Sunday, August 14, 2016

Wednesday Aug 10

I have the proverbial horseshoes up my butt when it comes to weather. Today, the forecasters, radar, all said I was going to get wet - very wet, but it didn't happen. 

The morning started cool and sunny, but after a fantastic breakfast at Eddy’s with the Trike gang, they set off back to the US for their western Michigan ride, and I set off west. It became cold and cloudy quickly so I guess the cold front started winning that tug of war. Stopped 45 minutes in at a Trading Post to put on rain gear and heavy gortex gloves and needed it for the entire ride through Ontario but it started to get sunny at lunch in Dryden. The roads from Thunder Bay were nice, not bad … but not as spectacular as from the “Soo” to Thunder Bay. Regular curves make up for the scenery that looks a lot like Bancroft area. Don’t need to ride a thousand km to see that. Had the first wildlife encounter with a small black bear that crossed the highway, half a km in front. Didn't have time to take a pic, but that’s how I like the wildlife - seen but far away


Tim Horton’s Chili and salad was a much better choice than another burger. Rain jacket and heavy gloves came off since it just warmed up to 22, so the long sleeve shirt stayed on. 


It was supposed to rain at the border but only got hotter so just after the border a hydration and rest stop provided the excuse to jettison the shirts and go hot weather gear, along with a top up of sun screen. I can’t believe how quickly the landscape transitioned to flat, flat, flat. I had a lot of energy from the rest stop and blew right through Winnipeg after a fuel stop and set Brandon in my sights. The Rever app says the trip went 898.0 km - a good ride. The Manitoba roads were under a lot of construction, and they needed it. The heavy truck traffic gouged ruts into the road way and where it collapsed, pot holes that could never be filled. Some of the sections under repair were dangerous for motorcycles.

The 110km speed limit however helped to reach Brandon in good time, although it was cooling down quickly. The tug of war with cold and warm weather was about to bring rain again - but it held out until I landed. After supper of turkey with perogies and veggies at Humpty’s family diner, apparently a favourite with locals, the sky broke and offered a sailors delight. Not sure if that nautical rule applies to the prairies, far away from the sea, but I was hoping …

That hope was dashed with an Accuweather notification on the iPad that it is going to rain in 58 minutes. Hopefully it’s gone in the morning. Will figure out tomorrow’s plan - tomorrow.

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