rogers services the area but based on the rude message I received on my phone while attempting to access their network, there looks to be no roaming agreement between the carriers…bizarre!

Tonight we enjoyed one of those prairie skies, post sunset:

Tomorrow we head northwest into the wilds of the Pembina Valley to see what we can find.

Planned distance ? – actual distance traveled 87km

Highlights:
- perfect day for cycling
- no wind
- mandatory visit to North Dakota to cross the border
- 12 vehicles in 20km
- fire

Lowlights:
- none

This morning we woke to 7 degrees and we crossed the street for breakfast sensing the first whiff of autumn in the air. By the time breakfast was done, the sun had risen and the air warmed considerably. We had one last look at the town of Karlstad, which is attempting to renew itself as a small Scandinavian village.

There are few businesses in town but many have undergone recent face lifts with others newly built. Not bad for a town of 400+ change.

By the time we cycled out of town on highway 39, the conditions were perfect. Temperature in the high teens, no wind and partially overcast skies. We set a good pace on the northwestern route and enjoyed the ride on the flat terrain. Today our goal was…CANADA!

The traffic was light for a Saturday morning with little truck traffic compared to yesterday. The kilometres were ticking over fast. There were few farms roadside but evidence of many in the distance via the long lonely dirt roads. During one water break, we encountered a farmer heading towards us on his ATV, kicking up dust on a long dirt road. When he arrived he stopped to chat and said he was a farmer coming back from “burying some rocks”. Of course his accent was identical to any farmer you might encounter on the Canadian prairie. He had a flat spade and a canvas carrying sack sitting behind his seat on the small quad, heading back to his farm. The “burying some rocks” term kept us guessing for a while further on down the road. Like, why would a farmer travel such a distance to “bury some rocks”? Are they really rocks…or is this “farmer slang” for something else? Also, how well can you dig a hole with a small flat spade? These thoughts provided some entertainment for several kilometres.

We passed through two small communities before arriving at Lancaster. Lancaster is the last Minnesota town before crossing the Canadian border, on route 39, 28km to the north. This is a favourite route for Winnipegers to travel directly to Thief River Falls. However, we had altered our route so our crossing would instead be via Highway 75 at Emerson, Manitoba.

While riding through Lancaster to a direct westward link to highway 75, we spotted a perfect scene painting a picture of outdoor, non-snow season, life for northern Minnesotans:

Reaching the end of Lancaster (population 360+ change), we headed west towards highway 75. Our route was county road 6 and this was one of the quietest of our trip. Seemingly endless fields of corn, and seas of golden wheat spread in all directions. Off in the distance, combines were baling the harvested wheat stocks but they were so distant, not a sound could be heard The traffic was so infrequent, while we stopped for our water breaks, the sound of the quiet prairie made us feel, a bit humbled. There were no sounds of traffic, the crickets were in song, but distant, and the wind silent. We could imagine waking and falling asleep to such a peaceful silence. The cold winter months must be eerily quiet. Here is one look of many we enjoyed on the 20km quiet county road.

We encountered but 12 vehicles during the 20km ride including a 15 minute stop for lunch. As we were approaching highway 75 and the town of Humboldt (population 72), we came alongside one farmer on his ATV, just setting fire to his harvested field of wheat stalks. The wind was blowing slightly from the south and once he lit the south side, by the road, the wind did the rest. It was a fascinating scene playing out in front of us. The orange flames licking the golden stalks, quickly leaving blackened remains in it’s wake. Meanwhile, smoke from white to dark grey to dull green painted swirling murals as it shot skyward in a northern direction:

As we turned onto highway 75, there were few vehicles and eight foot shoulders which we enjoyed. We began to notice a faint hum in the distance…more about this later! There were a few US border patrol staff in their pickups appearing in a rush to get somewhere, but in opposite directions. Not enough to do…I guess…

We stopped on the highway to consume the last of our USA fruit. I don’t believe Canada Border Service guards are concerned with fruit importation any longer, but old habits die hard.

Now, completely fruitless, we cycled the remaining 6km to what we thought would be the border crossing into Canada. But, we encountered a sign which instructed all to make a westward turn, off highway 75, to the Emerson Canada border crossing. We stopped and asked at a garage if we could continue straight on 75 to the border and he advised “no, you must go to Pembina (2 miles west) and take the interstate (2 miles north) to the border”. We noticed the distant hum we heard before was now a bit louder with sort of a high pitched edginess to it… Ignoring this, we cycled over to Pembina and crossed into North Dakota:

For some reason, we found it a bit amusing that we had to spend 20 minutes riding in another state so we could cross the Canadian border. As we closed in on the border we spotted a sign indicating that it was a “Special Alien reporting zone”. We glanced around for the Men In Black but they were well hidden. We cycled up to the border primary inspection booth and chatted with the friendly Canadian border guard. He asked the usual “what is the total value of the goods purchased in the US” question. After mentally tallying a small bag of almonds, a half a bag of peanuts and some left over trail mix, we had no idea, so we said this is what we have. Seeming a bit confused, he then asked “Do you have any personal protection devices with you?” I responded, yes, my wife…just kidding. I said we had a canister of bear spray that we brought from Vancouver. He then asked if it specifically stated “bear spray” on the canister. I replied yes, and he seemed satisfied. I assume that since the canister reads “bear spray” that the powerful pepper spray contained inside would not swoosh-out if pointed at a “non-bear” target. This label somehow makes pepper spray…oops I mean “bear spray”…legal in Canada. I feel bad for the Canadian border guards who are compelled to enforce these types of regulations. We then went on to talk about our trip across North America.

We stopped inside to use the facilities and I went over to one of the volunteer parking coordinators to ask what happened to the Minnesota crossing on highway 75 and why there was so much buzzing coming from the now abandoned crossing? He replied a bit sheepishly it closed 5 years ago as Manitoba mosquitoes had overun the crossing. He then began to mumble incoherently but I did catch: “US border guards…misinterpreted…require Visas to enter…large Manitoban mosquitoes…suspicious…hats…no proof…Canadians,..mosquito community…new requirement…buzzing insects lined up…mosquitos…hungry and…US government…too many agents…northern border…fast food stop…to US…problem of language.” He stopped for a few moments. “Anyway” he sighed, “the post became uninhabitable and they had to close it down. Even now, five years later, confusion remains as the mosquitos continue to buzz the place.”

So here we are, after 26 days in the US,, happy to be back in the home and native land. Emerson is a small town of 500 or so people, surrounded by a significant dyke to protect the town from the nearly annual Red River flooding. During the usual flooding, the town becomes an “island” below water level, protected only by the dyke. The economy here is not doing well either, with houses for sale and closing of some businesses. Even the only bar in town has closed for good, six months ago. In a stark contrast, the town park, with a campsite, large outdoor swimming pool and tennis court is in excellent condition!

Tomorrow we head west!

Planned distance ? – Actual distance traveled 63km

Highlights:
- flat terrain
- blue sky as far as the eye can see

Lowlights:
- 25-30km/hour headwinds
- lots of traffic today

Following the hotel complimentary breakfast, we packed up the bikes and were out the door at 8:15am. The forecast called for winds from the north west building throughout the day. This was nearly a 180 degree shift from yesterday. We don’t have many more options for direction so there wasn’t much choice but to bear down and ride into it. So off we went. Our destination today was Karlstad, another one of those towns in Minnesota that “no one goes to”. There is one motel in town with 14 rooms and being a Friday, we phoned ahead and reserved a room. Just in case a few more people, like us, simultaneously decided to pay this town of 821 a visit.

We cycled through Thief River Falls (thanks Rick for revealing the origination of the name). We stopped to pick up some Subway sandwiches and across the street was the railway museum:

The town was surprisingly long and after 5km, highway 59 veered northwest into the full brunt of the prairie headwinds. This was a 3-4 gear wind constantly blowing in the mid 20km range with stronger gusts. We knew that it would be a fight for every kilometre! The day was warm and blue sky stretched in all directions.

The highway was arrow straight for most of the ride and looking ahead, you could see vehicles that passed by us disappearing as if they were going over the other side of a hill. Well, the joke is on me, the road was flat as a pancake and the vehicles were disappearing “over-the-horizon” following the curvature of the earth.

The open prairie continued for half the ride but the farms became sporadic. Long lonely dirt roads crossed the highway at regular intervals. Trucks would occasionally appear at the junctions with the highway making deliveries for those isolated farmsteads.

We began to encounter groups of trees and farms became less frequent. Bullrushes and swampy land began to line the highway. We spotted our first of a half dozen sunflower farms:

The wind was a howlin’ right at us and our progress was slow. We wondered out loud, how the tall sunflowers with those heavy heads could stand in the wind, but there they were, holding sturdy against it. Meanwhile, we were straining to maintain a speed of just 10km/hour.

Finally, in the distance we spotted the Karlstad water tower…according to my GPS, 10km away. And guess what, it took us an hour to get there! We finally arrived and claimed our reservation at the Northstar Motor Inn, the only gig in town. It’s in the middle of renovations but other than a few minor defects, is serviceable enough. We ate dinner at the cafe up the street and later when we were trying to purchase a dessert item to go, first one, then three, then all six cafe employees came over to try and figure out exactly what it was and how much to charge for it. Finally after the “head guy” sampled one in a last ditch attempt to judge how much it was worth, they still couldn’t decide. Then, after all hope was almost lost, they finally decided to charge it as a cookie! So, we have some, but don’t know what they are…

The town is the home of the Mattracks factory, no doubt a good testing ground with the annual 8-10 foot snowfall:

We are hoping for the wind reversal in the forecast to aid us in our quest for the Canadian border at Emerson Manitoba tomorrow.

Planned distance ? – Actual distance traveled 103km

Highlights:
- the wind was at our back…yipee!
- we crossed into the open prairie
- sunny and warm (26 degrees)

Lowlights:
- none

This morning we walked a kilometre back into town to the early morning cafe for breakfast. It was 9 degrees and refreshing. There was already a table full of the local guys having coffee and talking about yesterday’s happenings. One farmer was talking about yesterday’s wind. It went like this: “That damn wind yesterday. I turned over the hay to dry and it dried in 5 minutes. Then I laid it out in nice rows and three seconds later when the bailer got there, it was blown out all over the field.” Nice to hear we weren’t the only ones with wind issues.

The sun was rising on our walk back to the motel to pack up. There was not even the slightest breeze. What a switch from yesterday! Today’s forecast remained as it was 24 hours ago; little wind in the morning then picking up from the south late morning to the afternoon. Perfect for our new route!

We headed out of town on highway #2, our old companion from western Michigan and through Wisconsin. Traffic was light, the air was warming and there was no wind…perfect. An added bonus, highway #2 westward sported 10 foot shoulders in excellent condition for the 48km ride westward.

The ride on highway #2 was a joy. A few rolling hills and a couple of small towns. The towns along this route all fly the Canadian flag front and centre with the US flag. At two and a half hours, we stopped in the small town of McIntosh to have a bite to eat. We parked by a gas station and picked up a cold drink and munched. A few people from the town were organizing a BBQ in the parking lot and they invited us to have a meal of baked beans and burgers or dogs. A mess o’ baked beans is just what you need while bike riding…. We were basically still feeling stuffed from breakfast and politely declined their generous invitation. They asked us lots of questions about our journey.

As we were riding through town, a young man joined us on his bike for a couple of blocks. He talked about someone he knew who cycled highway #2 from Seattle to Sault Ste Marie. Not actually an official interstate, It is one of the few cross USA routes that is legal to cycle. We cycled out of town and by two 6 inch black lizards who were just at the edge of the blacktop. No idea what they were but that is a new one for us. The rest of the day was dominated by first crickets and frogs, then only crickets. The most common smell of the day was skunk and several were served up as road kill.

Shortly after McIntosh we came over a bit of an “edge” in the landscape. Not too steep, but stretched below was the open prairie. The transition wasn’t subtle, it was sudden. The road flattened, trees became infrequent while wheat and hay fields spread as far as the eye could see (and now we can see pretty far). We basically saw this for the last 2/3 of our ride:

The wheat and grain harvest is in full swing and the grain trucks were often heading in the opposite direction to deliver their new harvest. Several co-ops were represented along the way where the bounties were collected for further transport by rail. It was on the open prairie that we also began to notice the wind picking up from the south, at our side, as we cycled westward. Not really an issue, we were looking forward to our coming turn northward with a wind assist.

We arrived at highway 59 and swung north and began to enjoy a good wind, mostly at our backs for the next 55km. There were times when it was swirling around us but it was a delight to ride in these conditions. Highway 59 is a secondary road that leads straight to Manitoba and is popular with Manitobans who frequent Thief River Falls and the casino 13km south of town. For most of our ride, the traffic was light and the shoulder a narrow 18 inches. Minnesotans are some of the most respectful drivers when passing cyclists. Most slow down when there are oncoming vehicles and wait for their passing to free space so they can pass with a wide berth. Even the heavy rigs do the same! A big thanks to 98% of Minnesota drivers!

We made good time and enjoyed the wind push so much, we hardly stopped for anything. Someone we met weeks ago had explained the prairie cycling phenomenon and we began to experience it. You can see the silos of the next town dead ahead but, it still takes two hours to get there! When you arrive, you turn around and still see where you departed from!

Traffic picked up in the final stretch of our day. Bascially the road between town and the casino. We arrived at the outskirts of Thief River Falls and cycled up to an AmericInn on hwy #59. For $84 we have room with a king size bed, couch and a big jacuzzi tub. Now that is the way to relax your muscles!

Tomorrow, we continue our northwestern path towards the Manitoba border.

Planned distance 0km – actual distance traveled 22km

Highlights:
- we were able to find a motel
- most of the day off

Lowlights:
- we had to travel in the wrong direction
- today’s northwest winds are so strong it’s hard to walk!
- not much sleep at a noisy campground

This morning we woke at 4:15am. The wind was warming up to it’s full potential and the tent flaps we left open due to the hot night were flapping, re-enforcing why they’re called “tent flaps”. For some reason, last night there was a bright street lamp near our spot and it was defective, alternating between blissful darkness and interrogation spotlight. I guess it serves to discourage the local youth population, some of who stopped by to pay us a friendly but noisy visit last night. The grain elevator never ceased it’s operation through the night and was doing it’s best to sound like a hoover on it’s last legs. Even the crickets gave up.

So, the first campout of our journey was not so good. Our equipment worked well but the rental space…not.

During breakfast at the local early morning cafe, it was time to strategize about the day. While some of the locals were playing Yahtzee with morning coffee, we were looking at the winds increasing by the minute. It was clear that we had a 90km ride to the northwest. The winds were out of the northwest and their strength meant that 90km was out of the question.

We made a strategic decision to head south to Bagley. We could not make the trip yesterday due to the southwest wind. Today’s wind shift meant that the 20km ride to the south, would be easy with the wind somwhat at our back. Even though this is not the direction we need to go, we need to think of the winds somewhat as if we are in a sailboat. Tomorrow’s wind will switch again to south-south-west so the ride to points northwestward should be easier. From further south, our ride will be primarily northwest.

Off we headed with the wind assist and we arrived in Bagley. We stopped in at city hall to find where things were in town. We found the one and only motel, checked in then caught up on some sleep we missed last night.

So, here we are in Bagley Minnesota. We spent some time checking out the town. Walking about during the big gusts was challenging! As we were walking out the door of the town spirits store, someone we had never seen before said: “I know you guys are on bikes but we are having a wine seminar (wines of California) at 7pm and thought you might like to attend”. Apparently he was eavsdropping when we were at city hall! We enjoyed an hour tasting wine with several locals who had no idea who we were and for fun, we were purposely coy about that.

Tomorrow we re-jig our routing due to the wind alteration and head back northwest towards Thief River Falls.