Manitoba

June 23rd, 2010

Just by fluke we had to camp in Minnedosa for the night...oh darn as this was the view of our camp site. We enjoyed the site by the water, without mosquitoes, and a beautiful sunset.


June 26th, 2010

We made it to the PEG! after side winding through the province of Manitoba (keeping off Hwy #1) we rolled into town on Friday. The shoulders of Hwy #1 were paved as we came into town (unlike the rest of the province) so we took the hwy through the centre of town and out the other side. We start back up on Sunday and take Hwy 15 out the east side. Staying at Birds Hill Park just north of the city and took a trip to MEC today for some supplies before hitting Northern Ontario. We will all morn the US loss today (for you know who)...but I think a trip to the bulk barn will certainly turn these frowns upside down.

Rain...Rain...Sunshine!

Well...we've made it to Manitoba, with style! Today we started with clear skies and then was chased by dark clouds for a while, we hid in the family van for 1.5 hours as the rain came down. Once semi cleared (mainly tired of sitting in the van) we started up again with our goal of the Manitoba border in hand. We had storm clouds to the west of us, but lucky enough for us the wind was in our favour! At a steady speed of 37km/h we whipped down the #1 highway and made up for lost time. Across the Manitoba border and into Elkhorn in no time. Our support crew were even caught napping...we got to them so fast! (a rare occasion...their heroics on this trip has been outstanding).
After our detour in SK we had to make up for lost time, so we decided to try Swift Current to Moose Jaw in 1 day....and succeeded! (never again we said...never again) the 176km ride for the day gave us a good indication of what Ironman athletes go through (after a 3km swim and before a 42km run). Apparently we have some more training to do...
Looking forward to our well deserved day off in Winnipeg, only 3 days to go!!

Heavy Rainfall Warnings...

Ahhh the prairies...We have had fairly descent weather for the most part. We slept through a thunderstorm in Bow Island, but since then the storms have been rolling around the prairies and above our heads as we ride. Staying a night in Tompkins SK with family was surly a blessing, as the storm ripped through and dumped close to 3 3/4" of rain in less than an hour...imagine we were tenting!! (a big thank you to Gladice and Wally for their hospitality and great home cooking). After trying the next day to brave the storms, not 1 but 2 blown tubes (on the same tire) told us that the day was winning. Needing supplies and deciding to wait out the storms for the afternoon we traveled back into Medicine Hat. The days have been altered and our usual Sat day off is no longer. We are hoping for better weather to cycle through in the next few days to get back on track.



















One of our favorite pictures...coming over the Crowsnest pass in the Rockies.

Alberta...

We made it to Medicine Hat today...not the distance we were hoping but the rain got the best of us this afternoon. (and then the sun came out...Doh!) We are hoping to get to Tompkins tomorrow (145km) to visit some old friends but with rain in the forecast for the whole day we will see how far we get. Trying to stay dry.

Pic was back on Fri June 11th, coming over the Crowsnest pass (Goodbye to BC - :(

Day 6 Osoyoos to Greenwood

It was windy last night! We all thought our tents would blow away with us inside!!

We woke to a beautiful, calm, sunny day. Enjoyed our breakfast by the water and headed out at 9:50am to conquer the mountains. The SSC went into town to do some banking and get some groceries and conveniently met us at the viewpoint about halfway up the hill. It actually wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. Slow and steady but not the same burning in the legs that other climbs have induced. After about 20kms of climbing we wondered if there was a summit but it came and we celebrated ~ Anarchist Summit at 1240 meters. The beautiful sunny day and gorgeous scenary below made the ride that much more enjoyable. The roads were well maintained with a nice shoulder which was clear of rocks and debris. Being a Saturday there weren't that many vehicles on the road, mostly just RVs and tourists. We had a nice ride today and saw a lot of deer along the road. It is quite fun to pass through all the small cities and towns (albeit sometimes very briefly as some of them are small), we get to see all the hidden treasures of Canada. The SSC went ahead and found a campsite at Boundary Creek Provincial Park. It was just before Greenwood and right off the highway. After biking 80kms we arrived at 3pm and everyone was able to relax for a bit. The SSC went for a quick run before dinner and then we all enjoyed a huge amount of pasta. Obviously followed with hot chocolate and Baileys for desert!

We are over 1/2 way through BC!

Day 5 OFF

We slept in a bit today which was nice but unfortunately woke to rain. We decided to postpone the big breakfast we had planned until it cleared up. We treated ourselves to Tim Hortons coffee which isn't something we will do often (must maintain the budget)! TBD went into town to the library to get a few things done on the internet. SSC hid out in their tent and caught up on some reading. We had our breakfast for lunch and then everyone relaxed and did their own thing (nap, puzzles, read, organzied, computer). Our bug/rain shelter has proven very useful so we are able to have a common area. The sun did come out but the wind also picked up. We had a great dinner of fajitas and went to bed early. We have the massive Osoyoos hill to climb tomorrow...

Day 4 Princeton to Osoyoos

TBD woke up today feeling a lot better then we thought we would. Don't get us wrong, we were sore and stiff, but we could actually walk! The sun was out (which is always nice) and we had our usual breakfast of Oatmeal, coffee/tea and packed up. Since the campsite was right off the highway we were able to jump on our bikes and got on the road at 9:50am. It was partly sunny, the roads were still great on this stretch of highway and we were headed downhill. We rode downhill for 80kms today. Not too much traffic and we picked up some good speed. Met the SSC in Hedley around 11:30am for a quick snack. Today's ride was quite nice (much easier) then yesterday and we saw the SSC in another 30kms just past Keremeos. Enjoyed lunch on a sunny patch of grass overlooking the town. The SCC went onto Osoyoos and TBD still had 50kms to ride. The wind picked up a bit so the flats and downhills weren't quite as fast as they could have been. From the elevation charts we were expecting a few hill climbs around 80kms and there they were. Quite a few short but intense climbs - we stopped at the top of each one to catch our breath. They saved the best climb for last but what goes up must come down so we were able to cruise into Osoyoos with "ease" at about 4:30pm. We passed the SSC out for a run through town and met them back at the campsite they had found. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were camping RIGHT on the lake at Nk'Mip Campground. They had picked an amazing site and the view of the lake and mountains surrounding us was stunning. Since tomorrow is our day off we will are lucky to spend 2 nights here. After the 120km day we were happy to have nice clean showers and watched the sunset over the mountains as we ate an amazing dinner. Looking forward to resting our muscles tomorrow!

Day 3 Hope to Princeton

OK - we are back online and ready to post a few updates!

Today we rode 136 kms and why we decided to do this massive day on this stretch we're still not sure. This day may prove to be our toughest of the trip! It rained during the night and was still trickling down when we got up. We packed up and by the time we left at 9am things had cleared up (for the time being). We started out and were promptly greeted by a climb - great warmup. We got another flat tire during this climb so we fixed that up and continued on. Even as we headed downhill we didn't pickup much speed with the strong headwind against us. It was now overcast and colder. We met the SSC and had a quick snack and would meet again in 20kms for lunch. They picked a great place for lunch but as they were waiting for us a black bear decided to join them so they quickly decided to relocate. TBD slowly made our way up the hills and finally met them for lunch. After lunch we pushed on and made it to Allison Pass 1342m! We were rewarded by a great downhill there. Met SSC again at Manning Park Resort (69kms) and dedided we would push on. There were a few campsites in the area but it would have been a really cold night at that elevation. SSC went ahead to Princeton to find a campsite and we enjoyed the great stretch of downhill that followed. We were expecting one more climb and weren't disappointed - it was another summit!! Sunday Summit 1243m and our legs were burning. The stretch of road between Hope and Princeton was quite nice. There was a nice shoulder and the vehicles were considerate. There never seem to be as many vehicles at the actual summit? The sun came out as we rode into Princeton at 5:30pm and we met the SSC to take us to our campsite. We camped at Rivers Edge RV Park and it was great. The first priority was to crack a beer and enjoy our victory!! We had a great patch of grass right on the river with showers and drinking water - we were "happy campers". Played a quick game of Rummikub and headed to bed.

Day 2 Mission to Hope

Woke up today and everything was soaking wet!!! Fortunately (somehow) we stayed warm and dry in our tents. It was overcast but not raining. We had breakfast, packed the van with the wet gear and set out around 10:30am. On the way out of the campsite we met up with an RV that housed 3 cyclists biking from Vancouver to New York (5,500km) to raise money/awareness for Diabetes and Cystic Fibrosis.

The roads were pretty good today and the wonderful smell of woodchips was in the air. We set out following a familiar road - the same route we have run in the Haney to Harrison running relay for the past 2 years. We were making great time and all met up at 40kms just before "Shelley's big hill"! We also saw our other cycling friends again while we were stopped for lunch.

Said goodbye to the Super Support Crew (SSC) and would meet them again at the campsite - it is their daily task to scout out the campgrounds and find us a good one to call home for the night! We proceeded on and had a good ride. 96kms later we pulled up to Wild Rose Campground in Hope BC and found SSC basking in the sun with all our gear hanging out to dry. It was wonderful!

SSC headed out for a run and The Biking Duo (TBD) stretched out after a good days ride. The campground was great - nice hot showers and we set up our tents on the lawn beside a gorgeous view of the mountains. We were able to have dinner together under the "hootananny" (our bug/rain shelter) before calling it a night.

Quick update

It's difficult to Blog when your on the road all day and camping at night...
We are currently in Greenwood BC, week 1 is complete with a day off in Osoyoos and now we tackle the kootneys! Weather is being nice, sunny and high of 28 today (makes up for the rain & cold at the beginning of the trip). We are all still in good spirits and talking to one another!!!
I've posted the rest of the route getting us out of BC and will update the next provinces in the days to come. bye for now

Day #1 - Vancouver to Mission

A typical rainy day in Vancouver to see us off, we started at Kits beach (a frequent place for us) and took the sea wall past downtown to science world. A nice leasurly ride as we leave Vancouver for the last time... We took hwy #7 and didn't have too many problems with traffic (nice wide shoulders). A flat tire 2 hours in made for some entertainment, thanks to Dan for his bicycle bag of tricks! We continued through the pouring rain, only to stop once to wait out the downpour. As we rode on we could see the "welcome to Mission" sign in the distance...a second flat tire right at the sign was our first day to a tee. Camping in the pouring rain the first night was not what we all had in mind...but we prevailed!