Day 28 - Miniota to Minnedosa

104.95 km - Total so far 2,543.33 km - http://ridewithgps.com/trips/5204199

Day 27 has been updated.

After experiencing one of the worst rain storm of the trip and being in an electronic blackout area (no cellular service and no Internet), we were somewhat eager to hit the road again. Weather conditions were: 12 degrees, overcast with a slight breeze from the EAST, the same direction we were heading. Only a few times did we get favourable winds in either of the three prairie provinces. With 104 km to Minnedosa, we were off.

Bison Rock not to be confused with Buffalo Scratching Rock from previous post! 

For the first 72 km, the road was straight with absolutely no turns what so ever. We spent much of the time looking at marshes and on our rest stops (every 90 minutes) we would stop by one. As we near marshes, our bear bells alarm the residents but once we have stopped and sat down for a bit, calm returns. It is very captivating to just sit and watch the action in the marsh. Today, Hélène spotted a beaver swimming around.

We first saw the goslings crossing the road all 12 of them with their parents (2 x couples)

As we neared Rapid City (after a straight road 72 km long), we both experienced a most sigificant moment. There by the side of the road a sign warning motorists of a 'right turn'. The moment was so powerful that Hélène shed tears of joy :-). What we could not see is that the road goes downhill all the way to Rapid City.

72 km of absolutely straight road behind me

Oh joy a right hand turn....yeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!

In Rapid City they were holding an agricultural fair and we decided we absolutely had to stop. There were many horse trailers, horses and participants and a tent selling burgers and dogs. After grabbing lunch, we sat down at a table and had a chat with Ken, a local resident. He was a wealth of information on the condition of the roads in the area and gave us a brief insight on life in a small rural community in Manitoba. The story of Rapid City is very similar to many other small communities we stopped in, all of them once had much larger populations and over the years the numbers shrunk to a much smaller stable number. We could have stayed a while longer at the fair and taken in more of the horse shows but we had to head for Minnedosa. 

One of the young contestants at the fair

Two young contestants congratulaing each other and passing important tips

On a freshly paved section of Hwy 16, we got to enjoy almost 3 km downhill. Another 20 km and we were in Minnedosa.  We got here just before the threathening thunderstorm. The storm missed the town and we got just a tiny sprinkle. It is amazing how quickly the weather changes in the Prairies and you can see it coming.

The view from Hwy 24

We quickly unloaded the bikes and went for a ride looking for the Bison Park described in the tourist brochure. At the park, we could not see any bisons from the viewing stands but Hélène (the expert animal spotter) caught a glimpse of them in the far field. We followed a path(with a strong fence keeping us apart) that took us right to them.  http://ridewithgps.com/trips/5204200

Bisons with calves

Nutrition. One of our readers asked us to discuss what we eat on the road and at camp. We always have breakfast before we head out that includes coffee and a sandwich of some type. A big favourite is the tortilla wrap with peanut butter and jam. We also have had eggs, bagels, etc. We stop every 1:30 hours and have a snack of trail mix (or cookies) or tortilla wrap and a fruit. For lunch, we often have soup or a bagel with fruits. We buy our food daily and we always have a hot supper. Last evening was nachos(with fried balogna) and salad. It was delicious.  This morning we had BBC (Bagel, balogna & cheese).  Tomorrow for lunch we will have BCB (Balogna, cheese & bagel), we can hardly wait.

Happy Father's Day tomorrow / Bonne fête des pères demain! 

As we visited the Bison park with "naked" bikes, Hélène had a view of her front wheel and noticed it was warped.  Upon further inspection we noticed there was a broken spoke. We carry spare spokes so Hélène repaired her wheel and trued it as best she could. In Winnipeg we will have the wheel tested for proper spoke tension.  

We also heard from Kyle and Millon, all is well with them and they are progressing EAST.  Be safe!

We leave you with this video of bisons at the park in Minnedosa.

65.21 miles - Total so far 1,580.35 miles