Day 25 - Hitchikers (Minnedosa MB - Beausejour MB)

Today was one of the harder days of riding - not that the terrain was particularly difficult (as flat as glass), but mentally, another day in the prairies was quite the challenge - endlessly straight roads with no turns!!!

It  reminded me of some movies that I have seen where the director does not seem to know how to end it, and you are sitting there for the last 45 minutes of a two hour movie wondering when, if ever, it will end.

Our route took us north of Winnipeg (the provincial capital), and with 30 miles to go in our 100 mile ride, we stopped to visit Fort Garry, the major supply depot for the Northwest Territories (before they became provinces).  We ended up riding in a four person pace line to save energy, and keep things moving along. 

Our first stop was for our second breakfast of the day (usually after churning out about 30 miles).  As usual we took over a restaurant on the side of the road with swarms of riders coming in every 30 minutes or so and filling up the place.  We were 14 in a place that seated 16!

One of the more interesting aspects of this is that we managed to pick up "hitchikers" while riding.  Occasionally, a swarm of blackflies (each about an inch long) would join us and buzz about in the relatively calm air between the riders.  At first it was somewhat unnerving as these bugs pack a pretty good wallop when they bite, but we soon realized that for some unknown reason, they were not able to land on us while we were moving along.  They would buzz about going back and forth between the riders, and side to side, which was somewhat distracting.  I couldn't help but wonder how they felt after breaking away and finding themselves about 20 miles further down the road than when they joined us.

One thing I have noticed along the route is some of the more amusing signs that you see when either stopped to refuel (as in this case) or riding along. If any of you have a Rembrant, Picasso, or Rodin that need sandblasting, I know just the place!

After Fort Garry, we crossed the Red River - one that always seems to flood, both in the US and in Canada, in the spring and had a 25 mile ride into camp.  Being pretty fatigued of the ride so far for the day, all I wanted to do was to get it over with, so I laid down a pretty good pace and rode the last leg at about 22 MPH.  When I got into camp, I was quite relieved to have finished the day, and hopefully our last full day of prairie riding.