Beausejour, Pinawa, and cycling with Kirk

We got all our stuff together and hit the road a bit late. Our bikes were so heavy from the food shopping, and we were all amazed that it all fit... well, sort of. Nicole was going to meet us in Pinawa with the rest of our food. We wanted to see the geographical centre of Canada, so we did a little detour. It felt like an accomplishment to see, but we knew our trip was far from over.

We headed to Beausejour to meet up with Steve, the chair of the Beausejour Bonspiel, of which I participated in January 2009. He invited his fiancé over and he took us to the Howland Hotel for some drinks and food. They were very kind and we had fun talking about the trip, their upcoming wedding and the bonspiel. I really want to do the Beausejour Bonspiel again next year! Also, the co-owner of the hotel, after hearing of our trip, left $20 on our table to cover our meal, and as we went to pay the tab, Steve said that he already took care of it and for us to keep the $20 for food later on. That was so nice of him and his fiancé!

Just as we were finishing up, Kirk came by with his bike, and he joined us for the rest of the trip to Pinawa. We put our gear into the back of Mr. Vilks’ vehicle, which made for quite an enjoyable ride with great company. This leg of the trip just flew by, and before we knew it, we were on the highway that led into Pinawa. Kirk was also being our tour guide, telling us “to the left you will see... bush. And to the right, you will see... bush.” Mrs. Vilks caught us just before town to take pictures of us riding along the way. We got in at 10:30pm, just before Nicole B and Mr. Vilks arrived, and we had a wonderful steak dinner. Both Kirk and Nicole’s families have been so kind and welcoming to us on our trip!

Fun facts, stats and lessons learned

Distance travelled today: 140.45

Total distance travelled: 3926.95 km

Starting point: Nicole’s place, in Winnipeg

Our Route: We took the Perimeter Highway (Highway 100) until the Trans Canada Highway (Highway 1). Both roads had a fair amount of traffic, but were decent and had good shoulders. We went North on Highway 206, East on Highway 15, North on Highway 302, and East again on Highway 44. We then followed it until Highway 11, and then finally took the highway that goes into Pinawa. All of these highways had either very little shoulder or no shoulder at all, but with less traffic it was easy to avoid the cars and the potholes.

Ending point: Kirk’s place, in Pinawa

• The geographical centre of Canada is just East of Winnipeg, close to Highway 206.
• We couldn’t avoid seeing deer. They were everywhere. Apparently Pinawa is known for that.

Day 53

We were woken up by Nicole this morning (as was the plan). We had breakfast with her (her dad made us Bacon and eggs, which was amazing!). Nicole's mom and sister were already gone by the time we got up (but her mom left us a really nice note saying have fun on our trip!), and Nicole and her dad left after breakfast for work. Michael and I spent the morning packing everything up and doing last minute bike repairs. We left Nicole's house just after noon and headed to the perimeter highway until the Trans Canada. We went that route so we could see the official halfway mark of Canada. We then went up north on highway 206, then zigzaged our way up to Beausejour where Michael and Rob went curling two years ago (they randomly went to a bonspeil in rural Manitoba). We met up with Steve, one of the organizers that Michael keeps in touch with. We met him at his work, then went to the local (Howland Hotel) for a drink and some food. The owner came out and Steve told him about what we were doing and he insisted (and said he would be honoured) to pay for our dinner. He put down $20 on the table for us (which was SO nice of him! Talk about friendly Manitoba!). We ended up having four rounds with both Steve and his fiance (they were both so lovely!), and pizza and wings. They paid for it (which we didn't expect at all! It was so nice of them!) and told us to pocket the $20 for later. We contacted Kirk to tell him we were having food in Beausejour. His dad went to Winnipeg to pick up Nicole for the weekend, and on the way, he dropped off Kirk in Beausejour so he could cycle the rest of the way to Pinawa with us (just over 50km away). He was a good tour guide, pointing out all the bush along the way. On highway 211 (the highway that only goes to, and ends in Pinawa), his mom met us in a car to take pictures of us along the way (it was really cute!). We got into Kirk's place at about 10pm, and Nicole and Kirk's dad showed up around 10:30. We showered, and then ate a feast his parents prepared! It was unreal! And there was so much food! It was wonderful! Then we went to bed!