Day 17, June 15th, Melville to Binscarth Manitoba (140km)

Mosquitoes, they're everywhere in this part of Canada.  This year is especially bad.  Massive amounts of rainfall have left standing water all over the landscape.  In scientific form, the formula for mosquito is:

 mosquito = standing water + mosquito egg.

Flooded Fields All Along Highway 15

The locals say, this is the wettest year they can remember.  Last night, I got a taste of a prairie downpour.  The rain was heavy.  For a moment, I thought some clown was taking a hose to my tent.  I woke up this morning with the shell of my tent utterly soaked.  What's amazing is everything inside remained dry.  Packing up and heading out, one of the local cops pulled up to ask if I had managed to stay dry during the night.  Yesterday, I'd had a chat with the guys at Robyns Donuts.  In these small towns, word spreads like wildfire.  Everywhere I went last evening, people would ask "Are you the guy with the bike going to Toronto?"  At 5:30am, I was quietly sneaking out of town.

Rough Section of Highway 15

Today I took Highway 15.  While at some point, I had vague plans to head further north, the locals were quick to point out the further north you go the worst the mosquitoes get.  There was also supposed to be substantial flooding near Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg making it impossible to cross at the narrows.  Highway 15 runs directly east before merging with the Yellowhead Highway which takes you close to Winnipeg.  I was a bit concerned about Highway 15.  The map says there's no shoulder.  My concerns were quickly assuaged.  While parts of the highway were in horrible shape, only 3 cars passed me in over 50kms of road.  Each car slowed down and the intensely curious drivers honked and waved.  I guess it was an odd sight coming across a cyclist in the middle of nowhere.

Crossing Into Manitoba

Merging with the Yellowhead Highway, I quickly zoomed through Churchbridge into Langenburg.  Langenburg was originally settled by German immigrants.   Offered free plots of land, the promise of wealth drew homesteaders to this area.  Today, the town is thriving.  With record prices for agricultural products and a nearby Potash mine, signs of growth seemed evident.  Langenburg is the last major town along the Yellowhead before the border of Manitoba.

Early in the afternoon, I crossed into Manitoba.  Crossing the border, I entered a new time zone.  I quickly adjusted my clock forward an hour and headed towards Russel.  The Yellowhead descends from the border of Manitoba into the Assinoboinne River Valley.  At 1070km, the Assinoboine is Canada's 16th longest river.  Today water levels seemed particularly high.  Stopping on the bridge that crosses the river, I was greeted by hundreds of birds flying around in a frenzy directly in front of me.  I stopped to take a video.  Climbing out of the valley, I pushed my way into Russel.

Russel is famous for beef and barley.  Like Langenburg, it seemed to be prospering off of high commodity prices.  While its primary industry is agriculture, a nearby potash mine employs some of the people in the town.  Losing an hour because of the new time zone, I bypassed the town center and picked up a Manitoba Road Map at the Tourist Center.  When I pulled up on a bike, the guy and girl seemed genuinely surprised.  I asked if any other cyclists had recently come through.  They said it had been a while since they'd seen someone using this route to cross the country.

From Russel, I made my way to the campground outside of Binscarth.  The mosquitoes out here are really bad.  When I set up my tent, I had a vision of a million mosquitoes lifting it up and taking it away.  Binscarth is barely a town. There's a gas station, one store & one restaurant.  The gas station, store and restaurant are all housed in the same building.  In a lot of these small towns, star athletes are revered.  It gives the town recognition and more importantly, something to talk about.  Binscarth is not just Binscarth.  It is Binscarth, hometown of Cody Mcleod from the Colorado Avalanche.  For a lot of young people accustomed to the life of a small town, professional sports seems to be there only way out.  Tonight is game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.  I'm stuck in a town with one store, a restaurant and a gas station but I'm sure if I knock on doors, it should be no problem to catch the game!

Assinoboine River Valley

Distance: 140km
Average Speed: 20.8km/h
Maximum Speed: 51.1km/h
Time: 6:43
Odometer: 2175km