June 17, 2017, Day 27, West of Brandon to east of Portage la Prairie 148 km

Plop

Plop, plop,      Plop.                 Plopplopplop….

Plop, plop, plop, plop, plop……

We left in the mist. The sky was grey and there were no signs that the weather would lighten up anytime soon. 

The individual raindrops patterned the surface of my raincoat, eventually got friendly and held hands,  moving ever closer until they soaked the surface of my clothing.  It wasn’t a heavy deluge but it continued off and on throughout most of the day. We’d put our raingear on just to rip them off 15 or so minutes later. And then we’d need them again.

We had been warned to expect some good hills just east of Brandon. They were long and slow,, many looking , from a distance, far worse than they actually were. It was a good ride. Manitoba has more brush and  trees  than does Saskatchewan. Or so it seems from the very limited perspective of a Trans Canada cyclist. 

Around 60 or 70 km in I started to realize that I was losing my focus. I was literally falling asleep on my bike. I have some ideas about how to deal with that and will write about that later.Finally though, when we got to MacGregor, outside of Portage, I insisted we go in for coffee. We ended up making our lunch there, outside the T off start for the golf course.        PING! Unused to the sound generated when the club whacked the ball, I cringed each time someone Teed off. It sounded like something was breaking. I ended up having 2 large coffee and whether it’s physical or psychological, or more likely a combination of the two, I felt better and was strong and alert for the rest of the day,

We had received confirmation that another “Warm Showers” host in High Bluffs, east of Portage la Prairie had accepted and was awaiting us.

We drove through Portage. It’s small but  big enough that you wouldn’t get cabin fever and close enough to both Brandon and Winnipeg that you wouldn’t feel lost out in the middle of nowhere. I like riding around these little towns, seeing what’s there, imagining what it must be like to live there. We stopped at a grocery store and bought a few things we would need as well as a couple of things to take to our host’s home,

Darlene and Marvin live a little off the beaten track. One has to access it by taking a bucking bronco dirt road just off the highway for about a kilometre or two. Once I realized that if I picked a rut and stuck with it, that the dirt was almost like cement in that it was fully compressed, the ride was almost comfortable. We turned into a long driveway . Their home is beautiful; lots of flowers and trees, vines climbing along the wrap-around porch.  Beautifully groomed yard! That must take time!  

Our host’s, Marvin and Diane,   both lean and fit, look like they might have teen aged kids. They met when Darlene was 15, married when she was 19 and started having the first of their 3 kids right away. Their kids are all grown and they in turn have had kids early, two families with 3 kids each and one that broke all the rules and had 4. That makes Dar and Marv grandparents of 10 and they’re barely into their 50’s!!! They had kindly prepared a meal of roast chicken, kale salad and bread for us and after we had cleaned ourselves up, we ate their kind offerings. Marvin unfortunately,had to drive in to Winnipeg. His elderly father is in a care facility and is not doing well. He went in to settle his father for the night.              

At this time, Dar and Marv are living vicariously through the many guests they have hosted through “Warm Showers”. When the tine is right they plan on taking their own trips. So far they have purchased their touring bikes. Both have Trek 520’s which are reputed to be good bikes. They ride to and from work together every day.  It was wonderful to get to know them a little bit.  They are wonderful, warm, interesting people! We have a lot of the same values and share the same faith. Maybe one day we’ll get the chance to bless them too. Thank you Darlene and Marvin. It was awesome to stay with you!