No Kms on bicycle, 6.2Kms au pied in Winnipeg
Human rights ideas, historical events, and liberators are at the centre of consideration in Winnipeg's Canadian Museum of Human Rights. We were moved and inspired by the complexity of content and how effectively it was conveyed by the exhibition curators and designers. Architect Antoine Predock designed the spaces to create a flow of experience from dark to light, from deep oppression to enlightened action. We started our day expecting to visit for an overview and ended up staying for hours. We recommend a destination visit to the Museum and for all to experience the on-line site. From the Museum observation tower we could see the dragon boat races taking place on the river below and we walked there next and then to the Sunday Public Market. We spoke with Paul, who is with Wrench and he told us the Winnipeg Tweed Ride was underway and would end near to the Food Truck Wars (Many Festival), which is where we planned to go for our mid-day food. The Festival was busy and eclectic and we made Healthy Choice our choice, as there was no line-up and the other food trucks had snaking lines of folks waiting to order. From there, we walked back to the Fort Garry Hotel (similar in style to The Empress or Hotel Vancouver) and connected with Steven, the Tweed Ride organizer! What a great, busy day we had in Winnipeg!

104.0Kms
Fung made a lovely breakfast for us, starting with an iceberg salad, followed by a boiled egg and bacon, then toast, and then an orange, cut up. We requested peanut butter for the toast, and Fung brought mayonnaise, the closest thing she had that came out of a jar. It was all really nice. At our early morning break, a dog owner, while trying to control his yapping little pup, said to B "he doesn't like big bikes, he really doesn't like big bikes".  B looked at the man and Y thought he was going to say something about her not being so keen on aggressive dogs, but he said, "we should have brought our little bikes". :-) At mid-day today, we reached longitudinal mid-way in Canada. We took that moment to do our video for Canada in a Day (which by oversight was not submitted). Video link here: How to ride your bike across Canada We also realized that we were suddenly on the edge of the Prairies! We had been focused on the wind and on highway construction for much of the way into the day, so were surprised that the landscape had changed so dramatically. The highway left lane was closed, so we ended up with a lane to ourselves, the left lane, and much of it freshly paved, which was great as the right lane shoulder was being used by the transport trucks and cars due to the cones at centre line! Nearing Winnipeg, we followed a nice bike path into town. The Fairmont hotel concierge turned out to be from Victoria! Allison took a keen interest in our bike trip and in letting us know about all the exciting things happening in Winnipeg this weekend. Tomorrow, we hope to get to some of the festivals in town and the Farmers Market.

 https://ridewithgps.com/trips/10986234

103.2Kms
Hello Manitoba! Ride day 23 has taken us across the border from Ontario into Manitoba, without the predicted lightning and thunder showers. Happily! After our pic-nic lunch at a very nice border park and information centre, the landscape became very flat, with a slight Westward tilt - a marble with a guidance system would have rolled all the way to Hadashville, our stop for the night! Just before arriving at the Riverside Motel, we saw an enthusiastic billboard for Sophie's Ukrainian restaurant, which was about 4Kms beyond the Motel. Fung, the Motel owner generously talked us out of bicycling there and suggested we get take-away. B watched out for motel guests, while Y and Fung zipped to pick up what turned out to be fantastic borscht, cabbage rolls, kubassa, potato pancakes and perogy. Yum! The quality of the highway plummeted today, just after we saw a sign that said 100Kms to Winnipeg. It was unnerving except for the gracious drivers who gave us room to ride on the broken, pot-holed road edge. We anticipate the same until Winnipeg, but are wishing for better.

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/10967815

Groundhog aka Woodchuck

No Kms
Dry camping gear in hand, we went to the Nature's Inn office to ask for assistance ordering a cab into Kenora. Jan, the sister of the Inn owner (who is from Victoria) offered to take us to town. En route, Jan shared the interesting story of their family's work at community building, including a new community garden and kitchen, community housing, and a new small-home project (funded by the income from the Inn). 9.062Kilo (about 20lbs) of camp gear, including our tent, sleep mats, sleep bags, pillows and a few other bits and pieces we no longer need are headed home! It was a positive experience camping in Ontario Provincial Parks. In towns in Manitoba and Saskatchewan we will be staying at Inns and Motels, as we may be late some days, as the weather is getting colder and more turbulent (with lightning and thunder showers predicted for our next two days of bicycling to Winnipeg). In town in Kenora, we had a super lunch at Lake of the Woods Brewing Co, walked the waterfront to our photo op with "Husky the Muskie", saw a van from another traveller couple (Argentina to Alaska) and walked back to town and found a bike shop where B could get his front tire trued. It was a beautiful day in a lovely town!