Canada by Bike

Today was my last day riding in heavy smoke as the wind suddenly started blowing from the east and most of my ride was against it. Not fun, however I was stoked I made it to Manitoba and that's almost Ontario.

I noticed there were a lot more trees, canola crops and small chipmonks hanging out by the road. By the end of the day I made it to Brandon, a distance of 195km for the day.

I don't know what it was, whether the wind, whether the poor paving, but I didn't have a good day of riding. I felt sore, tired and just wanted to walk for a change. I don't find this part of Manitoba exciting, lots of GMO crops, mostly canola and wheat and not much else. I found Saskatchewan a lot nicer. I was happy that we had a nice place to stay tonight because the Drewniak family invited us over to stay for a few nights. This was my only motivation to keep pedaling and pushing through. My son was becoming needier. He wanted some mommy time and my hope was to slow down over the next couple of days.

I woke up excited today. I had a full day off! The Drewniak's family is super nice and we love it here. The city of Winnipeg is surprisingly full of surprises, they have lots of gardens, kids playgrounds and even a Nordic spa. That's where I'm gonna be tomorrow. Today is just a fun day!

Today is exciting, I past the centre of Canada Marke and I'm officially half way there! What a vast country, it feels like it will never end. So much more to discover. As I was riding I saw signs for Whiteshell Provincial Park. I had to stop and visit this place. Even though it was bit north of the highway, I took advantage of having a car and drove to check it out. This place is quite magical. The name of the park is derived from the cowrie shells that were used in ceremonies by the Anishinaabe. It looked to me that this place is still used for ceremonies. There are many petroforms with rock painting. I identified fish, turtle, and various circles. It was peaceful to be there and walk the grounds.

So today is my last day here. I'm not going to cry. Manitoba is a special province, it's a lot more spiritual than I originally thought, but I'm happy to keep moving forward.