DAY 34: MINNEDOSA TO PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, 134 KM


5 July 2007

We stopped in a town called Gladstone for breakfast part two today. We ate in the local hotel/motel, where we talked to our waiter and the manager for a while. They were quite impressed with our trip, so when we went to pay for our meal, the manager told us not to worry about it. Free breakfast + poor, hungry cyclists = AWESOME. part from that highlight, the ride into Portage was rather uneventful, but peaceful and scenic. I've decided that I quite like Manitoba--it's much more colourful and interesting than Saskatchewan, and there are more trees.

There wasn't much to see in Portage itself, but we had a great time there. We stayed in a campgroud that was basically just a big field scattered with some trees and the odd picnic table. When we arrived there at around 3, there were only two other tents set up. We soon found out that both belonged to cycle tourists, one a guy who was traveling west on a recumbent bicycle, and the other an Australian couple also cycling across Canada from west to east.

Ever since my bike fell over a few days ago, the gears just havent been in proper working order, so I was glad to find out that there was a bike shop in town, and a good one at that. Mike's Bike Shop was located in a residential neighbourhood and run out of a small garage. The mechanic there--grandson of the one and only Mike--fixed my gears quickly and easily. Dan and I had some fun trying out some of his cruiser bikes, and I got another spare inner tube. When we were ready to leave, I had my wallet out to pay for the inner tube and labour, but the mechanic didn't charge me! Instead, he gave me a souvenir--dust caps (for my inner tubes) shaped like bullets! Manitobans rock!

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