Blogs from Manitoba, Canada, North America - page 29

To Selkirk, round trip Thursday, 26 July 2007 Today my planned route was essentially to Selkirk & back. The route to Selkirk is north across Winnipeg & a bit to the east from the hotel. And since I had NO intentions of trying to bicycle across town, it meant that Bob had to drive me to my point of embarkation (starting point) just past the outer limits of the city. Again I took Silver; we went up highway 57 to Lockport, where I headed west again, over a relatively narrow, longish bridge (which had a nice “arch”) over the Red River, to highway 9, which was again a very busy road with virtually no shoulder, heading north to Selkirk. There I rode along the main street - busy with no room for bicycles (does this sound ... read more

And on to the ‘Peg Tuesday, 24 July 2007 Today we were off to the home of Winnie the Pooh. But as it is about 100 kilometres from Morden, I was going to ride up to 60 km from the Tim Horton’s in Morden, and Bob was going to go to the hotel, check in, unload, walk Panna & then come pick me up. Just to vary the “pace” I used Silver today. It was another scorcher (turns out the high was 35° C, close to 100° F, and with the humidity it felt like 43° C) and I even took along an extra bladder with ice in it to 1) keep my lunch cool & 2) provide an extra supply of water should it be needed. The route was along highway 3 the whole way, ... read more

To Morden & DQ via Highway 3 Sunday, 22 July 2007 There was apparently a heavy rainstorm last night, but I certainly didn’t hear it. The only indication by the time Panna & I went outside this morning was a huge puddle at one end of the parking lot which had not been there yesterday. It was so big that there was a solitary duck swimming & splashing in it. (But do you think Miss Panna was interested in it - no, she was looking for prairie dogs!) But even with the rain, it was already getting really warm & humid by the time we left for La Riviere, from where I planned to cycle towards the east into Morden. The only problem with that itinerary was a huge hill which I’d have had to climb ... read more

Briefly, a day "off" Friday, 20 July 2007 Today was another planned "day off", so we could sleep in a bit & I allowed myself a smaller breakfast than on days when I plan to cycle. We ran some errands, did some shopping, got my hair trimmed & did some laundry, things we can't do when Bob's got to be picking me up or dropping me off someplace. And I had fun taking Panna for a short walk along an urban recreational pathway which ran very close to the motel & taking some photos of things along that path. For dinner we treated ourselves to The Keg, which has an outlet in Brandon, and it was OK - for some reason, my filet mignon did not seem to be as tender as some I've had previously. ... read more

Man, did I screw up!! Wednesday, 18 July 2007 Today we were all going to drive to Spruce Woods Provincial Park, where, among other things, as a result of something to do with the glaciers, there is quite a desert-like environment in a part of the park, with large sand dunes, and cacti much as one would see in the southwest (obviously they must be cold-hardy...). The Trans Canada Trail also runs through part of it. I was hoping to get in a 10 kilometre walk today, in lieu of a bike ride. Looking at some maps I came to the conclusion that it would be just as short (or long) a trip if we went via the south end of Brandon, rather than the “traditional” route along the Trans Canada Highway, north of town. ... read more