CHAPTER 5 Winnipeg to Lake Michigan

From Winnipeg I decided to ride south into the U.S. instead of the treacherous hi-way in Northern Ontario. I looked on my trusty iPhone to see which town would be next on my list. That town was called Lonesand. Only, it wasn't a town. The day was hot and I was on my last sip of water after 80km of biking in the intense Manitoba heat. 

On a hi-way with very little traffic, this young guy, by the name of Denton, pulls up on the outside of the shoulder in an ATV Rzr.  He keeps a pace with me and yells, "You're going about 25 kilometres an hour!" 

I said, "that's faster than I thought". And he asked me where i was headed. When I told him Lonesand, he told me that I wouldn't find anything there. So he convinced me that a couple of drinks with his family and a place to stay the night might be a better option. I was a pretty easy sell.

We strapped the bike and bags to the ATV and went back to his family's cattle ranch.

I was welcomed into their lovely home with some home brew. 

The home brew was so strong that i was able to burp fire without a match.

I can tell that the Krentz's never suffered from being cold.

I was then introduced to the family and friends of the Krentz Family.
Thanks Emma for the home made jam!
 I ate it all.
(in one day)

As you can see I'd eat that jam with anything. It was that good!
Strawberry Rhubarb.

Denton and I got around to talking, after a few drinks, and he told me that he used to ride bulls but messed up his knee and I told him that riding a bull was on my List of To - Do's.
He said that it could be arranged and I agreed that it would be a good idea.

Just like this bike trip , I had locked myself into a situation that I had to follow through with.
Sometimes,  scary and unimaginable ideas have a way of awakening and reviving the human spirit. And riding a bull certainly did that for me.

Here's the movie trailer if you haven't seen it.

And here's the actual ride.

Thanks to the Papa Krentz,  Jodi , Winston,  Breanna, and the rest of you , you know who you are. You made Manitoba a highlight of my trip. I was about to write it off.

You showed me such hospitality and care and I hope to return the favour . 

Although you guys have a serious drinking problem with your Toddlers, haha!

Seriously though, I'm thinking intervention.

This kid was trying to start fights with everyone. 

We had to call him a cab and take his keys.

It got ugly.

Minnesota on the other hand was quite beautiful.

Waskish is a little vacation spot, where I found a sandy little spot on the lake to camp.

Nice, until the 1,ooo,ooo,ooo mosquitoes awoke in the grass beside me. 

When I'd wake up to pee. I'd get out of the tent and have to jog backwards at the same time just to avoid standing still. Yeah. That Bad.

Thanks to B.J. for letting me camp on his property, bringing me firewood, beer, and pizza.
And thanks to his niece, Zena for making my fishing trophies look like minnows.
Who am I kidding, I don't have any fishing trophies.

It seemed that the more south I travelled, the less I wanted to ride. 

I felt as though I was not making much progress. And with such a long heat wave from July to September,  I started to ride less and look for excuses to stop.

Ice cream was always a great excuse. Even at 10 am, only 1 hour into my ride. 

 

I passed through Grand Rapids and decided to stop for an ice cream.... or two.

Eric and his father Jeff,  are the ice cream Godfathers down there.

2 scoops of ice cream led to four and so I stayed and chatted for a bit.
I probably sent out the 'I'm sick of riding a bike' vibe,
because Jeff suggested that I stay in his friends cabin on the lake if I had the time.

I was pretty much changing out of my bike gear and soon as he said the words,' cabin, lake and boat.'

I'm so glad I accepted, because I enjoyed them as I would my own family.

Thanks to Mary Ellen who keeps a beautiful garden and let me stay in her extra cabin.

Jeff and his family picked me up in the Pontoon and took me for some beers.

I enjoyed playing some beach volleyball, and I met some friends who also took me fishing and tubing.

Thanks Anten and David!

Here's some weekend wipeouts. Tubing, Knee boarding and a belly flop competition!

 

A weekend at the lake was the nicest surprise I could've imagined. Thanks Jeff and Eric and everyone who I met in Grand Rapids Minnesota!

Originally, I was going to ride back up to Sault Ste Marie but Jeff turned me onto the idea that it would be shorter to dive further down south and take the ferry across lake Michigan. And quite honestly since I had entered the U.S. I was riding shorter daily distances and taking many more days off then I had planned. So I took Jeff's advice.

I was starting to slow down partially because of how hot it was, and partially because I was starting to feel the length of the journey start to weigh on me. So although Im showing you some highlights of this time, many of my days spent in the U.S.  were accompanied with a tiresome mental battle of boredom, loneliness , and direction. I dreamed myself many stories of love, loss, triumph, failure, and richness. But at the end of the day. It was really about my will. And my will to finish never weakened. It never got touched by my bad moods or tired legs, or shitty sleeps, or wet clothes. My will to finish is permanent.

For me the endurance is made easier by the thought , 'It's only hard because Im in a hurry'.

Well I must've listened to that thought because my speed was not of someone's who was in a hurry. Many times only 40 or 50 miles a day. As opposed to my 80 or 90.

What is most important for me is that I'm at peace with the tempo of the journey and that I accept all challenges as temporary. In this way I can do no wrong if I just keep moving forward.

I was kicked off of the state hi-way twice because I didn't want to use some of Wisconsins secondary hi-ways.

I met a Canadian couple in the middle of wisconsin and they fed me some good meals as I took a few sick days off. They saw my flag on my pannier and guided me towards a beautiful campground. We even drove out a ways to watch their neice play an outdoor concert.

Thanks Again

I rode 3 more days to catch a ferry across Lake Michigan from Manitowoc. The days were scorching hot and I was excited to travel without a bike , I'm not ashamed to say.

CHAPTER 4 Saskatoon to Winnipeg

The weather in Saskatoon had been really nice all weekend, and as I headed out of town there came a strong head wind on me but with no rain. All clouds seemed distant and harmless. This looks familiar , I thought as I stared out at this dark cloudy beast in the south. Then I passed a road sign which stated the distance until my destination, Lannigan, was 8km. No problem.

But by the time I reached 3 km away, the storm had gone opposite of the wind and deliberately circled in front of me and cut me off, I swear it. Immediately there was lightening and hail that i could not escape from. Hail the size of dimes and I'm in a tank top. Some vehicles were honking at me but obviously i couldn't stop. I kept thinking  'Just 1 more km!'

I reach the town and pass through puddles that are actually ponds as i sink up to my bags!
I finally arrived at a subway, everything completely drenched, and there were literally rivers flowing across the streets.  The power shuts down as I'm ordering some food and so I swim (not really) to the nearest motel. And of course 10 min after I'm dry and warm, the storm goes away and the sun comes out again.  Birds are chirping . Business as usual.

The storms love to tease 

So do the Horse Flies!

About 1 day away from Manitoba these flies started bothering me and I was extra bothered by the fact that they were so big and that I didn't know if they were a threat or not.

So I did some forensic investigating. I caught one of the flies (top) and searched the web for a match(bottom).

Ba-zingg. Gotcha. Horse Fly. Oh that sucks.

These little guys did not get a chance to bite me since i would fight them off with short bursts of acceleration. Lots of swerving and swatting too. You can imagine what I looked like. 

That lasted for about 4 days. 

And on that same stretch of highway for those 4 days for some reason there were a lot of birds nests close to the hi-way. None were really bothered by traffic, except for that of

  The Tern!
You'd think cyclists were it's sworn enemy for life.

It started with just one , when I heard a loud screeching . I couldn't quite see where it was because it was hovering behind my head trying to dive at me. He gave up when I started screaming back at him.

Then it escalated to 2 bird attacks and so on.
At one point I remember I started laughing because there was a swarm of horseflies that were following me  and then I startled about 5 or 6 Terns who had all came together for the ultimate defense system  attack. I thought to myself, 'this is a scary basis for a movie.Hitchcock must've had a bad bird experience.Probably not bugs and birds. 1 up.'
All that I could do was yell, swat and pedal as much as I could until they got tired of chasing me. I wish I had a photo.

That's Bunky , who worked at the Carnival in Yorkton, which was their last stop on their Western Canadian tour. Bunky is also known as DJ Bunky.

A machine gun and a cow head.

Just a little piece of Saskatchewan.

This is a church I saw near Yorkton. I pulled over to take a picture (top).

After I looked at it , I thought it kind of had a glow around it.

So I darkened the picture a bit (bottom). 

I'm not saying go to church, I'm just saying, "Cool"

It looked' out of order'.

But obviously it's on.

As I crossed the border between Saskatchewan and Manitoba , I thought back to Al-Sask and expected there to be an in betweenzie town with a hybrid name like Sask-Man. 

But they had not been as witty to come up with such a name.

The border town was Russell, Manitoba. It turned out to be a pleasant little town. With river tubing and close proximity to what they would call a mountain.

I tented on the outskirts of town.No one around.

 I went to bed early and was awakened out of my dreams by this sound.

A sound I could not describe. A sound I have never heard. The next day I searched for sounds on the Internet. I found a match for it. This is the exact sound. I thought Sasquatch. But apparently not.

This is not my video but this is exactly what I heard. Turn it up and listen closely.

It was a weird way to wake up .

The town of Russel, in my books, is Sask-Man.

As I was closing in towards Portage la Prairie I blew a tire.

I unsaddled, changed the tire, and then I had to use the hand pump. Then these 2guys pull over and ask me if I want to use an electric pump. so I said , 'heck ya' 

and I asked, 'What are your names'

They said, 'Bradman and Robin' ......

Indeed they were.

 because these 2 ordinary guys were doing the work of heroes.

They saved me some time and some tubes. 

 Everything seemed to feel right except that Robin was missing a sandal.

He said golfing, and I understood.

Thanks for your contribution guys. You made my journey a lot easier.

Check out what Robin's doing.
He's doing a fundraiser with tribute to his father who has Stage 4 cancer.

Thanks for your Manitoba hospitality.


Friends, Darren and Donna were a warm welcome from Winnipeg. And by warm I mean hot. It was hot in Winnipeg. Thanks for the Oasis you guys. Thanks for the jam Nigel.

And Big thanks to Noah at Peg City Yoga. You have a wonderful studio and fantastic students.

CHAPTER 3 Calgary to Saskatoon

In Calgary, I got to have a little dance off with Jen and Eric from Bodhi Tree  and I also got schooled by an old friend, B-boy Presto,  on how to breakdance . Unfortunately I must have lost the footage of me , when I perfected the headspin. Just take my word for it. This is what I looked like.

My friend and fellow yogi, Lindsay Park, from Edmonton, joined me for a little bike ride from Calgary to Drumheller. It only took us 11 hours to travel 150km. That was probably the longest day you could've picked Lindsay. I'm glad that you did because it doesn't feel as long with company. Ok, yeah it did.. The day was scorching hot , like the sunburn on our legs. Big thanks to Jeff for dropping her off and picking her up. Your truck looked so comfy as you both drove away and left me in the desert. 

That day I popped a tube, and then another tube without even riding on it.

I'm super impressed that I could do that.

After Lindsay left me she also took the nice weather with her which gave me a chance to have some one on one, storm time.

I passed through Hanna, Alberta, but I think that they might have changed the town name to Nickel back.

As I approached the boarder of Saskatoon and Alberta I came along a town that was named after a hybrid of both provinces. Alsask. Alsask was a small town with big hearts and when I got there many cars had been damaged by the surrounding hailstorms. I set up my tent behind a bill board since the locals were calling for a night of thunderstorms. As I lay in my tent around 9pm, a voice asked if I was sleeping and with the sun still up I said, 'No'. A farmer by the name of Barry was nice enough to suggest that I sleep in his garage since the hailstorm that was coming would probably thrash my tent and he would feel bad if he didn't offer. It was probably the best mattress that i've slept on this whole trip. I lucked out because Barry and his wife had a bouncy castle that suited my childish needs.

So thanks for the hospitality!

The storms and headwinds that followed me to Saskatoon were monsters. And I was thrilled to be in the middle of such intensity.

 At the start of my journey , the mountains had built me up and supported and protected me , and then the prairies opened me up emotionally, with such wide spaces and no where to hide.  My mind and the weather played very active roles in my ups and downs and as I experience more intensity I become even more surrendered to the idea that I'm just here for the ride. There is so much that is out of my control, that it becomes simple. I do what needs to be done and I let go of everything else. 

I like the saying ,"The quickest way out of the storm is to walk right through it". Or rather ride!

The wind was blowing towards this storm but it somehow encircled me in a matter of minutes and had me pinned up against a garage like I was getting sprayed by a fire hose. I laughed, I cried, I pee-ed a little. It was grande!

With 100km wind gusts pushing me to Saskatoon, I made it from Rosetown to Saskatoon, 120km, in less than 3 hours. 

There I stayed with the very hospitable Justin, Laura and Gus. You 3 were golden! Thanks for housing a fugitive. I'm still on the run. I didn't want to tell you.

I was in Saskatoon for Canada day and went to the outdoor event OM Canada. A yoga class by Ryan Leier. Very fun, and at the end wet and fun!

Steve and Clancy came to my Acro Core workshop

and surprised me with a ticket to the sold-out concert, The Roots!

Amazing live show!

Clancy pointed out that she loved the tuba and when we saw the tuba coming around we had to get a pic.

I think they preferred you Clancy. I might've been too eager to play their instruments.

Thanks for a memorable night, Steve and Clancy.
And thanks Ryan Leier for letting me visit your yoga community
and thanks Justin , Laura and Gus for trusting me with your house and car!

CHAPTER 2 Kamloops to Calgary

I decided that from Kamloops I would head north to Jasper and then come down the Icefields to Banff. Mainly so that I could bike the Icefields which I'm glad I did. As soon as I left Kamloops the rain followed me and I believe is still stalking me now which is why I won't reveal my current coordinates.

I popped my first tire near Little Fort. I changed it quickly thinking I was a born pro, only to figure out I had blown out the sidewall so the tube wouldn't stay in. Trusty duct tape held for 10 km which was enough to get me to the next town. But Little Fort was really too little and didn't have any bike services, so I had to hitch hike the next morning to Clearwater. I probably could have got picked up sooner had I been wearing my bicycle shorts. 

Clearwater had one service shop and no tires but one of the employees was nice enough to get his wife to pick some up for me in Kamloops.  I was extremely thankful. I spent the day in a shitty motel which was like the Hilton compared to camping in the rain. That was back when I still had money for motels.

On my way from Clearwater to Valemount I was facebooking to find a place to crash. and Shawna Leigh messaged me that her friend Scott Cook, who I did not know, was finishing a bike tour and playing a gig in Jasper that night. So I befriended him on Facebook and a couple of hours later a van pulled over in front of me and this guy got out and said "Cole?" 

Sure enough it was Scott Cook and so we had a good roadside chat . His bike journeys had been with a guitar on his back and I believe he's living in Edmonton so check him out.

I did find a place to stay in Valemount from a friend's,friend's,friend's ,friend. Thanks Miwa and Isis! Cutest kid ever!

For those of you who haven't been to Valemount, it was pretty beautiful and Miwa lives on one of the most beautiful pieces of land. She is of the Mccurdy family , on Mccurdy street in front of Mccurdy Mountain. Pretty special family. Thanks for making me feel at home. Definitely one of my favorite places so far. 

Here's me pretending to be a Mccurdy.

After Valemount I rode 120km to Jasper which up until this point ws the furthest distance I had encountered and although most of the day was sunny, the rain eventually found me. Even this goat is a little pissed that i brought rain. Look at him looking down on me.

When I arrived to Jasper is was 730pm , pouring rain and I was the most exausted I had been in a while. I phoned all of my potential couch contacts and none were available. My friend Nathan who was also couch surfing that evening invited me to a birthday party at the legion and suggested that i might meet people who have couches at this party. Having no other choice and not wanting to bike another foot, I happily attended.

It was Charlie's birthday. And there was a band playing and many cheerful people of all ages had showed up. I quickly found out that Charlie was the town Legend. Much like Bill Brasky if anyone has seen the SNL skit. One person said, "Charlie has the most amazing garden in Jasper." Another said , "Charlie never drinks any wine but his own. He always carries a few bottles with him." Another said, "Charlie is always the first one on the ski hill and the last one off and he wears jeans while he skis, and his skis are huge and old school and even though he wins a pair of new skiis every year, cause he's that lucky he just gives them away because his are the best. He can ski faster than anyone with his old skiis and thats the way he likes it!" It was Charlie's 60th B-day and when someone pointed him out to me it was as if he knew I was there and he turned and looked at me and smiled. No wife, no kids but more friends than enough that loved him. Charlie even told me a story of how he crashed a wedding where he knew no one and ended up getting the first dance with the bride. True Legend.

Anyway, by 11pm I ended up meeting a fellow named Ian who happily invited me to stay with him and his girlfriend and mentioned that i'd have to finish a bottle of whiskey with him if I wanted to stay. I said yes knowing that I would probably pass out before the first glass, which I did. Thanks Ian for the hospitality and also for the beef jerky with ghost peppers. Which came with the logical directions , after eating don't touch your eyes or your dick! Good advice.

The next 3 days cycling from Jasper to Banff were quite challenging but also quite exhilarating. I met some fellow cyclists , one from Colorado/Edmonton and also some Swiss guys and it was nice to have some comradary for this portion. These mountains were buy far the most beautiful I have ever seen! The first day I cycled 85km in the freezing rain , and the second I took both summits down for 120km. Boo -ya! I stayed in a hostel both nights because campsites were closed. Thats a pic of me after the Bow summit. Just me and my friend Snowman. Cold hearted friend. He didn't even say goodbye.

Lots of good times spent with friends in Banff and Canmore. I saw 6 black bears and 1 Grizz!

Some real Bear Yoga!

Don't worry I ate all the smoked salmon in my pockets.

I arrived in Calgary where my Dad lives, just in time for Father's Day .

Love you Dad

and Mom, I love you too.

CHAPTER 1 Tofino to Kamloops

My journey started with a visit with my childhood friend Rachel. She brought me to my first yoga class 10 years ago. I had an opportunity to teach at her brand new yoga studio in Fernwood which had a super cool vibe in a super cool part of the city. Some of you may know her husband Louis Sadava who formerly played in the band Current Swell and now plays in another great band ,

 Jon and Roy.

Thanks for making me part of the family. As you can see we danced and celebrated while my legs still worked.

I was walking through Victoria and I heard these guys playing this rhythm at Spring Ridge Community Garden. Thanks Nels and Jordan for the magical experience. Talk about divine timing.

A day of surfing in Tofino got me acquainted with wetness . Big thanks to Dave , Mike, Alaina and Kimme for getting wet with me . It was a great way to start this chapter.

Dave and I stopped by a beach to dip my tire in the Pacific Ocean which is said to be a good tradition although I was a little naive in thinking that I wouldn't get my feet wet.

We cycled  about 50km for our first day and made a stop in Ucluelet and dropped in on a fine group of yogis and yoginis to share some acro yoga.

Thanks to Eoin Finn for letting me join in on his Blissology Yoga Teacher Training Program. What a treat.

Plus that gave us an excuse not to have to ride very far our first day.

Here's Dave rethinking his life after climbing some nasty hills for 90km. We did finally arrive in Port Alberni after eating all of the power bars, which I had thought would last me more than one day. We done good Dave.

Port Alberni has about a 10km HUMP that we had to climb out of, but has such a rewarding downhill on the otherside as we rode into the old growth forest. 

We did some yoga with some 200 year old trees in Cathedral Grove.

This one is supposedly the biggest. Almost 500 yrs old I think.

Feel free to correct me if you know this tree.

Dave is from the island and so we decided to do a segment called Island Talks w/ Dave. 

True Stories? Some would say.

After we arrived in Nanaimo, Dave returned to his big boy job in Edmonton and I took the ferry to Vancouver to visit some friends. And friends of  friends of friends. Thanks to Dave for giving me the support I needed to carry on by myself. Love you buddy.

Being the poor planner that I am I found a place to stay in Vancouver just days before arriving. Thanks to Sarah Zandbeek and her welcoming and beautiful Vancouver crew. 

Thanks to Amanda for giving me a home in the heart of Downtown with the most amazing view ever. 

Roof top yoga, beach yoga , yoga potluck , and I won't forget to mention a Bon Iver concert at Deer Lake Park! I almost didn't leave Vancouver.

I had a kick-ass yoga class with Reno at Semperviva. That dude is F-ing amazing!

And I also randomly met up with some musicians downtown and we had an Alley Yoga Jam.

Thank you to Dan and Brock for playing your hearts out and to Jill Rice and Brittany Rudyk for being a part of this collaboration. And Amanda's camera skillz. Thank you

I departed Vancouver and decided to take it easy on my knee and achilles which were bothering me and only ride for squamish. Thanks to Jana D who hooked me up with her friend Tina. Tina and Kevin were so nice that they let a stranger in spandex sleep in there house, and still treated me to a King's breakfast. Nothing but friendliness. Thanks you two.

I rode the next the next day past whistler and into Pemberton where I was taken into the home of Laura Zgud and her helpful husband Mike. They mentally and physically prepared me for the ridiculous climb to Lillooet which I really had no idea about. Also Mike taught me how to change a tire and a chain which to his disbelief and probably yours I hadn't figured out yet.That's kind of how I operate sometimes, I don't really wait until I'm fully prepared before I move ahead. So far so good. Thanks Mike!!

And then Laura filled my belly with Mila Chia seeds and healthy goodness to send me on my way up death mountain. (that's my name for it). 

The chia seeds gave me power for real. Check out what she's talkin about.

I don't recommend the Lillooet way but I can say that having the hardest climb first made all the other mountains in B.C. seem like hills. For reals.

Barely made it but I'm glad I did it.

At one point i thought of jumping off of the mountain and then realized I'm already dead so what's another 70km. And it sure was worth it because this is where I got to lay my head.

Thank you  Thank you to Blaire Houghton's mom Patricia Teskey who is a beautiful sweet woman  who made me feel at home in her scenic house on the lake. We had great conversations and I felt like I might not leave. Partially because I never wanted to bike ride again and partially because she lives in heaven. Thanks Pat!

The next 2 days I camped in Cache Creek and cycled into Kamloops and that was my first time dealing with a headwind and I experienced riding downhill that was harder than riding uphill. It was pretty frustrating. And I remembered meeting a cyclist near Cache Creek saying to me that its only tough if you're in a hurry to get there. So I used the mantra on the front of my journal and it really did help.

I stayed with my Dad's friend Warren. Who fed me beer and beef until my heart was content, so I decided to take an extra day off here and rest my legs. Thanks Warren.