MAINTOBA

Manitoba was not the highlight of our trip. The roads were bad and busy and we passed lots of road repairs.Bob went through his third rear wheel.

Day 29   June 24    Souris to Trehern     127km
Today's journey went well. We had a gentle tailwind to assist us. We passed thru Wawanisa, birthplace of the insurance company. On route we met a biker heading to Florida to visit his mum.  His bike and gear were stolen in Regina. Determined to carry on, he purchased a cheap mountain bike and a sleeping bag which he carried slung over the handlebars.We were very impressed by his great attitude. We left him smilling and determined to reach Florida to see his aging Mum. We also ran across a young Montreal Biker (Gaetan) whom we had met earlier in the week. He was hitchhiking back to Montreal due to a knee injury. We are feeling very lucky not to have had these kinds of problems but Bob did discover a broken spoke so we had to stop early for  repairs. It had been a nice sunny day but in the evening we got hit by a tremendous thunderstorm. Fortunately we managed to get our tent up and make the bike repairs before the rain began. A  nice French lady brought us an apple pie and offered us shelter in her RV. We refused the shelter but enjoyed the apple pie!
Day 30   June 25   Trehern to St. Anne     165km
Woke up to blue skies. Everything was damp again this morning. Stopped for coffee in St. Claude.  Highway 2 is a good road, although narrow,we encountered  little traffic until about 30km from Winnipeg where we ran into a long area of construction and then the road became very busy. Bob chose this opportunity to have a flat tire. When we picked up the Winnipeg ring road we were able to relax a little on a super wide shoulder.We decided to push on until we reached highway 1. Then Bob got another flat tire Great timing! It wasn't very pleasant trying to fix a flat tire with traffic passing at 110 klm per hour. We finally reached the Trans Canada only to discover it was under construction for 28km. with traffic down to one lane. We pushed on to Dufrean. Our water ran out and were fortunate to meet a kind traffic controller who spared us a bottle.On reaching Dufrean we discovered there was no place to stay so we had to go on to St. Anne. We found a Motel with a restaurant. Today's journey was long and stressful. The roads are still straight and flat but we saw 2 foxes and noticed that we were beginning to see more trees. Another observation, many of the construction workers are female and we are wondering if all the males are in Alaska making their fortunes.

Day 31   June 26    St. Anne to Falcon Lake     105km
This morning we discovered a very nice campsite just a few kilometers past St. Anne which really pissed us off as we could have saved a hotel bill. The Manitoba tourist board campground guide has not impressed us very much.
Today was the most uninteresting biking to date. It started nice and sunny but deteriorated quickly to rain. The Trans Canada started out well but after a short period the shoulder became gravel and the TC became little better than a bad country road. It was a very bumpy ride which was  like riding on one long  rumble strip. The scenery was boring and made worse by fierce crosswinds. Jean tired quickly after the long day yesterday and Bob had to put up with a very grumpy old bird. Fortunately Bob was very patient (according to Bob). Falcon Lake is a holiday resort. It was our intention to arrive early and enjoy the area. The rain, however, spoiled our well-laid plan and we had to settle for a hotel room. Our room had no hot water so we were upgraded to a better room with patio, lounge area and kitchenette. We went out for hamburger and fries and bought a six-pack for the room. We have been without internet connection for three days for the first time.

Day 32   June 27     Falcon Lake to Kenora Ontario   75km.
It rained all night. We woke up to no water in the room until 10:30. Left hotel at 11:20 under very cloudy skies. We wore our raingear and peddled like mad. Crossed border into Ontario and hit a long patch of construction the going was very difficult, narrow, uneven and dangerous. After the construction the area became more interesting.  We passed some nice lakes and saw lots of wild life, including a bunch of vultures snacking on a deer carcass and another fox.  One of Bob's tires got a slow leak, he decided to ignore it and race on to Kenora to a bike shop that we found out closed at 5:00. He went on ahead and managed to get there on time and get his rear wheel repaired and tire fixed. Jean got herself lost but all ended well at a Travel Lodge hotel.



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