Day 15
Date: June 5 , 2009
Distance: 85 km
Time in Saddle: 7 hours 30 min
Maximum Speed: 40 kmh
Average Speed: 11 kmh
Chase driver: Al Purves (aka Buck Rogers)
Riders: Ken
The day dawned dark and gloomy. The temperature was 4 c with a wind chill of -1 and the wind 30 kmh gusting 50 out of the north off Lake Winnipeg.(I took a pic.) Rain mixed with ice pellets complemented the head wind I was riding against. This battle of man vs nature was lost, Nature 1, Man 0.
As the morning turned into afternoon Al and I grabbed a quick bite at The Birchwood and made our way across the Powerview Dam where the spill way was open. (I took a pic.) We were now on the east side of the Winnipeg River with a tail wind hoping for a 100 km day. The plan was to go south until we hit The Great Falls Dam then cross back to the east side of the river and on to Lac du Bonnet, our base of operations. At least that was the plan.
When we got to where we thought we could cross back to the west side, the road was flooded. In an effort to out flank the flood I took off down a wide trail. Buck was to wait for a while then back track up and around to the west side of the dam as vehicles can't make the crossing.
Meanwhile, out in the bush, I had made visual contact with the dam. It was dead ahead along a stretch of power lines. It was too easy. Most of the way was down hill and undulating with rock out croppings and meadows probably a distance of about 1.5 km . As I made my way forward I found out that what I thought was grass was muskeg, swamp and stagnant water. It was a messy, mid-calf trek but the goal was in sight. I crested a hill and in the gully below I saw the same flood that had thwarted me previously. It was not going to happen. The only option now was to shuttle around 50 km to the other side of the river. Out of cell service I couldn't reach Buck Rogers who had already hit the hyper-drive, his course set for Lac du B.
A text finally made it to Buck aboard the HMS Harvest. He turned around in time to meet me just after I emerged from a "short cut" that I took, looking like a b-list mud wrestler.
Needless to say we packed it in for the day. It left me wondering, is there any such thing as a day where you get on your bike and ride without a snafu? I certainly hope not.
Can hardly wait to see what tomorrow will hold.
As always, thank you for your continuing support. Ken
