We woke up fairly early as we noted that the winds still appeared to be blowing from the SE (hence still giving us a tail wind). We turned on our walkie-talkie to get the weather forecast, and learned that the winds were supposed to change from SE to S, and then to westerly winds by the evening. Better get going!
We had pancakes for breakfast and it was really nice to be able to eat them inside in the rec room (first time at a campground where we were able to eat inside). No dealing with mosquitoes for us!
As we were heading out on the gravel road back to Hwy 44, we crossed our path with John who was driving back into the campground. He wished us good luck as he drove by and we said our thanks to him. John and Bev were incredibly kind to us. We had been to many campgrounds, with quite a few treating us nicely, but we felt most welcomed at John and Bev’s. It was also the first campground where they let us stay for free. Incredible! Our accommodation budget hadn’t been doing so well after so many nights at campgrounds in Ontario, so we are hoping things even out as we head out west!
Once we got back on Hwy 44 it was smooth sailing thanks to the tail wind and very little traffic. We did have to turn south on Hwy 11 towards Elma for about 7 to 8 km against the wind, but we managed to make descent progress.
We stopped at the corner store in Elma to call our parents for weather updates and for accommodations options in Winnipeg. We weren’t keen on the hostels recommended by other cyclists since there were the two of us with our bikes. We were hoping for the university residences again, but unfortunately they were no longer available as school was starting soon.
We picked up a litre of chocolate milk and had a nice chat with the store owner. As we drank the milk on picnic table at the sheltered balcony, he came outside and gave us two cups so that we didn’t have to drink out of the mug! And while we were trying to figure out the best route into the city of Winnipeg, he came out and gave us two boxes of cinnamon hearts! Manitoba hospitality strikes again! We wished we got his name or at least given him our blog address!
After our little break, we headed due west on Hwy 15. It is a long straight road that goes directly into Winnipeg and parallels the railroad track. There was no paved shoulder to speak of but the traffic was very light and courteous. The wind was now blowing from the south and we encountered very strong side-wind gusts. The road was incredibly flat so we made descent progress going about 20km/h. As we cycled through the provincial forests the winds felt like they were blowing from all directions. At certain points the gusts were so strong we almost got blown off the road a few times. I also got blasted with a few sand storms!
Once we eventually reached Anola we were quite tired and hungry, so we decided to take shelter inside at the local cafe. We had a descent lunch there and got more weather updates from our parents. Apparently the rain was just going to miss us and it should be fairly clear going into Winnipeg. We were glad to hear this because we were quite concerned about horizontal rain (we would likely have to get off the road in that case).
After our 1+ hour stop, we got back on Hwy 15. Traffic was starting to get heavier, especially on the other lane likely due to Winnipeg rush hour slowly starting. This stretch was incredibly rough going as we had to get off the highway about what felt like 30 to 40 times to let the traffic pass as there was hardly any room for us (and the speed limit is somehow 100km/h with no paved shoulder!!). Truck traffic started to increase and we would find ourselves getting on and off the highway constantly. Combine that with the strong wind gusts it made for a miserable ride.
The winds were now starting to blow from the west and we had a headwind. We somehow managed to bike 14km from Anola to get to Dugald. We were only 8km away from the outskirts of Winnipeg, but with the headwind and traffic our spirits were low. We took a quick break at the gas station and tried to find another route into the city. The only other option was an unpaved side road about 1.5 km south, so we decided to give it a try. The sideroad was dried up and packed up mud, but with the headwind it slowed us down to about 10km/h. The road was rough and we got off at the first sideroad going back to the hwy.
Ironically, once we got back on the highway there was now a paved 10ft shoulder! If only we had known earlier. It would have also been nice if this shoulder started much earlier!
We continued along the highway against the strong headwind, now averaging about 16km/h. We noticed that we had become stronger cyclists as we still managed to make descent progress. We took turns drafting each other which was also a big help.
The area around the bridge to cross the first river (or the Red River Flood Plain) was under construction but we still had a nice paved shoulder. Then we found out the old bridge still in use hardly had almost no shoulder! We had to wait for an opening in traffic and pedal as fast as we could. There was a traffic light 50m ahead and since it was a construction zone the traffic wasn’t moving too fast, but we still didn’t want to get squeezed or stuck in front of a transport truck. We managed to get across the bridge just as traffic started to pass us again. Perfect timing!
Shortly after the beautiful shoulder disappeared on Hwy 15 and we were forced to take a round about route into the city through the suburbs. It was actually quite nice as the suburb was very peaceful. We cycled through a newer suburb then an older suburb. The big trees in the older suburb were beautiful and they sheltered us from the wind.
It was starting to get later in the day and we were quite tired and hungry from the long day. The headwind near the end of the day was really starting to get to us. Our spirits were very low and I kept thinking to myself again if we had just drove across the country how different things would be. No dealing with headwinds, traffic, and trying to figure out the least dangerous route to cycle! We knew we were very close to arriving in Winnipeg which kept what was left of our spirits up. I kept my thoughts focused on how wonderful and how bicycle friendly the west coast was going to be.
We decided to head to the nearest Starbucks (another 8km) so that we could Priceline a hotel for the next couple of nights (we knew the winds were going to be strong from the west tomorrow). Once we got to Starbucks we found out the internet wasn’t free, but it was only $5 and it definitely wasn’t worth it to not use it. We needed a hotel fairly close by and we didn’t want to end up in the bad part of town. As a result we knew we only had about 2 tries to bid so we had to be careful, but managed to get the Holiday Inn downtown at an ok price. We were really looking forward to spending some time indoors, especially after a long rough day. Our hotel was only 8km away so we got back on the bikes and headed into the city.
The Starbucks was in a giant suburbia mall area, with roads of 4 lane traffic. It was not bicycle friendly what-so-ever, although we were shocked to find bicycle symbols on the roads. We ended up passing by a sign that said that Winnipeg was working on a bicycle/pedestrian/running route system to be completed by 2011. A year too late for us!
We managed to get off the busy road right away and took what we thought would be the quietest route into the city. It was getting later in the evening and traffic was starting to calm down. We ended up biking through a quiet industrial part of town (with a guard dog behind a fence that gave us a bit of a scare) then into the lovely Saint Boniface area of Winnipeg (largest French community west of Quebec). We then crossed a beautiful bridge with a huge sidewalk. We then noticed a great pedestrian/bicycle path along the river that took us towards our hotel. It was very peaceful and we were glad our ride into town ended up being incredibly smooth after a rough day.
Just as we got off the trail, we met Doug, a fellow touring cyclist! Doug was from Seattle and he had gone all the way upto the Yukon, and was now heading east, hoping to get to Newfoundland if the weather permitted. He was a really friendly and we had a great time chatting. He was surprised we had so much gear, and we were surprised he had so little. He had no panniers but just two stuff sacks on the front and the back of his bike. He had ridden down along the pacific coast to San Francisco before, and he had been across the USA a couple of times. He was in great spirits. We wished we could have chatted longer but Katherine was extremely tired and just wanted to get to the hotel which was now only a few blocks away. After about 10 min we said our good byes. Doug was going to find a place to camp in the city park for the night, and we felt a little bad we couldn’t stay and chat with him for a bit longer. We had been told to be careful in downtown Winnipeg from several people, especially at night, so we would not have been too keen on camping in the city park. Doug seemed to be the kind of guy that could probably easily tough it out though.
The hotel was such a relief to us, and we felt like we arrived in heaven. It was funny to check-in with two bikes full of gear and to take them up the elevator, and then to try to find a place to fit them once inside (we managed 🙂 ).
After we checked-in to the hotel, I walked around the city to try to find some food. Trying to find soy-free food at this time of day was incredibly difficult (most fast food joints are out of the question), and even though we knew Quiznos would work out for us the two locations on the GPS didn’t seem to exist or they were inside a mall that was already closed. I walked around town for a good hour trying to find something. The area we were in was not too bad as we were beside the University of Manitoba and the Manitoba Royal Ballet building. I made sure to avoid the North part of town as apparently there is a lot of gang related violence there. In the end I got a few groceries (milk, yogurt and a quarter of a water melon) at a corner store and a Subway sandwich for myself. Luckily the restaurant in the hotel had great soy free options for Katherine which I was able to pick up. It even came on a fancy tray to take up to our room!
Winnipeg seemed like a very nice city, and we looked forward to walking around and checking it out on our rest day.
Trip Around The World 
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