Even though we lost a hour, because we are in the central time zone, we had all left by 8:45. The rain was still coming down and we had a headwind for the first coupe of kms. Once we turned south, Sam and I, made really good time.
We stopped in Birtle at a store for a hot drink and to warm up out of the wind and rain. Just when we arrived all the riders that were ahead of us were leaving. We spent 20 minutes getting warm and headed uphill out of town.
Our second stop was for lunch where we met everyone again at the local hotel in Shoal Lake where there was a restaurant attached. When the bills were being paid Matt explained to the waitress that he had a "cheese toastie". He was referring to the grill cheese that he had for lunch. I really enjoy hearing how the English have different words for everyday things.
Just before Minnedosa I saw a van that had pulled over and notice bikes on the back on being a Cervelo TT bike. I asked him if we could buy any tubes off of him and he gave me two free. Tyler and his wife AJ, from New Westminster BC, were on there way back home from vacation.
Tyler had an Ironman sticker on his bike and asked about it. He explained he had completed the Ironman in Whistler BC in 2014. It was the same race that I completed in preparation for this tour. I can't believe that I met an Ironman in the middle of nowhere and I was lucky enough to get some tubes from him. Thanks Tyler and family. See pic below.
The rest of the day was about getting to camp to dry out our gear and refuel. Once at camp there was a nice wind and some sun that was able to dry out all our wet gear. A very nice end to a day that started out very wet and cold.
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| Arlen using a Safeway bag to keep his helmet dry. |
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| Prairie storm clouds moving toward us. |
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| Tyler and AJ to the rescue with bike tubes. |
