Day 3 Route:
Lake-Vu Motel Restaurant & Cnv to Super 8 by Wyndham Moose Jaw SK
I woke up in the morning and called a few places - all of which did not have a clutch cable. I was debating on staying put for the day and see if I could score a clutch cable or maybe I should be just going for it. Adventure Power Products in Winnipeg wasn't open until 10am. I adjusted the clutch again and since it was feeling nice, I decided to ride over there and ask them in person - it's on;y 2hrs away and on my way westward.
First off - Kenora is a pretty hilly little town. I liked it quite a bit and thought it would be a pretty sweet place to live if it wasn't so far away and so cold in the winter. I left at around 9am and the ride from Kenora out to the Manitoba border was pretty scenic and nice too. Once in Manitoba, I appreciated the increase in speed limit from 90km/hr to 110km/hr and traffic was moving at a pretty fast pace. The weather was clear and the temperatures were getting close to 30. As I neared Winnipeg I took some back roads to get to the dealership and passed by this perfect scene that (for me) captures farmland Manitoba. Big blue sky, massive fields and flat earth as far as the eye can see:
I arrived at the dealership and they said they did not have the part in stock and the only one they did have in stock was for a smaller Suzuki dirt bike with a super short cable. I then called a few other places and also some shops in Regina and Saskatoon, and still no dice. Everyone says basically the same thing. We can get it, but it will take about a week for it to come in. No thanks if I can help it.
I decided to keep going since the clutch was still feeling great with no additional adjustments needed. My goal was to ride to Regina, and if I was fortunate, I would get as far as Swift Current. For some reason my GPS routed me directly through the city streets of downtown Winnipeg to get back on the TransCanada, instead of taking the outer ring road. That sucked about 30 minutes of my day, but I've never been to Winnipeg in the summer, so it was kinda neat to ride through it. I've only been there when it's -30 out, and now it was +32 out. I stopped off in Portage La Prairie for a lunch break and the guy working the Subway counter must have been on his first day. He made the best veggie sub ever and was so attentive to everything that went into it. I just ate the second half for my dinner and it did not disappoint!
I stopped off in Brandon, Manitoba for some gas, a quick snack on some trail mix and some lube for the chain. This particular can of HHS Lube by Wurth was given to me by 'cycling' from GTAM a few years ago. I never did use it when you first gave it to me an I was saving it for a special occasion. Well now it's going on my brand new chain and it's perfect for this trip. So Thanks!
Across the prairies there is not much in the way of shelter from the elements. Today it was pretty hot out and not a whole lot of shade to be found along the TransCanada. But as luck would have it I found this nice spot and was immediately surrounded by very loud chipmunks and squirrels wanting some of my trail mix.
I finally crossed over into Saskatchewan and it looked exactly the same as Manitoba, but I think just over the crest of this field is where the flat earth finally ends.
As I pulled into Moose Jaw to get some gas, I decided to call it a day. I still have 1700km to get to my friends place north of Prince George, and want to see if I can hit up Blackfoot Motorsports in Calgary tomorrow. If all goes well, I sleep in Canmore, Alberta tomorrow night. Another simply amazing day on the bike!
