Day 26 - Melville(SK) to Russell(MB)

117.6 km - Total so far 2347.05 km - http://ridewithgps.com/trips/5178542

It was not till this morning that we realized just how difficult yesterday afternoon was on the two of us. Maybe I should have picked up on the fact that Helene just passed out face down on the bed while I was writing the blog. Those head winds were punishing and we got absolutely no break what so ever for the last 72 km. We slept in and did not leave till around 8 am.

One of the lessons we learned from yesterday is to pedal as long as the winds are favourable and not expect that they will remain so all day. While we planned on staying in campgrounds most of the time, we also had decided that a motel was the best option after a particularly difficult day of cycling.

Today our destination was Russell, Manitoba, 114 km away. The ride was not particularly difficult with a slight cross wind. Of note, is that for almost 35 km, trucks over 8 tons were not allowed on Hwy 15 so we found ourselves mostly alone on the road with the odd car traffic. The scenery reminded us of the Ottawa Valley, with smaller fields bordered by trees and clumps of trees everywhere. There were also lots of marshes teeming with birds and ducks. These marshes make for great places to stop. This part of Saskatchewan was a lot greener then we were led to believe at one of the campgrounds in Alberta.

We saw a few herd of cows and one in particular caught our attention. We discovered that our bear bells alert all sorts of animals, causing some to run along side us. It is actually very funny. I do hope that this is not what happens when a bear hears the bell.

Find the impostor

We also found the time to appreciate the Prairie sky. Unlike the Ottawa Valley where a weather system may just sit for hours, here in the space of a few hours, the weather can go from dark clouds to sunny cloudless skies and everything in between, or as we found out yesterday a 180 degree change in wind direction.

This slice of prairie sky is for you Mike

Shortly after crossing the Manitoba border, we came upon the Assiniboine River Valley. It was a magnificent change of scenery and we had to stop for pictures. We like river valleys because they offer you both a nice descent and a challenging climb on the other side. The Assiniboine River Valley did not disappoint and offered us a challenging 3 km climb. Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A bilingual welcome to Manitoba

Assiniboine River Valley

Assiniboine River Valley, the fun bit for the touring cyclist

The campground in Russell is free but without services, such as showers or running water. Had we had a car, we would have made due and driven around to find those services but on bicycles after 114 km, we decided to hunker down in a motel. As we normally do every night, we stopped at the grocery store in order to prepare our own supper. 

Russell is the hometown of Theoren Fleury (NHL Hockey player) and Jon Montgomery (2010 Olympic Games, Gold Medalist in Skeleton). 

Tomorrow we have 85 km to Miniota, so we will spend some time looking around Russell before we leave. 

Below is a video we made yesterday to remind us of what the winds were like. Here as a result of a change in the road direction, we find ourselves with cross winds. You can clearly hear our bear bells ringing and the flags flapping! 

73.20 miles - Total so far 1,458.39 miles