Ken struggles against the southeast wind. "This is what we signed up for" has become a common utterance from both Cam and Ken over the last three weeks. It was uttered a few times again today - one of the toughest days that we've had yet. Through this phrase, we mean that climbs, rain and headwinds are a part of this cross-county adventure and so we can't let them get us down, rather we just need to accept them and ride through them. Cam found it a little hard to agree with Ken that we should "embrace" them, but they both agreed that "this is what we signed up for"!
Our ride today consisted of a 20 km ride east, then a 70 km ride south, followed by a 45 km ride east to Morris, Manitoba. A strong southeast wind was a challenge as they headed east, and an even bigger challenge when they left the TransCanada Highway and started south on Manitoba Highway 13. As they rode, Ken asked whether Cam preferred rain or wind? It was an easy answer and Cam quickly replied "Rain". Ken said "correct answer". One of the things they have learned is that a strong wind hurts you more often than it helps you. It hurts when it is coming directly at you, or when it comes from either side as a cross-wind. In fact, only about one-third of winds are beneficial - when they are from behind. Winds from any other direction are not helpful.
Our ride today consisted of a 20 km ride east, then a 70 km ride south, followed by a 45 km ride east to Morris, Manitoba. A strong southeast wind was a challenge as they headed east, and an even bigger challenge when they left the TransCanada Highway and started south on Manitoba Highway 13. As they rode, Ken asked whether Cam preferred rain or wind? It was an easy answer and Cam quickly replied "Rain". Ken said "correct answer". One of the things they have learned is that a strong wind hurts you more often than it helps you. It hurts when it is coming directly at you, or when it comes from either side as a cross-wind. In fact, only about one-third of winds are beneficial - when they are from behind. Winds from any other direction are not helpful.
Ken prepares for the rapidly approaching wall of rain... After struggling against the wind and averaging about 15 km/hour for about 2.5 hours they had only covered about 40 kms. At this point, they saw the trees down the road disappear in a low white cloud. Ken said "something is coming this way...". They didn't have rain gear on, nor had they put the rain covers over the pannier bags, so they quickly scrambled to prepare for the onslaught. The wall of rain and wind hit them in no time at all. As they struggled to get the rain gear in place, water was streaming off of them and by the time they had finished, they were completely soaked! Ken literally had to pour the water out of his shoe before he could put it back on. The one upside to riding in this rain was that the wind had lessened slightly. By the time they arrived in Carman after 69 kilometers of riding, the rain had stopped and a few blue patches could be seen in the southern sky.
Ken looks excited to dig in to lunch! There weren't a lot of options for lunch in Carman, but the Chicken Chef restaurant proved to be an excellent choice. In fact this location was the original location for this chain of 35 restaurants in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, founded in 1978.
After lunch it was back to fighting headwinds, which had picked up again. The rain started up again as well, and the shoulder of the road was not paved, leaving only a narrow strip of pavement to ride on to the right of the white line. Then, as they approached the end of the south leg of the ride, something remarkable happened - the rain stopped and the wind shifted to the west! While west cross-wind proved very challenging, before they knew it they had made the 90 degree turn and were heading for Morris on Manitoba Highway 23, sailing along at 30 - 35 kms per hour! They arrived just before 6:00PM, tired but thrilled with the dramatic turn of events.
After lunch it was back to fighting headwinds, which had picked up again. The rain started up again as well, and the shoulder of the road was not paved, leaving only a narrow strip of pavement to ride on to the right of the white line. Then, as they approached the end of the south leg of the ride, something remarkable happened - the rain stopped and the wind shifted to the west! While west cross-wind proved very challenging, before they knew it they had made the 90 degree turn and were heading for Morris on Manitoba Highway 23, sailing along at 30 - 35 kms per hour! They arrived just before 6:00PM, tired but thrilled with the dramatic turn of events.
After checking in at the Morris Stampede Inn (formerly a Super 8) and a delicious caesar salad and pizza meal at Santa Lucia Pizza, the boys began to mentally prepare for tomorrow's challenge - a 167 km ride to Grand Forks N.D.
Ride Details:
- Distance: 137.7 kms
- Riding time: 6 hours, 45 minutes
- Avg speed: 20.4 kms (First 85 kms - 15 kms/hour; Last 45 kms - 33 kms/hour)
- Wind: First 75 kms - South-East (Strong); Last 55 kms - West (Strong)
- Cumulative: 2,505.8 kms
Tomorrow's Destination: Grand Forks, ND, USA - 167 kms.
For more ride details see Strava and for more ride pictures see our Photo Gallery.
- Distance: 137.7 kms
- Riding time: 6 hours, 45 minutes
- Avg speed: 20.4 kms (First 85 kms - 15 kms/hour; Last 45 kms - 33 kms/hour)
- Wind: First 75 kms - South-East (Strong); Last 55 kms - West (Strong)
- Cumulative: 2,505.8 kms
Tomorrow's Destination: Grand Forks, ND, USA - 167 kms.
For more ride details see Strava and for more ride pictures see our Photo Gallery.