May
26/06, Friday. Day 22 1949 Km's
Moon
Lake Campground, Riding
Mountain N.P. Manitoba 85 Km's ~ 5:35 Hrs
Rain
held off over night but started about the same time we did. I didn't
feel right all morning. Fought the leftover
headwind from last night and the rain all morning. We stopped an hour
up the road and got coffee, I should have had more. It rained hard
from there to Dauphin and we rode the 2 hours without stopping. As
Doug said, "If we stop we'll freeze." At Dauphin the rain
had stopped and while we were looking for a laundromat I fell off my
bike. I was just too weak and beat to
put my foot down. I didn't crash, I just fell over on the street.
We found
a laundromat with a locked door, we found the person who could give
us the key, we rolled our bikes into the laundromat, stripped off our
wet clothes, tossed them in a dryer, locked the laundromat and took
the key to lunch. It's amazing how dry clothes, a belly full of
buffet and a couple of hours rest can revive the spirits.
On the
way to Riding Mountain we got waved down by some folks from
Newfoundland who were looking for directions. They
were going to a dart tournament in Ste. Rose du Lac.
We pointed out what we knew on a map. One of the ladies said, "I
don't suppose you smoke," by way of offering a cigarette. I
said, "No, but if you got a beer...." The Newfs produced 4
cans for us. What a nice touch.
At camp
we built a fire as the rain stopped & dried our re-dampened
clothes. I went to bed with dry clothes and dry testicles for the
first time in a long time. Hot chocolate and Gran Marnier are great
for bed.
A
cow-moose & 2 calves visit our camp.
When we
got to the gate of Riding Mountain National Park we had a bit of a
chat with the two guys in the toll booth. They warned us of the
upcoming hills and had a bit of a laugh about the climbing we'd have
to do. "No hills after the Rockies," we both said for the
last time. One of the guys asked what our plans were once we reached
Doug's place. Would I turn around and ride back to Edmonton. "No."
I challenged him to ride half the distance that we had planned. I didn't notice at the time that he had only one leg. Oops
After 2
weeks on the prairie the hill up to Moon Lake seemed endless. We
climbed for an hour or so, in some places quite steeply, before we
took a break. As we stood on the side of the road, having a drink and
a snack, one of the guys from the toll booth came passed. He laughed
at us for giving up so quickly. It was a good-natured ribbing and we
all smiled. We were only another 10 minutes or so to the plateau.
The days
were getting longer and although I thought we were stopping rather
late we spent a good long evening around the campfire. For all of the
camping we'd done we weren't in the habit of building fires. Mostly
we'd cook supper over the propane stove, wash the dishes and go to
sleep. Tonight was different. Being warm and dry after being cold and
wet most of the day is like coming into the house after working in
the snow all day. The warmth relaxes your body and energizes your
mind. We sat and talked, had a few drinks, roasted every piece of
clothing we had until they were completely dry, had a visit with a
couple from The Netherlands who had rented a camper-van for 2 months
to drive across Canada and had our moose visit.
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