Downey and I settled our business in Regina and picked up our bikes from the shop and headed out on the road. From Regina to Winnipeg there were no major media stops, nor any touristy places we really wanted to see. Home was a stones throw away and we both desperatly missed our friends and family. I also dearly missed my fiance. We started the day thinking we would only do our regular 160 k, but found ourselves all of a sudden extremely motivated to do more.
"what if we cycled until we got to winnipeg, just so we could spend some time at home incognito?" Said I.
"I'm down" said Downey.
And that is what we did. We cycled past all of our scheduled stops and kept on cycling. we stopped at every 24 hour restaurant for a good dose of coffee and kept cycling. at 15 hours into the cycle chafing became a bit of an issue. at hour 17 our moods were terrible. at 20 hours in, concentration was not great and at 22 hours reaction time was pathetic.
at around 5 in the morning, once the skies were lighting up, we made it to the Manitoba border. it was a nice moment because we knew we were getting close.
When we arrived in Virden, we had our breakfast paid for us by some old farmers there. After a few minutes of rest we were moving once again. By the time Brandon became a possibility my energy stores were drying up. Downey had called his Dad to act as a sort of support vehicle while we finished the final leg.
It was a good thing Downey had called his Dad, because shortly after we all met up, Downey crashed his bike in a large heaping mess of metal and blood. it turns out all those little things of sour mood, bad concentration and slow reaction had real consequences. Downey hit a pot hole on the number one shoulder. His physical state meant he would not be riding for a while, and I was all too happy to jump into Mr.Downey's FJ Cruiser the rest of the way home to Winnipeg (not to worry, the Brandon-Winnipeg stretch would not remain uncycled for long! Stay tuned...).
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