Day 58 Winnipeg, Manitoba

June 27, 2011

Before leaving Selkirk and the north of Winnipeg generally, we had one last crack at finding some authentic food, like non deep fried perogies. We scored, at Bill and Paddy's favourite restaurant, Roxi's.

Bill and Paddy's place, our sanctuary in Selkirk

Dropped back in Winnipeg, we hugged the Phelan's goodbye and entered Gooch's to pick up our bikes. We were a little surprised to find the mechanic still frantically adjusting them, but we had time to wait so no problem. More surprising, though, was the bill. The total was $439.82! The labour for the two overhauls was $250, which we knew about in advance. Parts were to be extra, but we had envisioned maybe up to $50 for maybe ball bearings and a new chain or two. It turned out that basically every part that got adjusted or greased was eligible to be replaced, for a total of $189 of parts like new cables and housings, front axle set, chain, bottom bracket cartridge, etc. etc. Given that most of this stuff was brand new 8 weeks ago, it seemed a bit much. What do you think? Normal maintenance or rip off?

Adam (of Goochs) and Dodie make final adjustments

We presented ourselves back at Mark's place, where apparently we will be turfing him on to the sofa for one more night. Mark took us down to St. Boniface, which is the francophone quarter of Winnipeg. We visited the grave of Louis Riel, viewed as the founder of Manitoba and executed by the then Canadians for treason. The grave yard on the grounds of the St. Boniface cathedral (just the preserved facade remains) contained many many headstones of French pioneers.

Many French pioneer graves are here in the cathedral yard

The St. Boniface cathedral restored facade.

We joined Alissa (upstairs neighbour) and her two drop dead gorgeous daughters Sophie and Malaika at the "BDI" or Bridge Drive In. The BDI serves only soft ice cream confections and is just by a pedestrian bridge over the Red River.

The bikes are loaded in Mark's garage and ready to leave town.

The Fort Garry hotel. This was our first home in Winnipeg, almost forty years ago.

The Bridge over the Red River at the BDI

On the other side of the bridge is a quiet neighbourhood, ideal for walking with your ice cream. The BDI had a constant stream of customers, even on this quite cool evening.

So we are pretty much ready to head for Minnesota tomorrow. Our stay here has brought some pretty important improvements in our situation: I now have a MEC thermos for coffee on board! Dodie's shoulder is much improved. And we have two new rear red lights, one "Blinky" and one "UFO Light". Those truckers better watch out now!

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