Rest Day in Kenora: The beauty of tan lines

The rest day in Kenora was awesome. I went out for lunch with close to half the cycling group, it was fun to relax and chat among the group of us. Afterwards, Gee, Larry, Alain, Jacque and I went to the bicycle shop. I got extra tape put on my handlebars to reduce the shock from the road. While cycling through the Prairies my hands had been going numb which was likely due to road shock and so I hoped extra tape would reduce and eliminate the numbness.

When I got back to camp I went swimming with Becky, Louise, Clarke, Erik, Adam, Gee, Larry, Danny, and Jacquie. We dove off the dock, did cannonballs, and just fooled around, it was fun. We took photos, some of which clearly showed off our beautiful tan lines :D

Overall, it was a fun and much needed rest day.

Beausejour to Kenora, 171km: Hi Ontario, I missed you :)

Today we would be leaving the Prairies, leaving Manitoba, and entering the Canadian Shield and my home province Ontario. I was quite excited to be leaving the Prairies because the Canadian Shield promised trees, rocks, water, and some hills :)

The day was a long one because we had to cycle 171km and just yesterday we cycled 170km. But tomorrow would be a rest day which was a blessing after 6 straight days of riding.

Louise and I cycled together. We entered the Canadian Shield quite quickly and my spirits lifted. It was so amazing to see trees and rock appearing. The transition from Prairies to Shield was awesome. 

We stopped for lunch in the town of Rennie which was a slightly depressing town. The sign of the town said “Welcome to Rennie, home of something or somebody famous ... someday ... maybe...” Funny, yet sad. 

After stopping at Rennie Louise and I cycled down Route 44 which turned out to be quite the experience. The road was quite narrow, with trees surrounding you, and there were rolling hills. There were also horse flies, lots and lots of horse flies, who wanted to gobble up chunks of your flesh. We were literally chased by these flies for 20-30km. It was absolutely ridiculous. Louise and I were booking it to try and escape them but they just kept up with us and whenever they had the chance they would bite our bottoms, hands, arms, legs, anything. It was not a fun experience. We finally reached the town of West Hawk Lake where we took a much needed break free of horse flies.

Within 5km of West Hawk Lake Louise and I reached the Ontario/Manitoba border. I was so thrilled. I cycled all the way from British Columbia to my home province! 

We met a couple at the “Welcome to Ontario” sign. They cycled from Calgary and were heading to Montreal. It was awesome meeting cyclists outside our group who were also riding across the country.

Once we reached the border we still had 50km to go. That last leg was a challenge. We were tired from the long riding segment and once we reached the border all we wanted to do was be in camp right away. Louise was going a bit slow as she was tired and I was getting frustrated because of it, but I continued to cycle with her and together we made it to Kenora. We were so relieved to have made it to Kenora. It was such an accomplishment after a long day and a long stretch of riding.

When we made it to camp we were met with congratulations from fellow riders. Clarke handed me some salt-covered cashews and it was the best thing he could of done, I was so grateful for those cashews. I was spent and craving salt and protein and those cashews hit the spot. It was the best end to a long but good day.

Portage to Beausejour, 170km: Day 1 of 2

Today was the first of two days in which we would be cycling a century ride. The day began late because I was on galley crew and thus I had to prepare breakfast. Everyone left pretty early though because they wanted to get the day going.

I left Portage with Louise and Erik. Today would be the flattest day on the whole trip and we would be cycling through the city of Winnipeg. The ride to Winnipeg was challenging. The kilometers seemed to be going by so slowly yet time was passing quickly. Louise was having a difficult time staying motivated, but we eventually made it to the city outskirts. We stopped at the Principle Meridian marker which was the original reference point for surveying the west, beginning in 1871.

On the outskirts we met up with Alain and Fred. Together we navigated our way through Winnipeg. It was fun to be able to navigate because cycling through the Prairies had largely involved following a few straight roads. Navigating through Winnipeg broke up an otherwise monotonous day and provided the challenge of not getting lost.

Getting through Winnipeg spanned 40km. It was 11 o’clock when we reached the outskirts and we decided to wait for lunch. At approximately kilometer 105 I felt a bit woozy. I checked my watch and discovered why, it was already 2 o’clock and we still hadn’t had lunch. Plus we still had 65km to go! We took a much needed lunch break to rejuvenate our energy. After that we were back on the bikes, trying to get out of the city. Navigating through Winnipeg was fun; however, due to the length of the day all we had time for was cycling and no site seeing, which was unfortunate.

We finally made it out of the city and had 30km to go. After leaving Winnipeg we had to cycle on Garven Road (Route 213) to get to Beausejour. There was a section of Garven Road that was scary. There was a quarry on the road and so there were a lot of trucks going back and forth from the quarry. The trucks would get pretty close because it was a busy section of road and they did not make much room for us because of oncoming traffic (and who wants to slow down for cyclists). We went on the shoulder but it was sand/gravel and we had to cycle up a tiny hill so I was swerving. I got extremely frustrated and angry because I did not feel safe in the slightest. Once we got over the hill and past the quarry, truck traffic greatly decreased which was an immense relief.

Once we reached Route 12 to get to Beausejour traffic was much quieter. We made it to Beausejour at 7:30pm. It had been an extremely long day but we finally made it to camp :) Tomorrow would be another long day, but we were going into a rest day and we would be leaving the Prairies and entering the Canadian Shield  as well as Ontario, my home province! :)

Minnedosa to Portage la Prairie, 132km: Hi Denise!!! :)

Today was the day I would see my sister Denise!!! Woo hooo!!!

I left Minnedosa with Louise and Erik and off I went to get my little butt to Portage so I could spend time with Denise who I hadn’t seen since Christmas.

The ride to Portage was uneventful except for the 5km section right before heading into town. To get into Portage we had to take Route 1 which is a heavy traffic road with a maximum speed limit of 100km/hr. To ensure we would not get hit by traffic we were to cycle on the shoulder. That would not have been a problem if the shoulder was paved, but alas, the shoulder was sand/gravel and as I said before, Paula and sand/gravel do not mix very well. I was swerving the entire time, cursing the shoulder. The only thing keeping me from having a full out hissy fit was that I would see Denise very shortly.

Finally we were off of Route 1. I was with Louise and together we navigated our way to the fairgrounds where we would be camping. I was on galley duty that evening but my group was incredibly nice and let me off the hook so I could spend time with Denise.

When I arrived at the fairgrounds Denise was already there waiting for me. I was so happy to see her :) She helped me set up my tent and then off we went to the grocery store to buy some food for dinner. She made me dinner in her apartment and it was really nice just to relax and chat with her. It was a short visit but one I definitely needed. It boosted my energy to keep me going and make it to my next stop, which would be Ivy Lea, Ontario, the place I grew up :)