A summer of spinning (probably quite slowly).: 18 August

Winnipeg to Whitemouth 107km (3381km total).

I ended up staying the weekend in Winnipeg. Jane and Jared were so good to me and I really enjoyed the city and their company. We spent quite a bit of time in Assiniboine Park. I attended Sebastien's event on Saturday morning where he spoke about his run across Canada and living with diabetes. Then I went to the Zoo with Jane and her friend Michelle as they had a large new area called 'Journey to Churchill' with polar bears. Michelle had lived in Churchill for a year and it is now on my list of places to live!!

I also had plenty of time to explore the tourist sites; the Forks, Red River, St Boniface, Exchange etc. And in a perfect Sunday evening I got to have pizza and watch The Princess Bride with Jane, Jared, his Mum and sister. (I will add photos later when I have a better cell signal).

Due to rain this morning I was slow to leave but when I did things felt good, I had put 2 new tires on my bike, replaced a set of brake pads and given it a good clean. Jared, who is a clearly a very accomplished bike mechanic and builds wheels in his spare time also tuned my (new) back wheel, gave me a spoke wrench and a brief lesson on adjusting spokes (he said it was obvious the wheel had been made by a machine!!). With perfect directions to get me out of the city safely and without much traffic I was headed towards Hwy 15.

Unfortunately the rain clouds hung around and loomed large behind me for much of the day. It's amazing what an impending thunder storm can do for your average speed!! Finally it caught me, the rain was crazy, I could barely see where I was going and the road became a river. There was no cover and no small towns so I had no choice but to push on. I discovered things are not quite as waterproof as they claim (booties and goretex pants). I reached Elma after 95km and sheltered under the porch of the local store whilst drinking the most awful tea. Sadly there was no accommodation in town although one leery old man did suggest I could stay with him, although he said as he was a guy and I was a girl it might be uncomfortable. The locals told me there was camping and a hotel in Whitemouth about 12km north so I headed there.

It was still raining when I arrived and as I couldn't find the campground I asked about rooms at the hotel which reminded me of a British pub. After a number of slightly bizarre questions including; it's just you and just for sleeping she quoted me $30 and I said I would take it, not quite sure what I would be getting!! But the sheets smelt clean, I was out of the rain and she was fine with me putting the bike and trailer in the room, it just about fit.