Cross Canada Tour
Day 19 - June 26th - Souris to St. Claude
158 Kms
Another good tailwind today, but the temperatures are soaring. I also heard today that it's going to get even hotter in the next few days - Oh joy!
I stopped in Treherne and checked out the campground; nice place, but within 30 seconds I had at least 20 mozzies clinging to my legs - I was outta there!
So I carried on to St. Claude and found out that the campground here is still a pipe dream! Luckily, there is a cheap motel - $35.00 - so all is not is lost! There's also cold beer, so after the hot ride and all that sticky sweet Gatorade, there's nothing like a cold one - or two!
The highway still had no shoulder and was getting busier, but after all, I'm less than 90 Kms from Winnipeg. Tomorrow I hope to pass south of the big city, without meeting too much traffic. And if the wind remains favourable, I might get another 100 miler in! We'll see! I do know that, just as today, I'll have to be up bright and early to beat the heat as much as possible.
I stopped in Glenboro for my second breakfast, the main street there was called Broadway - The main street in Souris was called Broadway and the main street in Treherne was called... wait for it - Broadway. Not very original these Manitobans! Literally though, they were extremely broad streets!
By the way, the swinging bridge in Souris was long but not very high, I think that the one over the Capilano in BC is more spectacular, but longer???
Well, Basil's nattering, so I guess it's time to go forage for food!
Day 20 - June 27th - St. Claude to Richer
172 Kms
Including 20 Kms wandering around Winnipeg! But more of that later.
As I was sat on the pot this morning, staring at my bike which was outside the bathroom door (yes, I do leave the the door open when there is only Basil to offend), what I was looking at was a broken support stay on the front rack. Great, what a way to start the day! Why it broke, who knows? So I cobbled it together with some zap ties and decided after all that I was, not unlike the guy in the tire commercial after finding out that he was on the wrong flight... "Goin' to Winnipeg." It's funny, because for the last few days that phrase has been going through my head, and I've been answering myself, "Not bloody likely." But I guess something was in the wind as I had to visit the place after all. I phoned MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-Op) as soon as they opened and found out that they didn't have a low-rider in stock - great again! But the fellow at MEC was very helpful and suggested a couple of places that might have one. I phoned around and located one at Olympia Cycle - who happen to have four outlets in Winnipeg. I got directions from him to the closest one (I think in fact that it was the furthest, but whatever!), but he may as well been talking Chinese - I don't do directions very well!
Well, Winnipeg is really spread out and I had to go to Portage, which is the main drag through the city, in fact it is part of the TC#1. It was a long haul from where I was on the Perimeter Highway, but I eventually found it after asking many passer-by's for help. How come most people don't know where they are? Eventually, I found a guy with a street map, but he couldn't figure it out, I did though, after almost ripping it from his hands! I think that I found every dimwit in Winnipeg today! When I got to the store, the sales guy pulls out a rack that won't work, I'll spare you the sordid details, but I was hot and sweaty and the temp was already in the 30's - this was before noon too - so I calmly said, "But don't you have a Blackburn low-rider?" "Oh yeah," he said, "But I thought that you'd like this one better." So I proceeded to give him my famous lecture about how the word "ass-u-me" works!
Anyway, after purchasing the aforementioned rack and a new pair of riding gloves, to replace the ones that I had stupidly placed on top of one of my rear panniers, then rode away for miles and miles before I realised that I had bare hands - I thought something felt funny! - I found my way out of the big city, past the legislature, down to Portage and Main etc., etc. Found a grocery store, bought some supplies and pedalled my arse out of town! But my, it was hot! I was tired, but I still had a good tailwind so I persevered until I arrived at a small place called Richer, where I wisely chose an air conditioned motel room, rather than a campsite. I had to do the work on the bike anyway, and it was much more pleasant being able to use two hands, instead of a wrench in one and swatting flies and mozzies with the other, whilst possibly losing bits in the grass etc.
I might add that Winnipeg is not a cycling friendly city, somewhat akin to Toronto; most of the drivers were complete morons when it came to negotiating a lane with a bike in it. I'm glad that I commute as much as I do by bike, otherwise I would have been very intimidated today.
Otherwise, the rest of today's ride was fine - still had those tailwinds all day! Highway 2 ended at the Perimeter Highway, hence after leaving town I am back on the TC#1, a divided highway for now, with, yippee! a shoulder to ride on! Highway 2 in Manitoba had no shoulder whatsoever for its full length.
Long weekend Friday tomorrow; I'm going to have to get where I'm going early, as the Lake of the Woods area is a favourite weekend place for Winnipeggers and Ontarians - and that's just where I'll be! Furthermore, the grades will slowly return to the roads - better check out that granny gear, I haven't used it since BC!
Day 21 - June 28th - Richer, MB to Kenora, ON
158 Kms
Welcome to Ontario! 
I installed my new rack last night, had a good kip, woke up early and was on the road by 6:00 a.m. Yes, I finally made it into Ontario, but what a hot day to ride in. The last two were bad enough, but today was/is a scorcher. So my reward for making it to Ontario in less than three weeks is a full day off - Yeay!
I'm at Anicinabe park just on the outskirts of Kenora. Actually, I was lucky to get a spot, as this is a busy long weekend here. After cleaning up, I ventured back into town for some supplies. I happened upon Haps Pub & Eatery on the waterfront, which is where I am typing from!
I had mostly crosswinds today from the south, but it was a good ride all the same. About 15 Kms from the Ontario border, the granite rock of the Precambrian shield began to poke through the grasslands - what a fast change in scenery! I stopped for an ice cream at Falcon Lake just before crossing the border and it was already teeming with Winnipeggers who were there early for the long weekend, so obviously the roads were very busy today. Quite a bit of the TC in Manitoba had no shoulder, especially where it was a divided highway, but once into Ontario, it was two way traffic, but I had my shoulder back. I passed a couple of cyclists on a tandem towing a trailer with their kid in it and a whole bunch of gear. They were from France and are travelling around the world for "Peace and Love." Good luck to them! I couldn't chat for long as we were in a spot with no shoulder and heaps of traffic, but they did relate that they had visited Vancouver Island. I thought that I was sweating good today, until I saw the sweat pouring from them hauling their heavy load!
The worst part of today were the deer flies and horseflies, dozens of them continuously buzzing around and bouncing off me. Funnily enough they seemed to decrease the further that I rode into Ontario.
I am in the Lake of the Woods region, and it was sure nice to see a large body of water again (even if it is only fresh water!) after all that riding through the prairies. It's also nice to get the breeze off the water too. The park that I'm camped at, is right on the water, with lake swimming, boat rentals etc., super place and minimal mozzies - so far! I think that a couple of nights here will be good R&R for me. Kenora seems to be a nice enough place and has that resort town atmosphere, somewhat like Penticton, BC.The local Safeway store here has it's own boat dock for the benefit of the lakefront cottagers, who can take their loaded shopping trolleys right down to their boats - now there's convenience!
By the way, yesterday as I was leaving Winnipeg, I passed a sign that said I was passing through the longitudinal centre of Canada at 96 degrees something - just thought that I'd let you know that very important fact!
The hills started just before the border as did the curves and bends in the highway. TC1 changed to 17, after which I'll be taking 71 south to Fort Frances, but not until Sunday. I've flashed through the provinces up to now, but don't hold your breath on my progress through Ontario, this is a big, wide one to cross.
Enjoy your Canada day weekend, I will!
Day 22 - June 29th - Rest Day - Kenora
0 Kms
Day 23 - June 30th - Kenora to Nestor Falls
120 Kms
I'm glad that I made the decision to take Highway 71 rather than 17 - not only is this a nice riding and pretty route,but most of the heavy truck traffic seems to take the other route through Dryden etc. 71 was really quiet today, but I guess with it being a holiday Sunday helped too. As expected, I had headwinds all day as I am heading south, perhaps I'll fare better after tomorrow, when I start in an easterly direction. The route definitely has more hills now and the shoulder is unpredictable, sometimes it's good, then it disappears for a while, then it returns. For the most part though, the road is in really good shape, much better than I had expected - I hope it continues that way.
My day off in Kenora was great, It was a good rest with a chance to explore the town and its history - Yes, I went to the museum - I love the local town museums, you can get a real history lesson in a short time!
Also yesterday, I met two more lady cyclists at the campground who are heading west. Emily and Mary are from Montreal, so I mentioned that I met two Quebec girls when I was heading up Allison Pass; it appears that one of the girls heading east is Emily's sister - small world! I also met another lady travelling around on a motorcycle with sidecar - the sidecar's for her German Shepard! She did give me some good info on road conditions and water stops for my future travels going further east.
It was really hot again today, but yesterday evening was terrible. The wind died down and the humidity level soared. I listened to the local Kenora radio station and at 9:00 p.m. it was 32 degrees with a high humidex advisory - like I didn't know - I was sweating profusely in my tent trying to fan myself cool with a tourist brochure, sleep was just about impossible. It was still humid this morning when I left, but the sun seems to have burned some of the moisture away - it's still hot though! Well over 30. Another downfall to high humidity - mozzies love it!
I saw a moose cow with her calf today, she kind of eyeballed me as I went past then trundled off into the bush before I could take a photo. I'm staying at Lecuney's Camp, one of many on the shores of the Lake of the Woods. This one's full of Americans. Most of these camps have a main lodge with adjacent rental cabins or space for RV's and tents. I was hoping to try a cabin for the night but with the long weekend, not possible - perhaps another time?
It seems that I've got another day of hot weather ahead but the forecasters said the rains will come and cool things down - we'll see if they're right!
Well I hope that I get some sleep tonight, those hot sweaty nights are a drain on my system! At least I wasn't the only one though - when I got up at 5:00 a.m. - there were all kinds of people wandering around the campground with the same bags under their eyes that I had.
Happy 135th Birthday Canada!
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