Today: 111.5 km

To date: 2,552 km

To go: 5,248 km

We had every intention this morning of being up and out on the road early but this plan was thwarted by the lengthy process of making coffee & oatmeal.  The mosquitoes have reached an all new level of terribleness – I have finally taken to wearing long pants (rain pants are my only option) and my down jacket to keep my limbs protected, despite the fact that it is often far too warm.

It was a windy day today – we probably battled through about 70km of headwind in total, ugh.

But first we had a hearty second breakfast in Ochre River.  We met two local characters – Jim and Marty.  They regaled us with stories – Jim hitching up his horses and wagon and driving into town to pick up a drunken Marty.  In his inebriated state, Marty took the reins and discovered it is just as reckless to drive horses while drunk… they were practically doing circles on the road…

Our next stop was in St. Rose. This really was the beginning of a day of terrible eating – two cookies, a kit kat and a can of pop….. while leaving town I picked up a jumbo pepperoni stick for the road…..

I followed this up with a fudgesicle and Mesquite BBQ chips in the one store tiny town of Eddystone.  All the garbage I had been eating all day caught up with me about 5 km later.  I had to stop several times preparing to be sick.  When I spotted Alex fishing, I stopped there and lied down and napped for about half an hour…. miraculously I was feeling better and able to ride again after that.  Alex had no luck fishing here – we could see massive carp swimming in the river (like as long as my arm!), but they just weren’t biting.

The final 30 km to The Narrows seemed to just stretch on and on.  The wind was making me go slower than normal so to keep myself occupied I calculated various parts of the distance = rate x time equation.  If I kept going 16 km/h how long would it take?  Am I half an hour away yet?  Math = hours of entertainment!  :)

As I approach The Narrows and start to get excited by the prospect of a restaurant (I guess I have regained my appetite), I see two cyclists in the campground waving to me.  So I pull over and say hello to Felix and…. I cannot remember! Something with a “U”… sorry U.  They are an interesting pair – they found each other as cycling companions through a craigslist ad.  They started in Winnipeg and are heading to Calgary – there is a slight problem between them in that Felix is about a 80km/day kind of rider while “U” wants to push himself until he drops… so there is a bit of tension there…. I wonder how long they will last?

I ate a grotesque amount at dinner.  Greek salad and garlic toast to start, a rib & chicken dinner and then a piece of pie for dessert…. rolling on the ground kind of full tonight.

Alex helping fix a lawn mower in Eddystone

The Narrows – Lake Manitoba

Felix & U

Categories: Across Canada, Biking, Manitoba

Tags: across canada, Bicycling, biking, Cycling, manitoba, Touring, transcanada