Before cycling north through Manitoba state in the middle of the Canadian winter, an enormous amount of preparation was need for the journey ahead. Over 160 days of supplies had to be organised; supplies that would be sent to several staging points along the route to enable them to complete the journey. Once everything was in place, the two set out on their bikes from the US border south of Winnipeg, just a few days before Christmas. From there, they cycled north to Gillam, where the roads ran out and where they switched to skis…
Cycling through the Canadian winter is no easy feat. While the highway through the state is good, temperatures in Manitoba go down to below -50C, and the winds can be tough. You need thicker tyres because of the ice (fortunately we didn’t need to use our studded tyres), and your bikes are so much heavier because of all the suppliers and equipment you need to carry – especially with the distances between towns.
The winter we did this, it actually started off quite mild – only around -2 or so for the first week, with very little snow; which was actually a bit worry as we would need to melt snow every night to be able to eat at night and at breakfast in the tent, and keep hydrated during each day. It soon got colder though, and the snow duly appeared.
We will always have so many fond memories of this part of the journey. While we largely travelled along a highway through the forest, so not much of a view, we experienced so much, from seeing a pack of wolves in the distance and then…
Just so many incredible people who we met along the road, who would offer us drinks (hot chocolate was so nice to have as we went along our way!) and chat to us – I don’t think anybody had ever seen anyone crazy enough really to be doing anything like this!
Special thoughts go out to the Price family who invited us to stay Christmas with them – absolutely amazing! And of course, Jerry in Woodlands – amazing guy! Lorne and his incredible musical instruments made from… anything really! We miss you!
Part 2: On to thin ice…
