Day 19, June 17th, Minnedosa to Portage La Prairie (165km)

Minnedosa Beach Camp

The wind had howled all night. By early morning, it finally died off and the rain that had been forecast failed to materialize. Getting up in front of a perfectly still lake, I started to break camp. Today was going to be a long day. My plan was to head east to Neepawa for breakfast before making a break to the south on Highway 5 and merging onto the Trans Canada Highway.

Geese Flying Across the Field

The 30km ride to Neepawa was beautiful in the calm of morning. A line of geese coming from the woodlands flew directly over me and into a farmers field. The air was still and the traffic was light. I made the 30km trip to Neepawa in just over an hour and stopped in a McDonalds for breakfast. A crowd of seniors spotted me pulling up to Mcdonalds on my bike. Before long, they were chatting it up. More seniors came and by the time I left the whole restaurant seemed to know about my trip. In a lot of these small towns, life is pretty slow. I guess having a guy on a bike passing through is an interesting event for a group of seniors who stop at the restaurant every morning. I got lots of good advice. The seniors told me the Yellowhead had a gravel shoulder, lots of curves and a parade of semi's up ahead. They advised me to go south on Highway 5.

Colourful Fields Along Highway 5

By the time I got out of Mcdonalds, the winds had picked up. For my trip down Highway 5, I would be facing a headwind. Highway 5 is a beautiful highway that takes you straight through some of the most productive farmland in Manitoba. The fields here were immaculate. There was little evidence of the flooding seen throughout the rest of the province. The headwind was my biggest problem. For 46km it blew straight in my face. It was like having your face up against the front of a fan.  The winds were so loud I couldn't here the traffic behind me.  At times, my speed dropped to 12km/h on flat prairie roads. I battled my way south and eventually made it to the junction with Highway 1.

Unpinning a Broken Link

Highway 1 in Manitoba is challenging. Working my way to Portage La Prairie, I entered a stretch of highway with gravel shoulders. Even though it was 4 lanes wide, the trucks ran me off the road. If highway 1 is a better option than the Yellowhead, the Yellowhead must be nearly unrideable.  Highway 1 is really tight in places and you have to know what's going on behind you all the times. Taking a break, I resumed my journey only to have my chain snap again. For some reason, my chain seems to have weakened. I think after nearly 2500km of pulling heavy loads, there must be micro fractures in the metal. The chain isn't becoming unpinned. Metal links are simply breaking in half. Fixing the chain was a challenge. The repair tool that has a special bolt to unpin the links became warped. I cursed my luck and tried to straighten the bolt on the tool as best as I could. Eventually, I got the chain repaired, but noticed 3 other fractures forming along its length. I really need a new chain but I was 80km from nowhere. I would have to nurse the bike into Portage La Prarie.

Back on the Trans Canada

After 20km of no shoulder, the pavement on the side of the road reappeared. A brief respite in the crosswinds let me make decent time. I was weary to put too much pressure on the chain. If it were to snap again, I wasn't sure if my damaged repair tool would be able to fix it. The respite in the winds was too brief. For the final 60km, I faced energy sapping headwinds. At least this is parkland. Parkland is mixed grass and trees. The appearance of more and more trees helps mitigate some of the wind. The headwinds slowed me down and I got into Portage La Prairie after 6pm. Even though this is a major city, there's only one bike store and it closes at 6pm. Tomorrow, I'm going to have to pick up a new repair tool and hopefully a chain. If they don't have stock, it's going to be an interesting 80km ride into Winnipeg.

Tonight I couldn't find a proper campground.  I saw a sign promoting some event at the fairgrounds and pitched my tent in the middle of a park.  The parks guy came around and gave me the entrance code for the facilities and showers.  It always amazes me how things just seem to work out.

City Hall Portage La Prairie

Distance: 165km

Average Speed: 18.2km/h

Maximum Speed: 33.9km/h

Time: 9:01

Odometer: 2465km