Day 33: Crossing into Canada and camping in Manitoba

My back tire was flat when I woke up so I checked it looking for bubbles in a sink and it must

just have been the valve leaking a little. I pumped it up at a gas station and I’ve ridden on it for 230km now with no problems.

Parked up right by the border – watch out, Canada…

I don’t have a lot to say about today so I’ll keep it brief.

No hills and a good tailwind meant that I cruised through towns, covering about 80km without even thinking about it. I stopped for something to eat in Karlstad, a little Swedish town in Northern Minnesota. It’s very European here, I also passed through the town of Tolstoi, which has a Ukranian heritage, and now I’m in a café and I’m hearing a lot of French again.

I wanted to cross the US border to get it out of the way for a straight shot tomorrow to Winnipeg.

I crossed into Canada on US Highway 59, no queue, no funny questions, no waiting. They didn’t log my passport so I gave them my US green card because otherwise there’d be no proof I’d left, and it might make problems when I go back in the future.

I will miss cycling in the USA, it has wide shoulders to keep you safe, the people are fantastic, the food is cheap, and – at least whilst I was there – the food was fantastic.

I cycled another 20km into Manitoba looking for a camping spot. When I saw a sign that said the nearest supermarket was 69km away, I realized that I’m working with longer distances

Manitoba welcomes you!

between places now.

I kept going until it was almost sunset and turned down a small road. A little campsite gave me a good deal on staying there the night, and as I was the only person staying (and the first Englishman), I could choose my spot.

They even gave me dinner, so I had spaghetti bolognese, banana-bread and a slice of cake as night fell. Very kind people. It was good to eat something cooked.

It was quite warm last night and there was no wind, so I set up my tent and, exhausted, lay outside on my roll-mat looking at the stars until I fell asleep. I got in my tent about an hour later, read a bit and fell asleep again.

Category : Camping, Cycling, Kindness of strangers, Manitoba, Uncategorized, USA! USA! USA!
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