Day 18, Wednesday July 19/06
Wow...I had a nightmare last night. I dreamed that I was cycling across Canada, and then I woke up to reality in a nice comfortable bed. I had the best night's sleep so far of the trip. I asked my host family, Carol and Jim Wood if they would adopt me, as I felt that I could stay put!! They were a very nice couple and treated us like royalty. Brandon was a great city and all of the cyclists raved about being so kindly treated by their hosts. Jim was telling us that Manitoba was a great producer of potatoes...almost up there with PEI in production. We are now in Portage La Prairie and across the street and field from us is a McCain potato plant!!! Just like being home.
Carole drove Bob and I back to the Calvary Temple to begin the morning's ride. We all were refreshed and headed off for a nice daily ride. We had 4 different church and community groups that were going to host by serving snacks and lunch. Our first stop was only 25 km out of Brandon at a place called Douglas. It was a PR day for all of us and we were relaxed and mingled with the people of the community. It was a glorious sunny day with a west wind!! From Douglas it was another 40 km to our next stop in Carberry. It was a lovely place. There were 4 different churches who provided a lovely lunch. People were again so friendly and happy to see us. It is a pleasure to be received in such a manner. The minister of the United Church, where we ate, was Rev. Patricia Reid and she was from Moncton!! Small world!! Back on the bikes to our next rest stop at McGregor where the community provided snacks. The cold water was refreshing and I had a cherry popsicle to sooth my blossoming cold sore. It actually is getting better, but it has been painful. From McGregor it was a 39 km ride into Portage La Prairie. I was feeling the effects of the heat, but it was a quick ride....the roads in Manitoba for the main part are good, but all of a sudden the shoulder disappears and there is nothing but the white line on the side and then the shoulder drops directly to the dirt. Can be scarey.
We arrived at the Church of the Good Shepherd to park our bikes and to have a wonderful BBQ dinner with lots of salads. We got to meet our hosts, my adoptive parents for the night. They are Abe and Heather Plett. It is wonderful to be at their home. They have 3 teenage kids....brings back some great memories. We arrived to blaring music and the two boys and a friend are having band practice in the basement. The house is large and there are three couples staying here. Len and Iona Baichu from Saskatoon, Dennis and Joan Hack from Rocanville Saskatchewan. Dennis and Joan drive a tandem and they joined the tour in Caronport and will travel with us to Kenora. Dennis has cycled Canada back in the 90's.
The scenery in Manitoba is lovely, green and trees...looks like many places in New Brunswick. The roads are nice and flat. It was nice to have such a good day to make up for our "humbling" experience of yesterday.
For those who are leaving comments on the blog, I love hearing from you. I can only get the comments off when I get to a computer which is twice a week. For those of you who leave e-mails, I intend to respond....just a matter of timing. So, be patient. Today our ride was 144.84 km. A pleasant little jaunt. Tomorrow is another short day into Winnipeg. I hope to make contact with Mary Hawkins, Sarah Eves...but it will depend on where we end up.
If anyone remembers me talking about Neil, who injured himself almost two weeks ago when he did an endo while riding behind me....he was trying to snap and photo and ride at the same time. Anyhow, he cycled for two days and then was checked at the hospital in Canmore to discover a broken collar bone. Yesterday Jack rubbed a tire and went down. He may have a hairline fracture of his wrist. Today in the few gusts of strong side winds, Steve rubbed a tire and went down. He was treated in the hospital in Portage and has some stitches, but nothing broken. We have been quite lucky with injuries, considering the size of the group and the conditions which we ride.
We are being fed well. I am learning to retreat from the food...and I weighed myself at Carol's this morning and discovered I was up a few pounds. So, I join Randy. Rod, who was also billeted last night with us also gained a few pounds.
This whole ride is an adventure, in every way. I consider it a job...8 hours on the bike a day. I LOOK FORWARD to my day off, which will begin on Friday night when we hit Kenora. It will be a long day of 245 km. Please pray for a western wind!! Or none at all.
Tomorrow it will be Winnipeg and someone told me that geographically it is halfway across the country.....mileage wise, not so. We have over 2200 km done so far. May be time to check for worn tires.
Carole drove Bob and I back to the Calvary Temple to begin the morning's ride. We all were refreshed and headed off for a nice daily ride. We had 4 different church and community groups that were going to host by serving snacks and lunch. Our first stop was only 25 km out of Brandon at a place called Douglas. It was a PR day for all of us and we were relaxed and mingled with the people of the community. It was a glorious sunny day with a west wind!! From Douglas it was another 40 km to our next stop in Carberry. It was a lovely place. There were 4 different churches who provided a lovely lunch. People were again so friendly and happy to see us. It is a pleasure to be received in such a manner. The minister of the United Church, where we ate, was Rev. Patricia Reid and she was from Moncton!! Small world!! Back on the bikes to our next rest stop at McGregor where the community provided snacks. The cold water was refreshing and I had a cherry popsicle to sooth my blossoming cold sore. It actually is getting better, but it has been painful. From McGregor it was a 39 km ride into Portage La Prairie. I was feeling the effects of the heat, but it was a quick ride....the roads in Manitoba for the main part are good, but all of a sudden the shoulder disappears and there is nothing but the white line on the side and then the shoulder drops directly to the dirt. Can be scarey.
We arrived at the Church of the Good Shepherd to park our bikes and to have a wonderful BBQ dinner with lots of salads. We got to meet our hosts, my adoptive parents for the night. They are Abe and Heather Plett. It is wonderful to be at their home. They have 3 teenage kids....brings back some great memories. We arrived to blaring music and the two boys and a friend are having band practice in the basement. The house is large and there are three couples staying here. Len and Iona Baichu from Saskatoon, Dennis and Joan Hack from Rocanville Saskatchewan. Dennis and Joan drive a tandem and they joined the tour in Caronport and will travel with us to Kenora. Dennis has cycled Canada back in the 90's.
The scenery in Manitoba is lovely, green and trees...looks like many places in New Brunswick. The roads are nice and flat. It was nice to have such a good day to make up for our "humbling" experience of yesterday.
For those who are leaving comments on the blog, I love hearing from you. I can only get the comments off when I get to a computer which is twice a week. For those of you who leave e-mails, I intend to respond....just a matter of timing. So, be patient. Today our ride was 144.84 km. A pleasant little jaunt. Tomorrow is another short day into Winnipeg. I hope to make contact with Mary Hawkins, Sarah Eves...but it will depend on where we end up.
If anyone remembers me talking about Neil, who injured himself almost two weeks ago when he did an endo while riding behind me....he was trying to snap and photo and ride at the same time. Anyhow, he cycled for two days and then was checked at the hospital in Canmore to discover a broken collar bone. Yesterday Jack rubbed a tire and went down. He may have a hairline fracture of his wrist. Today in the few gusts of strong side winds, Steve rubbed a tire and went down. He was treated in the hospital in Portage and has some stitches, but nothing broken. We have been quite lucky with injuries, considering the size of the group and the conditions which we ride.
We are being fed well. I am learning to retreat from the food...and I weighed myself at Carol's this morning and discovered I was up a few pounds. So, I join Randy. Rod, who was also billeted last night with us also gained a few pounds.
This whole ride is an adventure, in every way. I consider it a job...8 hours on the bike a day. I LOOK FORWARD to my day off, which will begin on Friday night when we hit Kenora. It will be a long day of 245 km. Please pray for a western wind!! Or none at all.
Tomorrow it will be Winnipeg and someone told me that geographically it is halfway across the country.....mileage wise, not so. We have over 2200 km done so far. May be time to check for worn tires.
posted by Unknown at 9:54 PM
1 Comments:
Hi Jill, I get a chance to read up on your trip everytime I get in from the campground where we have the 5th wheel for the summer. Sounds like you are meeting a lot of nice people and seeing a lot of the country side. Keep up the good work! What an adventure to take on!
Dianne Haley
Montague, PEI
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