It rained pretty vigourously all last night, so I slept in until I no longer heard it tapping on the roof of my tent. It was still cold and windy out, so I ate and packed as much as I could from the comfort of inside my tent, but eventually I had to leave to pack my wet tent up too. The sky was still ominously grey and it was quite windy as I prepared to leave, so I wasnt feeling too confident about today.
As soon as I started the high winds made themselves felt, but they were different today. Instead of a 45° headwind, it was a 90° crosswind, so more of the wind's force was spent pushing me off the road than pushing me back. It was hard to stay on the road, and still slow going, but it was more managble than usual. Sometimes I even was angled in such a way that the wind would be behind me for small stretches.
After a while I passed the weirdest thing. There was a 2L of chocolate milk, a 1L of white milk, and a 2L of lemonade just laying on the side of the highway. I was shocked to find them unopened, and apart from a hole punched in the lemonade by a rock, uncompromised. I figure they must have fallen off a truck or something; they were a little guffed up. I took the chocolate milk without hesitation. If this is Karma's way of apologizing for all the abuse lately, I guess I have to accept; you always knew that chocolate milk was the way to my heart. If the milk turns out to be bad, and I die, they will say I died doing what I love.
I also passed a sign saying that in 1877 I would now be crossing in Manitoba, much farther east than present day. The flip side facing the other direction said that in 1877 youd be entering the Northwest Territories. Interesting.
I continued fighting my way down the highway, as it slowly got warmer and the clouds parted. At long last the prodical sun finally returned, after days of being absent. Not long after, I hit a 20 KM long stretch of road where I took a hard turn directly south, and for the first time, I had a tailwind! I absolutely flew down the road, clocking 20 KM in what felt like 30 minutes. This is what I wish the rest of the prairies felt like. Sadly, it came to an end as I turned eastward onto the Trans Canada Highway, 10 days after I left it to head north. The fight began again.
This section of highway is pretty rough, and for a while there was only a gravel shoulder, which my overburdened bike cant ride on without throwing me off. Trucks passed by far too close for my comfort. Then I came upon a construction zone, where the road was reduced to one lane. At first I despaired, thinking I would be in too great of danger with only one lane and no shoulder, but I quickly noticed that there was no construction going on the other side of the pylons. Apparently they just like to frustrate drivers. I pulled into the pyloned off lane, and I had my very own personal lane, free of transport trucks. It lasted for about 15 KM, almost all the way to where I stopped.
I pulled into Miller's Campground, just off the highway, around 5 PM. The campground is a little overpriced for the services offered, but its comfortable enough, and I am tired.
Tomorrow will be a short trip to Winnipeg, where I will restock and rest at a friends house.
Well done Anthony! Keep it up! May the wind be always at your back.
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