Day 49: Erickson, MB -> Portage la Prairie, MB

Date: Monday, July 3, 2023
Start: Erickson, MB (Municipal Campground)
End: Portage la Prairie, MB (Municipal Campground)
Distance: 167km

I woke in Brock's trailer in a comfy bed!  No bone shaking storms the night before, so it had been a solid and restful sleep.  I got up, showered, and joined Bruce and Islay who had once again made me breakfast.

Bruce's brother is also a big bike tour person, and so maybe Bruce has better insight than most into what these kinds of trips are like...but he insisted on making sure I was taken care of while in Erickson.  We again ate, drank coffee, and exchanged stories and tall tales.  I was happy for the company, especially from people who - though we are of different generations - had grown up in rural areas and in similar worlds.  There's a sort of understanding that comes from it.  And though I was certainly no farm boy who was chorin' every morning and evening, I grew up with those people and knew their world.

After breakfast it was time to pack and say goodbye.  Bruce and Islay were off for coffee and socializing at the Erickson Legion branch.  We hugged, took a picture together, and I watched them walk off hand in hand.

I biked out of the campground and stopped for a last picture in Erickson.

I rode South for a short time until I reached a small highway to take me East.  The winds were blowing HARD to the East.  So when I was going South it was a crosswind, and it was so strong that it slowed me down...even when it wasn't a headwind!  But it was only a kilometer or two before I reached the other highway and started East.

And boy, was I flying!

The morning winds were blowing at an easy 30km/h, gusting to 50km/h.  I could go 30 without much effort and 35+ if I pedaled normally.  I was also going downhill most of the way - payback for the hills of Riding Mountain National Park - and at times I was hitting 60km/h.  At this rate I'd be in St. John's by the end of the week!  I biked along with a huge smile on my face.  It felt amazing.

I made it to the end of the rural highway in just over an hour.  That was 40km.  That gives you an idea of my speed!  I had to turn South though, and the crosswind was killing me.  In addition, the shoulder was dirt again and there was a lot of traffic going home from the long weekend.  I opted to go in the shoulder of hard dirt and gravel.  The slowed me no matter the surface, so might as well put some space between me and the cars!  It was slow work, only about 15km/h.

After almost 17km - or one hour of pedaling - I made it to Neepawa, Manitoba.  As I biked down the main street I searched for a source of cold coffee or pastry.  The town was bigger than expected, and some grander old stone buildings hinted at a far grander past.  I found a coffee shop that was open and got an iced coffee.  It was now just after noon and I had 50km under my belt for the day.  I decided to find a park and get some lunch.  On my way to the park I passed some interesting local attractions.

The park was really picturesque.  It was well treed with a small stream running through it.  There were plenty of picnic tables and benches and I found one where I ate while watching a family fish in the stream.  I wrote some postcards I'd been meaning to send and enjoyed another beautiful summer afternoon surrounded by others doing the same.

At some point I was approached by someone who'd been sitting on a park bench in the distance.  He introduced himself and said he was running from Toronto to Dawson City, Yukon.  And that's how I met Zak!  He'd been running for as many days as I'd been biking and had gone from Toronto to Neepawa.  This was a total of 2400km.  He'd done over half of what I'd done by foot.  He told me he mainly runs, and sometimes walks at times, a total of about 60-80km a day.  He's doing between 1.5-2.5 marathons A DAY!  He has a cart that he pushes as he goes with all of his supplies.  If that wasn't enough, he was also an incredibly kind and happy character!  I chatted with him for a while and wished I could spend more time getting to know him....but had to go.  I'm following him on Strava now where he posts his daily distances and updates.  You can follow him here.

At this point I turned onto Highway 16, better known as The Yellowhead Highway.  The Trans-Canada Highway is actually a series of highways and this is one of them.  So I was back on The Trans-Canada for the first time since I'd gone from Revelstoke to Sicamous and turned off of Highway 1 on Day 6 of this trip!  So it's been a while!

The shoulder was WIDE.  And the road was long and flat.  There was more traffic however and it was loud.  Take the good and take the bad I suppose.  As I rode along I also realized that I wasn't passing as close to - or through - small towns anymore.  This is why I'd taken a more Northerly route from Calgary.

But the wind was still at my back, and I was back to doing 30-35km/h with ease.  It was 2:30pm and it felt nice to put on some speed again!  I was going so fast that I missed the 4000km milestone for the trip!  I snapped a picture of the number and then a few shots of how happy I was feeling to be moving at speed again and feeling good!

I was moving fast and making progress.  I was also in Manitoba and coming to within striking distance of Winnipeg.  So I tossed on some local music: Bachman-Turner-Overdrive.  Winnipeg originals!

At just before 5pm I rolled into Gladstone, Manitoba.  There I saw this creepy character on the town sign as I rode down their Main Street.

I went to the grocery store and grabbed some coconut water.  It had been recommended to me, and I wasn't sure if I liked it.  I also found the bakery closed, but had to credit them for their motto.

As I was biking the streets checking out the town a VIA Rail passenger train went through town.  There's only one a day, and if I'd jumped on I would have been in Winnipeg in 2 hours (or never...VIA Rail is notoriously unreliable).  Also, if I rode the train I'd complete the transportation trifecta - which is known as The Candy Triad - of plane, train, and automobile for this trip.

I rode around town and saw some landmarks.

Then riding out of the town I saw him.  He was so creepy and scary.  I present to you The Happy Rock.

Get it?!?!?  Gladstone.  Happy.  Rock.  Glad is the same as happy, and stone is the same as rock.  Do you get it!??!  Good...because that's it.  That's the entire character.  This is a pun made manifest, and terrifying.  I hated everything about it.

I'd completed 100km for the day and it was 5pm.  If I kept going, I'd have to go to Portage la Prairie that was another 60km away.  But I was still feeling good, had a tailwind, and it would set me up right for Winnipeg.  I decided to go for it.

And as I left town, the wind died down.  No worries, I'd just go slower.

And I did.  So slow.  I was only getting 23km/h.  I kept on enjoying the day however.

After 140km though, I felt my physical energy give out.  I was pedaling with sheer willpower now and it was only getting me about 17-18km/h.  It would take at least another hour.  And then my willpower started flagging and the last hour of pedaling was killer.

Though rough, I eventually made it to outside of Portage la Prairie where I had to turn onto Highway 1 - THE Trans-Canada - and I wasn't looking forward to the extra traffic.  But this will be my home for quite a while now.  Until just past Sault Ste. Marie which is almost 1500km away.  Time to rejoin the mainstream!

I rode into Portage feeling drained.  I grabbed a Bio Steel at a gas station to replenish, and biked into town.  There I saw the world's largest Coca-Cola can.  I don't understand why communities take pride in this kind of thing, but good for you Portage la Prairie!

I found a bike pathway that followed the Assiniboine and enjoyed a more relaxed pace into town.  The Assiniboine - if you're following alone - was a river I crossed in Kamsack a few days previous but it had been a tiny river then.  It was now very wide and carrying far more water!

I passed through a part of town with massive homes.  Mansion sizes.  And they were all old and again hinted at some wealth that had been here from an earlier chapter in Canada's history.

I found the campground, booked a site, and immediately made dinner and ate.  I was starving and exhausted.  A chipmunk was being VERY brave and coming too close to me, and so I put all of my food away and made sure it was locked up.  I then showered.  When I came back, I discovered that I'd left a bag of mixed nuts in my handlebar bags...and that's how a chipmunk in Portage la Prairie stole my nuts.

I went to bed as fast as I could.  It was almost 10:30 when I got to sleep.  I was so very tired.  I'd pushed too far again probably...but the wind was in my favour and I couldn't help but make hay while the sun shined.  I was setup for a quick entry into Winnipeg the next day and was excited to see it!  And I won't be doing distances like this anymore.  Northern Ontario is going to dictate shorter distances because the towns are so far between.

It had been another long but rewarding day.  Despite feeling like death warmed over, I was still feeling happy!