Day 54 Glenboro to Winnipeg, Manitoba: Winnipeg! (Montreal couldn't be much further - or could it?)
We got a sunny day today, and better, only a mild cross wind. This instantly changed our outlook. Maybe because of this or maybe in truth the landscape changed from boring to lovely, green and fresh. It did seem that many more fields had been seeded and germinated, so green and fresh was truly the order of the day.
With Dodie's shoulder pretty much non functional, we had set our goal for the day as reaching St. Claude, a distance of 72 km. However, after doing about 50 km with no headwind fairly quickly, we saw a sign that said Winnipeg 117 km. "Hey", we said, "We could do that!".
So to jump ahead of the story for a moment, we did do it. That is, a U.S. Century, a total of 174km, which is 107 miles!
So here they broke their hearts and gave us a 12 inch shoulder for 17 km. We'll take it though. Wheee! Sometimes you can ride the left side of it, sometimes the right, and if you get bored - right down the centre. Just not quite enough room for my hot tub, though.
Mayor Norm Carter of St. Claude, Manitoba. (Joni - note the t-shirt). We seem to attract mayors off the street. We talked about the ralaxing nature of small town life, the flooding and seeding situation in surrounding areas, the condition of the road, and the encouraging fact that Norm - an anglophone - was elected in mostly French speaking St. Claude. Norm then invited us to city hall where we received two city pins and got to see the gardens, of which they are very proud.
Starbuck is close to Winnipeg but lacks even the services of farther out small towns. Maybe it's the very proximity that is the problem. This "hotel" is really only a bar only now and is more run down than it looks here. We had thought of stopping at Starbuck, but we are focussed on making Winnipeg now, no matter what.
The much maligned GPS took us across the perimeter highway and through the still busy streets of South Winnipeg. Even at 11:30 at night we found people playing soccer, riding bikes, and waiting for busses. Weird. In our cycling and rural world, everything including us closes down by 8 p.m.
We would have to check a street map to understand the true logic of the route the GPS took to Mark's house. Sure enough, though, it dipsy doodled around and dropped us right on his head. Mark is moving tonmorrow and everything is in boxes. Not in boxes, though, was his king sized bed. Mark generously gave us Ibuprofen and ice packs and dropped us into this most wonderful of landing spots. Tomorrow will be playtime in the urban environment that is now so foreign to us. This includes moving day. Like cats, we like moving chaos. Also a trip to MEC and bike shops. Wheee!
Today's ride: 174 km (108 miles) Total: 3,224 km (2,002 miles)
