Steve’s Blog – July 26 –  wind at our back- Shaol Lake to Westbourne, Man

This is the kind of day that keeps you cycling for years. 

We have a stiff tailwind and a straight route to take maximum advantage. Good thing, as we are committed to a 160 km route. This was sheer fun as we played in the wind. The road conditions are good (mostly), and the drivers are patient and even encouraging. While I was cooking along, one guy slowed his car to roughly match my speed and gave me a thumbs up. I thought that there might be trouble as a car behind had to brake hard, but by the time the second car passed, he too gave me a friendly wave. Gotta love Manitoba.

The last hour was a little harrowing, as a dark sky overtook the road ahead, and it flickered with lightning. The wind direction changed erratically, and it started to look a little tornado-y. So naturally I aimed for refuge at a trailer park.   Add to that, Google took me 8 km the wrong way up a soft gravel road from which I had to be rescued, lest the other worn tire pop.

We wind up in a delightful camp called Sportsman’s Corner, with a site overlooking the river. The owner/manager Barb is a treasure.

We have a chance to meet Susan, a Parkinsons care giver to her husband, who was diagnosed 10 years ago. They live in a smallish town on the outskirts of Winnipeg, and don’t have contact with many others with PD, so we enact a spontaneous support group and talk over lots of topics. Again: right place at the right time.

The landscape of Manitoba is almost immediately distinct from Saskatchewan – at least what we can see from the road – more ponds and small lakes, more trees and shrubs, more scrub land, irregular lot shapes. Already the prairies are changing.