Brandon to Sidney 78km (3108km total).
I have to admit I didn't have a good nights sleep in the busy crowded campground and I was up and packed before the office opened so I didn't feel bad about not paying (there had been no-one there the night before as I arrived quite late). There was a Subway in town so I had breakfast there as I just wanted to escape the campground. Then I found the swinging bridge for which Souris is known and as there was no-one around rode across and back with Bob.
Swinging bridge in Souris.
I felt like I was procrastinating in my attempts to leave because I was tired and I could feel the wind even in town. As I rode east I remembered my bike had been making a lot of noise in the last hour of riding yesterday and it still didn't sound good. Since I had hit the pothole in Carlyle two days ago my wheel had not been true but I figured I would get it looked at in Winnipeg. After about 12km I decided to stop and take another look at the wheel. I disconnected Bob and flipped the bike up. Unfortunately I discovered that the rim was busted and I quickly realised a) I was not going to be able to ride it to Winnipeg, b) I could not fix it. Not entirely sure of the best course of action I stuck out my thumb hoping to hitch a ride but it seemed the only vehicles that passed were cars. Then a van (British people read people carrier) stopped up ahead and reversed back along the shoulder. The guy asked if I was okay and was apologizing profusely for the state of Manitoba's roads. He said he couldn't leave me on the side of the road so we managed to get Bob and the bike in his vehicle.
Dale introduced himself and asked about my trip. He was heading east and although I told him I didn't want to take him out of his way he insisted on taking me to a bike shop in Brandon, 10km east and 26km north. Of course it didn't take long in a car and we chatted easily. Turns out Dale had just been at the Doctor's and had been signed off work. He was struggling with depression but his Doctor just wanted to put him on medication and his work was not being supportive. I think he just really needed someone to talk to and I listened and empathized, I didn't go into details but told him I had been through some dark periods.
The bike shop (A and L) agreed my wheel was toast and fortunately they had another rim that would work. They said they could replace it but I would have to come back in a little while. Dale suggested going for something to eat, I learnt he had grown up in Brandon so we went to a cafe around the corner and had a late breakfast. We continued to talk and he said he was really grateful he had met me, I said not as much as I was to meet him, given what he was dealing with he could have been forgiven for driving past but he had stopped, taken me to the bike shop and even checked I had enough money to buy a new wheel. A few times on this trip I have wondered what the chances are that I have met certain people, just been in the right place at the right time. I paid for Dale's breakfast and he dropped me back at the bike shop, I think we were both close to tears as we hugged and said goodbye.
The busted rim.
I left Brandon early afternoon with a new rear wheel. As Brandon is on Hwy 1 it didn't make sense to go back to Hwy 2 so I found myself again on the busy, noisy main transport artery across the country. It was hot and windy and I pulled off the road into a wooded picnic area for some shade and a snack. When I checked the map I realised I was by the turn off for a road to Carberry that Astrid and Eric had talked about, it would take me off the hwy for about 40km so I took it. 40 long km's later I rejoined the hwy again near Sidney, it was getting late in the day and I was tired so I pulled into a campground exhausted.
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