We headed east along the low-lying landscape towards Winnipeg. Lying at the bottom of the Red River Valley, Winnipeg and the surrounding area has a very low topography, with no significant hills in the vicinity of the city. Lucky us.
The ride into Winnipeg was straight, flat, and windless. In the morning we were met at our campsite by Jeff's cousin Cam Saltel. Cam has organized our entire stay in Winnipeg. He has put together a fundraiser, rallied new sponsors, comped several nights stay at The Inn at the Forks (swanky) and hooked us up with food and drink along the way. Cam is the man.
We rode into Winnipeg ready for a few days of rest and relaxation. When we got to the city, we went straight to a salon to get some haircuts, courtesy of Cam and The Salon. Looking rather bearded and grizzled, we all decided to trim up a bit. Moustaches were carved, and beards were trimmed. We all had beards of the finest order, but none were as fine as that of Jeff Belanger's. This man had a beard the size of Santa's, with none of the gray, and all of the jolly. Jeff now has a man's moustache, handlebarred and all. We look like Lynyrd Skynyrd circa 1972.
After the cuts it was off to the Forks public market and shopping area, at the confluence of The Red River and Assiniboine River. (Fun fact: The Red River is considered a canadian heritage river, and is home to the largest average size catfish in the world...we didn't see any).
On our "day off" in Winnipeg, we were set with the task or rallying some troops at the Forks to come to our fundraiser. The local Keg Restaurant had offered us a lunchtime meal, and we jumped at the chance. With some smooth moustache'd talk by tandem team rider Mat Murray, we were able to enjoy steak for lunch on a sunny patio.
That evening was our fundraiser. Once again, The Tandem Team played some songs and sang the night away. We played deep into the night, and auctioned off prizes and raffles to friends and family all night long. The fundraiser was a huge success. A lot of work went into making the night such a great party, and we thank everyone who helped. Dan, Cam, Paulette, Ron, Jill, Colby (you rock on the guitar little man), Adrienne (best coffee in Winnipeg), Gooding, Mary-Anne, Deanne - you guys all rock, and thank you for your tremendous support.
Today, we are hanging at Cam's cabin in Kenora Ontario. That's right, we made it to Ontario. Yesterday we rode as far as we could, then drove into the cabin. Tomorrow, we will drive back to where we left off, and cover the Kilometres that we missed. We have to ride it all. Today is our day of rest and relax. The landscape has changed from flat Canadian Prairie, to rocky Canadian Shield, one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. We still have almost 2000 kilometres to Toronto, and the road is a rocky rocky maze of bouncy gravel and concrete that winds through the endless Canadian Wilderness, and it will most likely be the toughest stretch yet. Bring it on.
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