Wednesday 7 August 2013

Week 4 Virden to Savanne River (893 km)

So now that I've consumed my second donut of the day I feel like I contain sufficient calories to update this thing. Wifi this time is courtesy of Tim Hortons, purveyor of good coffee, cheap food and open 24hrs. AKA a sight for sore eyes (and bottoms) especially for the cold and soggy cyclist. I'll talk more about my love for St Timothy of Horton another time I'm sure, but right now I guess I'd better get on with this before my battery goes. 

So, I started and ended this week with 2 different companions. The first was Joe, who I picked up in Virden and left just outside Winnipeg. I'd like to say it's because he couldn't keep up with my blistering pace, but actually he was taking some days off to hang out with a friend. This was the first time I'd riden with anyone else, and it was kinda weird at first, but we had similar riding styles so it worked pretty well. It was especially nice to have some company during some   hideous weather on the Manitoba border - having someone else struggling up hills through sideways rain makes it better somehow. More motivating I guess. Especially for Joe as I told him I'd buy us all the beer and pizza we could eat when we got to that nights destination, knowing full well it was a one horse town with a (probably closed) gas station at best, if we were lucky. Haha. Sorry Joe, but it got you up that hill eh. Teehee. After parting with Joe I met the lovely Rebecca in a laundromat. I was shivering in my pjs waiting for my clothes to dry, and she took pity on my sorry state and invited me over to her RV for dinner with her husband Mark and Bozo the cockatiel.... we had cocktails and fresh vegetables and it was amazing!!

The wind eased off a little as I got into Ontario, and the people got even nicer, if that's possible. I met the awesome Struthers-Ward family in a rest area, who insisted I joined them for lunch and gave me a super kind donation too. Awesome!! The following day I met my second cycling buddy of the week. Sydney was lurking behind a bin at the side of the road, doing a pretty good bear impression. Fortunately I spotted her bike and realised she probably wasn't going to try to eat me. We rode together for a couple of pleasant days, sharing a similar philosophy of braking for coffee/pie/donuts/beer as frequently as possible. Winner. We parted after Savanne River but I'm sure I'll see her down the road somewhere.

Anyways, I'd better get back on the road before I eat donut #3. Good job these shorts are lycra. 


ps. the best thing about having a buddy is that I actually get to be in some of my photos....


Virden to Sidney - 142 km
Sidney to St Francois Xavier - 117 km
SFX to Richer - 102 km
Richer to West Hawk Lake - 103 km
WHL to Crystal Lake - 145 km
Crystal Lake to Ignace - 157 km
Ignace to Savanne River - 127 km

1 comment:

  1. Loving the stories. Keeping eating donuts is my only advise!

    ReplyDelete