Day 29 - Minnedosa to Portage la Prairie

137.7 km - Total so far 2,681.03 kms - http://ridewithgps.com/trips/5214772

We left Minnedosa at 7 am with a destination of Portage la Prairie, 130 km away. Weather conditions were superbed at 12 degrees and with the wind from the WEST. Finally we were going to experience those nice tail winds after 29 days on the road. We had a nice gentle climb from Minnedosa and we hit Hwy 16 all warmed up. We quickly got up to between 26 and 32 kph effortlessly cycling down the road.

Within 1hr 30mins, we were in Neepawa having coffee at McDonald's. We took a quick ride through looking for Margaret Laurence's house but could not find it. Neepawa is a really nice little town and well worth a stop.

Since this is Father's Day, we decided to make today a man's day. I am sure some of our lady readers will appreciate the pictures. It was after all Hélène's idea to check out the heavy machinery and she really enjoyed climbing over the equipment and taking the pictures. 

We had a really nice ride today and enjoyed almost 120 km with the wind to our back. We did have about 8 km with a cross wind but that was just before we left Hwy 16 and turn EAST onto Hwy 1. Hwy 1 was freshly paved which is nice  but we were bothered by the constant rumble of cars and trucks passing by us a full lane over. 

A Prairie sized sprayer

Hélène is 5 ft 2. 

Not sure what you do with that but imagine having to rotate the tires

How do I take this thing apart?

Blue is not my colour

Another nice toy

Hélène prefers the big red one

The full meal deal and with tracks....yeahhhhhhh

For the cyclists who may someday want to do this ride, the province is working on Hwy 16 and by the end of summer it should have 15 feet of shoulder on both sides of the road. Today we had about 24 inches of shoulder with a rumble stip which still leaves you plenty to ride on. The traffic gave us lots of room as they passed by.

The Happy Rock in Gladstone, MB

It was not all about machinery today

We got to Portage la Prairie at about 4 pm. Once the tent was set up at the campground we went for a nice ride through town without our luggage just to relax.

Yesterday I forgot to mention an imprtant item from our discussion with Ken in Rapid City. I had mentioned to him about the small town spirit displayed in Birtle when it was time to move the pharmacy. He related a similar story about Rapid City. Rapid City needed a place to buy gas and grocery staples. The citizens got together and raised the needed money for the project and volunteers put up the building. We cycled by the place and it looked pretty busy.

The blog office in Portage la Prairie

Tomorrow we ride to Winnipeg along scenic Hwy 26. It is a bit longer ride than if we rode along Hwy 1 but we will be in a quiet river valley. I am sure we will shave scenery pictures for you tomorrow.

85.56 miles - Total so far 1,665.91 miles