A Numbers Game

I left Saskatoon full of energy, revitalised after my early break, and my cold finally waning. The weather was on the up, and, although the magical tailwind was still yet to make its presence known, I was happy to pedal along as before.

The next chunk of my journey took me southeast towards Winnipeg. It was, in theory, effortless cycling: long flat straight roads, undulating at worst, downhill at best. And yet I would say it has been some of the toughest since I've been here.

 

Maybe it's because the initial novelty of cycling daily has worn off, and that buzz of excitement that comes with starting a new trip has faded a little: cycling, after all, has essentially become my full time job for the time being.

Or it could be because everything looks the same and I feel like I've been pedalling the same 10km on a continual loop! The landscape and surroundings of unbroken fields stretching into the distance, the railway line running parallel to the road, the odd pocket of reed-ridden wetland providing the only change over hundreds of kilometres.

I really don't want to sound ungrateful for having the opportunity to complete this trip, and I always knew this section would be tough (enough people, cyclists and others had told me about the mind numbing dullness of this part of the country) but this was making cycling really hard work.

I have found myself racing between every small town, counting telegraph poles to pass the time, and refusing to look at my odometer more than once an hour to stop myself from going insane as every mile crept by.

The 'visitor centre' at Sheho, which apparently is the native meaning for prairie chicken, so the lady told me in the general store...

My poor pasty upper arms have had a (nearly literal) baptism of fire. Until this week they had been covered by my base layer, but with each day getting warmer, I thought it was high time they had a bit of exposure. Five killer hot days later, they are now permanently pink no matter how much suncream I slather on. Another great tan line to add to the growing collection...

Hot work and no shade in sight

I crossed the border into Manitoba and expected (I don't really know why) to be heading back into a more familiar world with bigger towns and better roads. Indeed I was lulled into this by my stop at Russell - a subway, pizza hut and Tim Horton's all at one service stop!

New province!!

My excitement was short lived. The next day I rolled out to of town to find that Manitoba, having such a small population, can't afford to pave a lot of the hard shoulders beyond highway 1. So for the best part of the next two days I had to share a single lane highway with all the traffic for the first time on my trip. There was a good half foot drop off the tarmac onto the gravel hard shoulder, but hey, at least there was no rumble zone to deal with!

A change in gradient I felt was worth a photo. It was possibly the first since Saskatoon!

Hurray for new scenery!

I was constantly alert, listening out for traffic approaching from behind. It's interesting how people react differently to cyclists: some of the smaller cars pulling right over to the other side of the road to pass me, waving jovially as they did so. Yet I've also had two opposing trucks decide that there was plenty of room to pass me whilst passing each other at the same time...luckily this has only happened twice... exhilarating for all the wrong reasons!

Enjoying the view with a brew 

Perked up my morning no end!

The crossroad with highway 1 was an important moment for me: it signified my rejoining of the more traditional cross Canada route. As I bid a fond farewell to highway 16 (we've been through a lot together!) I half expected to be inundated by a bunch of fellow tourers, at last finding some people as crazy as myself to chat weather, bicycles and food with. But alas, it's still just me. I've heard rumours of one tourer who has been ahead of me on a trip from Edmonton to Montreal, but I've yet to catch up with him yet...

Highway 1, it's been a while since I saw you

So I've made it to Winnipeg! It feels like a significant landmark in my trip, although that could simply be because this was the point I had reached in terms of planning...the east of Canada felt so far into the future it seemed pointless to plan for it, the western fringe of Ontario being the furthest east I could picture on a map before it places and distances grew indistinct in my head.

I've tried to be productive with my time in a big city: I've had my bike checked over at the wonderful Alter Ego Sports. They pushed other bikes aside when I told them about my trip and gave her a free service, so grateful for that! I've spent time number crunching for the next leg of my trip, and replenished my food stocks ready for the next section of my trip.

This is me done with the West of Canada. I've covered roughly 1700 miles so far, crossed three time zones and four provinces. I hear winding roads actually exist in Ontario...I can't wait to see what's around the corner!