Winnipeg to Dryden

Day 27 - Wednesday September 1, 2010

Kilometres: 355.0

Time: four and a half hours (ride time)

Weather:

Winnipeg: Mostly cloudy, 16 C at 10 AM

Dryden: Scattered clouds, 23 C at 3 PM

It was a rather uneventful ride today. I retraced the roads I ridden only a few weeks ago. There is more construction, though, which is challenging. In one section just east of Kenora, there was about 7 kilometres of scraped pavement, which is really dangerous for motorcyclist if the grooved pavement is deep. The wheels tend to follow the grooves and take control of the direction of the bike. Fortunately, only a portion of it was deep. Another part of the same construction zone reduced the road to gravel. It's not as bad as mud, but there were a few white-knuckled moments.

I know I'm back in Ontario when I have to share the road with dangerous drivers who should never have been issued a licence. So there I am, trying to negotiate a gravel road (that is a highway) and I'm doing the posted construction zone speed limit of 60 kph. I'm following good motorcycle safety procedure by riding in the blocking position, which is roughly a metre or so to the right of the centre line. Some idiot decided that I'm not going fast enough and that I shouldn't impede his speed. He drove on the gravel shoulder to pass me on the right.

This is the fourth time this has happened to me this summer. One idiot woman decided to pass me (in a school zone outside of the Toronto police college) by driving in the bicycle lane. Only in Ontario has this happened to me.

The best drivers are in Saskatchewan. They pull over and slow down to let you pass. They'll let you merge with traffic without trying to push your off the road. They follow the rules the road. Drivers in Alberta are all just speed freaks. The posted highway speed is 110, but to keep up with traffic you have to do about 130. Some go much faster than that. Red light runners are few and far between in the Prairies. I saw mostly yellow light runners in BC, but not one red light runner. I felt really out of place when I ran a yellow in Winnipeg. I was the only who did it.

After driving in many major cities in five provinces in the last month, I think Ontario drivers are horrible and GTA/Toronto drivers are downright deadly. Now I know why insurance rates are so high into Toronto.

On to a better subject, though. The weather finally improved ... but not for long. When I packed up the bike this morning it was sunny. Fifteen minutes later, it was cloudy and rain threatened. Fortunately, it didn't catch up with me. It even started to warm up. By the time I arrived in Kenora, I changed into my summer riding gloves and removed my polar fleece jacket.

It was a short ride today. I guess I planned it that way for a reason, but I can't figure out what the heck I was thinking. I finished today a bit after 3 PM, but I could have gone for another three hours without a problem. I guess there isn't a whole lot between here and Thunder Bay, which is just over 300 kilometres away.

The weatherman is calling for rain starting tonight and going into tomorrow. There is a possibility of thunderstorms in the afternoon, so I will get an early start.

I have an eight hour ride ahead of me tomorrow so I'm hoping that the forecast is wrong.

Regina to Winnipeg

Day 26 – Tuesday August 31, 2010

Kilometres: 620.2

Time: 7 hours, 15 minutes (including gas stops and half an hour for lunch)

Weather:

Regina: Rain, 10 C at 10 AM

Brandon: Cloudy, 16 C at 2:30

Winnipeg: Cloudy, 18 C at 6 PM

The weather is really getting to me. I haven’t been warm since I was in the hotel in Edmonton. None of the other hotels have the heat on, and it is getting pretty darn cold at night. It rained all night and it was also cold. In the hotel room it was 13 C. I slept in my street clothes because they are the warmest clothes I have. The hotel provided an extra blanket.

I delayed leaving in the morning in hopes that it would warm up and perhaps clear up a bit. It had almost stopped raining when I left, but the temperature had not improved.

It was yet another day of being lucky with the rain. I could see the storms, which were only regular grey clouds of rain, and, thankfully, not thunderstorms. I was fortunate to miss the worst of it. A few times I could see the raining coming down and heading southeast towards the highway … and my future path. I just pulled on the throttle harder and tried to beat the storm.

By the time I arrived in Brandon (the wheat capital of Canada) the worst of the storms were over and the sun was trying to poke through the clouds. It also warmed up noticeably. I’ve discovered that I cannot ride when it is 8 C or colder. Or at least I can’t ride in the gear that I have with me on this trip. At 10 C, I am miserable, but still able to ride. At 12 C, it is tolerable and I can almost enjoy myself. At 14 C I am a happy rider, even though I’m wearing two pairs of gloves, five layers on my top half and four on my lower half.

The wind was a bit gusty at times, especially when I went over bridges, which, thankfully, are few and far between out here.

Just east of Portage la Prairie the landscape noticeably changed. There were many more trees and at one point I rode through a spruce forest.

Just as I reached Winnipeg it began to cloud over, but it didn’t rain. I’m staying in the east end of the city and could have taken the ring road, but instead I went right through the city and found the hotel without any trouble. I think I understand the basic layout of the city and if I were here for a week I would be hard pressed to get lost in Winnipeg.

My one regret about arriving late in Winnipeg is that I won't have time to visit the Forthwyte Alive, which has bison (I have been corrected a number of time that they are NOT buffalo) gated in a natural prairie setting. I've only seen bison hides and would really love to seen one of these huge, wonderful beasts alive and in person.

I’m staying in the same hotel, and even have the same room that I had on my trip west. As soon as I arrived, I ate dinner, drank a beer, then changed into my swimsuit and jumped in the pool. As I have a short ride day tomorrow, I may have one final swim first thing in the morning. Next stop: Ontario.

Pictures from the Prairies

Here are the pictures I was going to post from yesterday's ride, but was too tired to last night.

First up, I stopped in Neepawa, Manitoba for gas and saw the sign indicating that house where author Margaret Laurence grew up was just around the corner. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to at least drive by it. And I was afraid of riding by it if it wasn't well signed.

I also FINALLY found a relatively safe place to pull over where there is a hard shoulder. Yup, I'm on the Yellowhead Highway heading west towards Yorkton. I didn't realize that there are two Trans Canada Highways out in the west. The first is the southern route and the northern route. The Yellowhead is the northern route and goes from Portage la Prairie up through Jasper. The southern route goes through Banff.

I crossed over into Saskatchewan but didn't realize until this morning that I'd crossed into Mountain Time. It would be nice if they put up a sign to let us tired travelers know these thing. Of course Saskatchewan is the only province that doesn't participate in daylight savings, so it is difficult to know whether or not to move the clock or not.

Winnipeg to Yorkton

Time: 7 hours, 10 minutes

Kilometres: 465.7

Weather:

Winnipeg: Sunny, 24 C at 10 AM

Yorkton, Sask: Partly cloudy, 28 C at 5 PM

I really don't understand why it took me so long to ride so few kilometres. I think I hit every red light on the way out of Winnipeg, but other than that, it was pretty smooth riding all the way through.

From Portage La Prairie up to Gladstone (small town about an hour or so north of PLP) there were thousands of those little white butterflies. You know the ones. They fly like they are drunk 'cause they just can't fly in a straight line. Anyway, what ever was growing at the side of the road was their favourite plants. Unfortunately, they all too often flew in front of me. At times it was almost like, but not quite as intense as light snow flurries.

I also discovered that dragonflies eat these butterflies. I think it is also mating season for dragonflies and there were a few flocks? schools? squadrons? ... I don't know the right term. But I could see them flying on the road ahead of me and there was nothing I could do to avoid them. Between the butterflies, dragonflies and the odd bee, there was barely a spot on my windshield free of bug splatter. I was also covered. Boots, helmet, arms and legs.

I pulled over for gas in Neepawa, Manitoba (is it pronounced Nee-pa-wa or Neep-awa?) and stumbled upon the childhood home of author Margaret Laurence. I didn't go inside as I was already running behind schedule, but I took a couple of photos.

A quick note about today's pics: It's just passed 11 PM and I haven't even looked at the pics I took today. I'm just too tired to do that now and will post those pics tomorrow night.

After Neepawa, the bug problem diminished quickly. I stopped in Russel, which is just east of the Sask border. Originally, I had planned to head north to visit the grain elevator museum, but as it was already close to 4 PM, I stopped for lunch at Subway and then headed west. I will have to ride another trip out this way in the future as I have so far missed three things on my "to see" list."

I rolled into Yorkton shortly after 5 PM. I soon found out about the weather warnings popping up all over the province. After a quick swim in the pool, I began repacking my gear and getting my Gore-Tex ready. Currently, the bike is packed except for a few items and will be ready to roll in about five minutes. The forecast is calling for rain starting tonight and going all the way through tomorrow. There is a good chance of thunderstorms. From weather watching, I know that sever thunderstorms usually pop up in the afternoon. I plan on starting early in the morning and will hopefully miss the worst of the weather. I will most likely miss another tourist destination in Regina and just keep heading west towards my hotel.

Winnipeg and Selkirk

Day 5 – Tuesday August 10, 2010 – Winnipeg and Selkirk

Time: Not much

Kilometres: 82.7

Weather:

Winnipeg: Sunny, humid, and warm; 28C at 10:20 AM

Selkirk: Hazy, hot, and humid; 42C at 2:10 PM

I got off to a late start as I had a luggage problem to solve – which I did thanks to the Velcro strap Diane gave me last week. Originally this was going to be used to hold my tank bag (which is scratching my paint) to the luggage on the back seat; however, I found the motorcycle cover fit on the back seat so I didn’t use the Velcro. I packed Velcro at the last minute for in case of emergency strapping. Yup, this was the emergency. All I did was stabilize the load from the top with strap.

I took the new luggage configuration for a test-run up to Selkirk, which is about 40 km north of Winnipeg. Actually, Lower Fort Garry was on my “must see” list. I hit the road at just before 11 AM after grabbing a quick bite to eat at Tim Hortons.

I went through downtown Winnipeg again and then headed north. Once out of the city there was a bit of road construction, but it didn’t really slow me down. I arrived at Lower Fort Garry at 11:50, which I thought was the perfect time as most people would be having lunch. (I have developed a habit of eating while others are doing things, and doing things while others are eating. There is hardly any waiting and not many people.)

As I had my big luggage with me, I took advantage of it my stowing my helmet and jacket it in. I was boiling hot and my motorbike stand bit into the newly-paved parking lot. I pulled out my handy little kickstand snowshoe so my bike tip over while I was off having fun.

Before leaving Toronto, I’d polled apart an old backpack and salvaged the shoulder straps. I created a quick release system and added it to the tank bag, which was perfect for today. I carried all my essentials and extra water. It worked flawlessly.

Lower Fort Garry is a rather small limestone fort, which was built in the 1870s. The governor of the fort oversaw all the Hudson Bay trading from here west to the Pacific. Upper Fort Garry is now under the concrete and glass structures of downtown Winnipeg. Apparently, only an old arch remains of the fort.

Lower Fort Garry is on the banks of the Red River. Before going into the fort I went down the river’s edge and found that it is not red, but brown. Between the out-buildings around the fort and the river was an old York river boat. Today it is used for demonstration purposes – how they built and maintained the boats that carried goods back and forth from the fort to York Factory on Hudson’s Bay. (Here’s a pic of the boat.)

There were two highlights of the fort for me. First was the blacksmith’s shop. (That’s the wooden building in the middle of the pictures, with the fort in the background.) The young smith noticed my motorcycle pants, and as was his only visitor, he started talking about bikes. After about five minutes a groups of people wandered into shop and the smith began pumping on the huge bellows. The embers of the forge erupted into flame and the smith picked up a long poker-like piece of blackened metal. He heated up the metal, turned to the anvil and began pounding. He must have been really hot. He was working up a sweat from the pounding plus he had the hot forge directly behind him. After pounding for a while, he dipped in water and then in it went into the fire and then back to anvil for more pounding. He tempered the metal several times until he finally pounded off the top and then flattened the top. His hard work and sweat paid off as he held up a 5 centimetre nail for all to see.

After the group left, he gave me the nail as a souvenir. He said that he messed up the end, but I was really happy with it. That is going to be a keeper for me.

Next, I went into the fort and talked with many of costumed interpreters. All were really friendly and full of interesting information. They were eager to answer questions, and because it wasn’t crowed, they took extra time with me to just chit-chat about history.

The second highlight was meeting the woman who played the part of the governor’s wife. She could see how into everything I was. We talked about heating (there are 15 stoves in the one house), what women did to relax (they will quickly lose their eyesight due to poor lighting and intricate sewing).

I was really intrigued with the dining room. The cutlery holder was like nothing I’d ever seen before (but neither of the picture turned out). I asked if I could cross into the roped off area and she soon gave me a short history of some of the pieces. The oldest is a wooden tea chest (I immediately thought of Margo), which goes back to the mid-1700s. She was such an interesting and fun person to talk with. Just as I was about to leave she paid me the nicest compliment. “It’s really nice to meet someone who really appreciates the history and is not here to just pass through.”

On the way out of the fort I saw a few Red River carts, which were known for there ear-splitting squealing. (Here’s a pic of three carts.)

In all, I was in the fort for just over two hours. When I returned to my bike, I was starting to dehydrate. I couldn’t believe how thirsty I was. Thankfully, I had water with me. I looked at the thermometer on the bike, which read a whopping 42 C. I’m sure some of the heat was reflecting back from the black pavement.

As I headed south with the highway wind cooling me down, I decided to get my earring taken care of. The good folk over at Urban Graffiti quickly fixed the problem and even gave me an extra ball “just in case.”

From the there I headed back to the hotel for a much needed dip in the pool and early dinner. While everyone is having dinner, I’ll go for another swim and then plan out my adventures for tomorrow.

Kenora to Winnipeg

Day 4 – August 9, 2010 – Kenora to Winnipeg

Time: two hours and 15 minutes (includes one 5-minute break)

Kilometres: 270.3

Weather:

Kenora: Sunny, warm, 28 C at 10AM

Winnipeg: Sunny, hot, 38 C at 1:30 PM

Well, I beat the storm. In fact, I’ve been in the city for about two hours and the clouds are just starting to roll in.

I pulled out of Kenora around 10:15. I followed the T’Can (hwy 17) through town where I came to a real roundabout. The sign was just like the ones I’d seen in England. I’ve only found one roundabout in Toronto and thankfully it is not a busy intersection as there are no signs telling drivers how to use it properly. If you’re looking for that roundabout it is on Windermere north of The Queensway. Anyway, I knew proper roundabout etiquette (thanks, Doreen) but I was the only one on the road so know one saw the proper signalling and lane changing.

The ride through the remainder of Ontario was the same as the day before: a few hills and lots of forest. The road wasn’t very twisty, but it was interesting enough.

I quickly came to the Ontario-Manitoba border. Ontario had a tourist information kiosk for those entering the province. The “Welcome to Manitoba” was upon me very quickly. In fact, I didn’t even have enough time to pull over for a photo-op – especially as I had a car right behind who would not have appreciated my quick braking and pulling over.

Just inside the provincial border is a Manitoba info centre. (Here’s a pic of the sign.) My main reason for pulling into to was to push my luggage back onto the seat. It had slowly been tilting over as I road and I was afraid that if I leaned too far over it would be hanging on only by the python lock. I also made some Kool-Aid from the singles packages but quickly discovered that it leaves a very chemical aftertaste. I’ll stick the make-at-home version and not the singles.

It took awhile for the trees to slowing change from the normal jack pine, cedar, evergreens, and birch. It’s not that the species change, although I think I saw some poplar trees, the height and abundance slowly did. Ninety-four kilometres into the province, the forest disappeared into cropland. For most of the 94 km the road was nearly perfectly straight, two lanes in both directions, and divided by enough trees that I couldn’t see the opposing traffic. I guess the trees really help stop the drifting and blowing snow in the winter.

The posted speed limit is 100 km, but even though I was doing between 110 and 115, I was still one of the slowest vehicles on the road. I had a fire truck behind me most of the way and it would have run me over if I’d gone any slower.

Just passed the turnoff to Steinbach, construction forced the traffic to slow down to 60. I didn’t mind as I got a good look at the farming and the landscape. I really think that the Prairies have been given a bad reputation because of the straight roads and featureless views. The roads are straight because there are no natural features to force engineers to build around them. The rocks of the Canadian Shield are gone. I think, however, that there would be more trees, but the land has been cleared for farming. The sudden disappearance of trees did not seem natural. One second I was surrounded by tress and then next second they were all in my rear view mirror.

While I slowed for the construction area (it was about 25 km of roadwork), I looked over the landscape and I saw clumps of forest in the middle of farmland.

The weather was now getting a little hot – even for me. Again I was wearing the cooling bandana and my Gore-Tex, but as I was only doing about 60 km, I didn’t need the Gore-Tex and quickly began to overheat. To top it off, it was impossible for me to pull over as it one lane of traffic in both directions and no shoulders. I just had to literally sweat it out.

As I neared the end of the construction zone, I turned on my GPS. Before leaving the hotel in morning I had programmed it to find the quickest route to the hotel in Winnipeg. I didn’t need it to get out of Kenora, as the all I had to do was stay on the T’Can. The GPS did its job perfectly. I rode through the hotel’s parking lot at just after 12:30. I had time to kill as check in isn’t until 3PM. I pulled over and again adjusted the luggage and headed north along Main Street.

First I crossed over the Red River and the over the Assiniboine River. I was in the heart of The Peg. To my right I saw an almost familiar building. It was Union Station. It looks like a smaller version of the one in Toronto. I’d guess that it’s about half the length, but it is constructed in the same style – with the columns and the clock and the windows.

I was stopped at the lights and Portage and Main. My thermometer registered and warm 38 C. On the southeast corner is the Bank of Montreal. Again, it is constructed with the imposing Greek columns. On the southwest corner is a modern looking Scotiabank. Somewhere in my travels through downtown, I saw a hotel that looked similar to the Laurier in Ottawa, but again a smaller version.

I found a gas station, and filled up for $7.75. I couldn’t believe how cheap gas is compared to northern Ontario. Some places in Ontario gas was as high as $1.14/l, but usually around $1.07/l. In Winnipeg all the stations are at .93/l. I was now in the north end of the city. During my short trip through the city I had been keeping my eyes open for a place to do my laundry and also for a tattoo shop so someone could put my earring back in (I think I also have an infected one, so no earphone and iPod today). I found a place for laundry, but I think I must be in the “wrong part of town.” It had bars on the windows. I also fond a tattoo shop, but it was closed.

I turned back towards the hotel as I had passed a Tim Hortons near it. It was lunchtime. After lunch, I checked into the hotel. Again, my luggage had started to lean off the bike. To top it off, I found that one of my python locks didn’t lock anymore. Well, it comes with a three-year guarantee, but tell that to Canadian Tire (no receipt, then no return or exchange).

I pulled everything off the bike and checked into my poolside room. Well, it sounded like a good idea when I booked the room, but it is a bit noisy. Thankfully I have plenty of earplugs with me. (Here’s a pic of the pool. I just walk out the door and I can go for a swim. Perfect!)

I am currently into chocolate brownies and Australian red wine (a wonderful combination) for a snack. I’ve already done a few laps in the pool and will head into the hot tub shortly. After that, I have some problem solving to do. How do I fix my luggage problem? Tomorrow will be my best change of finding things to either stabilize the luggage or replace the damn thing.