Stoughton (SK) to Souris (MB)
213 km, sunny
Winds – calmer (15 km/h) from North and North-East
Friendly Manitoba. True to it's word. I probably had 20 on-coming cars wave at me as they went by. I had one transport truck do a little “toot-toot” and wave to cheer me on. I didn't get those in other provinces. I guess they figured I came this far, I might be doing alright.
After a few hard days, I was able to put in 10 hours on the saddle to get back to only 1 day behind. I knew the winds would be a bit against me for part of the day, but being less than the recent winds, I didn't mind.
It was cold today. I actually woke up cold, and the occasional shivering of the left leg (only, that's odd). Later during the day, I overheard some folks at a restaurant saying that they had to scrape frost off the windshield this morning.
After the laundromat, I headed to George's pizza for some food. Pizza sounded good actually, so it was fitting. Eight inch “all dressed” - tons of stuff on there. I also had to have a chicken frajolaki, as I didn't know what that was. It is a sandwich that also has lettuce, tomato, oninons, and feta cheese. It was good. Lots of food though.
Camping turned out alright. I didn't have to pay (I left fairly early), and the tent was dry by the morning. Bonus.
During the start of the ride, I was playing leap-frog with an RV who was following their cyclist. I never saw them as they were behind me. After two “leaps”, I never saw the RV again. As I said earlier, it was a cool day. I had the whole gear on today (toque, two pairs of socks, tights, knee and arm warmers, coat, and fleece gloves). After the 100 k mark, I took off the tights and coat, but the rest remained for the rest of the trip. The wind was cool, and blowing from a mix of head and cross wind, or simply a cross wind for the entire ride. I knew that was going to happen, hence the early departure to put in my time for today.
Tomorrow will be a similar day for km (a bit more), but I have no idea of the wind. But, being in Manitoba now, there are more trees to dampen the wind. If everything goes well, I am in Winnipeg on Tuesday night. It is a rest day, so 2 evenings and a day there.
Right before entering Manitoba, I had to have my last Saskatoon berry pie, followed by a meal at the local restaurant. Boy I ate lots today. The greek salad was huge (overflowing plate), club sandwich, and beef barley soup (all after the pie, which was at a different and only location in town to serve it).
Being off the beaten path, entering Manitoba has only a small sign. Too bad. Ontario, I will get to see the big signs.
A dear friend of mine wrote to me a few weeks ago and requested that I dont write, in regards to the prairies, “flat, went through them fast, nothing much to see”. She was concerned (for lack of a better word) that it would be boring for me and the blog entries would show. Well, I guess a few things happened in Saskatchewan for me to write about.
But, I am happy to be here in Manitoba. I enjoyed Saskatchewan, but not the wind. I will always remember (not in this order): Saskatoon berries, Moose Jaw Tunnels, the hills, running into Alex again, and definitely Corner Gas (Dog River).
I am now at a campground in town (Souris, pronounced Soo-riss, like the town Forget is pronounced For-Get, and not forjet). I actually wanted to ride a bit further today as there was still daylight for a good hour, but I had no idea if I was going to hit a campground. I just wanted to bite into tomorrow's km a bit, so the day wont be as long.
Well, pictures and more news to come in a day or two.
I hope you are all doing well.
Later,
p2
Introduction
Allo, hello, tere,
Some old lines/puns: Pierre qui roule, rock and roll, the rolling stone (gathers no dust).
Who: Pierre, Ottawa (ON)
What: Cross Canada travel.
When: After a few days rest in Tofino, British Columbia at the beginning of May, 2008, hit the road around the 4th. The 1st time-based goal is to arrive in Ottawa in mid June, race in a 24-hour mountain bike competition, and head back on the road a few days later. Finish the trip in St. John's, Newfoundland, at the end of July, 2008, before returning home to Ottawa to start being an adult again.
Where: Canada, West to East, via Toronto, Ontario. Detours: Val Gagné and Manitoulin Island (ON), Gaspé region (QC), and Cape Breton (NS).
Why: Visit this beautiful (and fairly big) nation of ours. See family and friends. Taste the cuisine of different parts of the country and enjoy the various beers and wine along the way. Experience anything the villages and cities along the way have to showcase. Lose 50 pounds and be buff.
How: By bicycle (her nickname: Dzie, pronounced D-Zie).
Extras: According to mapquest, a drive from tip to tip (via Toronto) would be 7710 km (85 hours of driving, 2 ferries). A flight would only be 5400 km (9 hours flight time, with switching planes 2 times).
* I do occasionally feel I am following the footsteps of a few great ones (whom I've also had the honour of riding with), who have done this trip in the past - Al, and especially Tanya. I do hope that I can bring in some new pics, new stories, and not rehash stuff that those amazing folks have done before me.
** I imagine I'll be a bit lonely at times throughout the trip, where I highly request and encourage comments from you guys. It'll be my way of having some conversations with you. I'll try to update the blog every few days.
Disclaimer: Most of you guys know me. In my posts, there will probably be a mixture of bizarre stories, silly jokes (like the weight-losing bit a few instances before), some references to music lyrics and movie lines. I will do my best to entertain, but sometimes, I might miss the mark on being funny or entertaining (hopefully not though).
Posting messages: Readers with a gmail/blogger account - you know what to do. Readers who do not: post a comment as anonymous (but put your name at the bottom of the comment please). The occasional personal messages can be sent to pierre.l.perron@gmail.com
Ciao,
p2
Some old lines/puns: Pierre qui roule, rock and roll, the rolling stone (gathers no dust).
Who: Pierre, Ottawa (ON)
What: Cross Canada travel.
When: After a few days rest in Tofino, British Columbia at the beginning of May, 2008, hit the road around the 4th. The 1st time-based goal is to arrive in Ottawa in mid June, race in a 24-hour mountain bike competition, and head back on the road a few days later. Finish the trip in St. John's, Newfoundland, at the end of July, 2008, before returning home to Ottawa to start being an adult again.
Where: Canada, West to East, via Toronto, Ontario. Detours: Val Gagné and Manitoulin Island (ON), Gaspé region (QC), and Cape Breton (NS).
Why: Visit this beautiful (and fairly big) nation of ours. See family and friends. Taste the cuisine of different parts of the country and enjoy the various beers and wine along the way. Experience anything the villages and cities along the way have to showcase. Lose 50 pounds and be buff.
How: By bicycle (her nickname: Dzie, pronounced D-Zie).
Extras: According to mapquest, a drive from tip to tip (via Toronto) would be 7710 km (85 hours of driving, 2 ferries). A flight would only be 5400 km (9 hours flight time, with switching planes 2 times).
* I do occasionally feel I am following the footsteps of a few great ones (whom I've also had the honour of riding with), who have done this trip in the past - Al, and especially Tanya. I do hope that I can bring in some new pics, new stories, and not rehash stuff that those amazing folks have done before me.
** I imagine I'll be a bit lonely at times throughout the trip, where I highly request and encourage comments from you guys. It'll be my way of having some conversations with you. I'll try to update the blog every few days.
Disclaimer: Most of you guys know me. In my posts, there will probably be a mixture of bizarre stories, silly jokes (like the weight-losing bit a few instances before), some references to music lyrics and movie lines. I will do my best to entertain, but sometimes, I might miss the mark on being funny or entertaining (hopefully not though).
Posting messages: Readers with a gmail/blogger account - you know what to do. Readers who do not: post a comment as anonymous (but put your name at the bottom of the comment please). The occasional personal messages can be sent to pierre.l.perron@gmail.com
Ciao,
p2
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5 comments:
Tere Pierre,
Sa vöid arvata kes sind täna kohe väga-väga igatseb!
Kalli-kalli-musi-musi
I have finally been able to catch up on your blog - what a journey you are having. I complain about 20k winds riding home from work - sheesh, I'll keep my yap shut from now on. Are you sure the "tooting" was coming from the truck (beef barley soup)? About something negative - you draw crappy stick men on your white board! Ride like the wind Pierre.
Nancy (your problem patient)
Hi Pierre
Good work, I sincerely hope the worst weather is behind you. I had heard the prairy winds were bad but you beat them. Good man.
d
i think you need a pic of you eating pizza on your bike PEDALLING though. Shouldn't be a far stretch from your other on bike talents - peeing and mooning!
:)
hey mister
putain ça suce que t'aies toute cette météo de merde. espérons que le mois de juin soit plus ensoleillé et que tu puisse revenir à jour dans ce que tu avais planifié.
je t'écris parceque je viens de penser à un truc. je sais pas si tu te rappelles, mais un jour tu m'as dit que j'écoutais ou que je m'interressais jamais à la musique que tu me proposais et tout à coup j'ai eu ce flash du st-esprit. tu m'as fait découvrir un artiste qui aujourd'hui est probablement mon artiste préféré. le genre de gars pour qui je paierais n'importe quoi pour voir en show juste une fois dans ma vie. je sais pas si tu vois de qui je parle. tu sais un mec avec une voix imcomparable, une voix qui te décolle les sécrétions pulmonaires tellement elle est puissante. t'as trouvé?
allez, ms.scarlett johanson vient de faire un disque avec ses chansons.
oui, Tom Waits
c toi qui m'a fait découvrir ce génie en deuxième année je crois et tu peux être sur que je ne le sortirai plus jamais de ma culture musicale.
alors tu vois pierre you're way too hard yourself. try to be a dick once in a while. nobody's gonna blame you for that. and if someone does it's because he's a pussy, 'cause dicks fuck pussies all the time.
allez bon courage
tank
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