Day 27 Minnedose to Portage La Prairie, Manitoba

84.1 miles, 402 ft ascent, the least ascent of the entire tour

 

Knowing that the heat (predicted to be in the 90sF) would be a big factor later in the day, I rode out early after  catching this photo of Minnedosa Lake and the beach at first light.  I'm following Rick O.'s policy of hitting the road early to be one of the first into the next camp. 

 

There was fog over the Minnedosa River as I rode out.

Since I forgot my PB&J sandwich and left it in the fridge, I stopped into Mumzz Kitchen for a second full breakfast to get me through the remaining 40+ miles of today's itinerary.

 

 

A second breakfast may seem excessive, considering that I had eaten a full breakfast in camp 2 1/2 hours before.  A cycling axiom says that on a strenuous bicycle tour, riders can violate normal consumption rules, and eat all they want to prevent too much weight loss.  I had bacon and eggs at Mumzz.

 

Texas Longhorns up here in Canada!  Note the bashful calves behind the Mama on the right.  Our cycling agronomist believes that perhaps someone is experimenting with cross breeding Texas Longhorns with Black Angus.

 

 

 

 

I came across this Chevy dealer, noting the unique condition of the parking lot.  Don't know if business is really good, and they are sold out, or really bad, because they can't get inventory due to supply chain issues.

Here you see an interesting sight.  These are seed producer bins for the business of seed sales and grain bins with distribution mechanism used to send different seed to different bins, i.e. seed sorting.

Riding Yellow Head Highway today.  It is a major inter-provincial highway in western Canada that runs from Winnipeg to Graham Island off the coast of British Columbia via Saskatoon and Edmonton.  It stretches across the four western provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.  The highway is named for Yellowhead Pass, the route chosen to cross the Canadian Rockies.  The pass and the highway are named after fur trader and explorer, Pierre Bostonais.  He had yellow streaks in his hair, and was nicknamed "Tete Jaune", Yellowhead.  

 

It was predicted that today's ride would be mostly with a tailwind.  It did START with a tailwind for the first 20 miles, then switched to a crosswind for the next 20 miles, and changed to a predominately headwind for the remaining 40 miles.  My speed during much of the early tailwind phase was 20-23 mph, but it dropped to half that (10-11 1/2) mph during the worst headwind.  The headwind riding was excruciating, with a heat advisory in effect and temperatures predicted to be in the 90sF.  Out of water near the end of the ride, I came upon a line of vehicles waiting for a train to pass.  I was about to ask drivers of stopped cars for water, when the train passed, and the vehicles began to drive away, and, I thought, took my chance for water with them.  Thankfully, however, when I crossed the train tracks to turn onto the Trans Canada Highway, I spied a COOP gas station ahead at an intersection.  Hallelujah!  Thank you, Lord!  I chugged a liter of chocolate milk and a liter of water on the spot!

Finally reached our campsite, tired and hot, in the 102F  that blew out the prediction of the 90sF! Is this really Canada????  Last time I experienced 102F was when we lived in Arizona, USA.  

Tofu on the menu tonight, NO MEAT!  30% of our meals are vegetarian.  We ate vegetarian last night also, cooked according to the tour recipe book.  It was dry, and not at all appetizing.  The two vegetarians on the tour are not forced to eat meat, so why should the rest of us be required to eat tofu stir fry? Four riders are opting out of the vegetarian stir fry. Forget the tofu!  I'm going out to the use the laundromat, eat meat, and drink copious amounts of liquid refreshment!

Don't forget to come back tomorrow  for the next chapter in our  saga!