12 August - Losing time but gaining ground

Redvers to Souris 112km (3018km total).

It didn't take me long to cross the Manitoba border this morning. As I am not on Hwy 1 it was a little underwelming but significant none the less. Although I lost an hour (and the paved shoulder) it meant I was getting closer to Ontario. Hwy 13 became Hwy 2. The roads did deteriorate in Manitoba but I knew I was going to lose the paved shoulder. The lower traffic density meant all but one car passed me easily by moving into the other lane. One guy gave me an annoyed honk as he passed me closely. There were a number of oversize loads but no-one yelled at me to get off the road this time. 

I saw this guy coming for quite some time and made the decision to move well clear.

I stopped in Reston which appeared all but closed, however whilst buying stamps at Canada Post the cashier told me there was a small grocery store just up the street. I asked the cashier there if there was a park or picnic bench in town and she gave me directions. For a small and seemingly quite run down town the park was wonderful, immaculately taken care of with lots of flower beds. I found a spot in the shade, laid out my foamie, ate some lunch and lay watching the clouds. I lost track of time, I was in no rush and had felt distracted on the road which when you are riding in the lane is not good. I had been thinking about Robin Williams a lot.

I considered staying in Reston for the night but I hadn't even covered 50km yet so I pushed on. Today I decided the general statement about the prevailing winds being from west to east is bullshit. This is backed up by my 10 days of riding in them since leaving Cochrane and the cyclists I have met or read about going both east to west and west to east. I made a stop in Deleau, again a seeming nothing place but with a well tended park and sports grounds. I even had a go on the swings before munching on some food. Two guys showed up to throw a softball around and asked if I had got a glove in my trailer. They tried to persuade me to stay for the social games that evening and when I said I was no good at softball they said I would fit right in!! Apparently they get quite a few cyclists stopping by and they said I was welcome to camp in the park.

After struggling against the wind for another hour to reach Souris and finding a noisy overcrowded commercial campground I really wished I had stayed in Deleau.