Fromhere2there

In this Episode we review the gear on our bikes and other items we use. Please comment on any items you use and find helpful. enjoy.

In this episode, we review our tent and all our sleeping gear. We would like you to comment about your sleeping bag. We are looking for a lightweight compact sleeping bag. Enjoy.

In this episode, my dad recalls his worst day on this bike tour. After taking a rest in Whiteshell Provincial Park, we set out to Seven Sisters and the community of Pinawa Manitoba. We spent some time at the Pinawa Provincial Heritage Park and finally went on the Lac Du Bonnet. Throughout the day, my dad had noticed a wobble in his rear wheel but did not look at it until the next morning. Although he tried to fix it, it was simply beyond repair. Essentially we were left with only two options. Watch and find out what we decided to do! Enjoy!

In this episode, Josh talks about one of his most difficult days on our Mega Manitoba bike tour. From our hometown in Plumas we biked west on 30 km of gravel until we turned north on Highway 5. At the end of the day, we finally made it to our campsite in Big Valley only to be rained out in a flash flood of 7 inches of rain! In the morning we were thinking about returning home but chose instead to bike to Erickson campground. Enjoy.

In this Episode my dad recalls some of his highlights throughout our trip. Like Josh, his favorite bike ride was through Riding Mountain National Park. But the second (3rd & 4th) best was Turtle Mountain, Moose Lake, and Whiteshell Provincial Parks.

In this Episode Josh talks about one of our favorite days on our Mega Manitoba bike tour. Riding our bikes through Riding Mountain National Park was one of the best bikes rides in all of Manitoba. We enjoyed this day so much we decided to share a few reflections and memories. Enjoy.

In episode XVI my dad and I had to end our bike ride because 4 spokes had broke on his bike. Although he tried to fix it, it was absolutely impossible. Since our campground was about 4 km to the town of Lac Du Bonnet, my dad was able to fix the rim to the point he could ride into town. We could have sent the rim in the mail to Winnipeg to get it fixed, but it would have taken 3-5 days. We chose to end our bike ride and get a ride back home. We had planned to bike to Grandbeach this day and then bike to the interlake of Manitoba, eventually making it to Hecla Island Provincial Park. We may finish this part of the bike ride this spring or summer, who knows? We will post a few more videos on our gear, kitchen/food, and highlights. Thanks for watching, commenting, sharing and subscribing! Our goal is to ride across all of Canada, but we will have to see how the summer of 2022 works out.

After a night at the Otter Falls Campground in Whiteshell Provincial Park, we broke camp and rode our bikes out of the Park on Highway 307. Our first rest of the day was at the Seven Sisters Generating Station--an awesome place to visit! Due to the low levels of water, the river bed below exposed the natural granite rock. After a short rest, we turned around wen headed back on highway 307 west to the Junction of Highway 11. We turned North and headed to the FOURTH CORNER OF ALL OF MANITOBA!!! We turned East on Highway 211 and came to the beautiful community of Pinawa, Mb. During this part of the ride, my dad had noticed that something was wrong with his back tire and were learned the next morning that he had broken 4 spokes, which ended our bike ride. Nonetheless, we stayed in Pinawa for a while and rode the famous "Iron Wood Trail." After lunch, we went back to Highway 211 and traveled West until we came to the gravel road 520 and turned North to the Pinawa Dam Provincial Heritage Park, another must-see site in Eastern Manitoba! After spending the hot afternoon in the water, we got back on our bikes and rode into the campground just north of Lac Du Bonnet. The only campground that shut down their showers and flush toilets due to the C!9 virus. Since we were a 3-5 km ride to town, we ate soup and beef jerky for supper. In the morning my dad would check his tire and discover that it was not fixable.

After a day of rest and relaxation, we got up early in the morning to leave West Hawk Lake. The morning ride was quiet and beautiful. Five minutes into our ride we saw a number of deer, two bears, and a turtle. We began to travel north on Highway 44 and past Caddy Lake, Lily Pond, and Bear Lake Hiking Trail where we had a 5-minute rest. We pushed on to the junction of 44 and 307, just before Rennie, Mb. We turned North on Highway 307 and had a rest and first Lunch at Brereton Lake. We continued on past Red Rock Lake, Jessica Lake and stopped at White Lake for second lunch at the Restaurant. It was taco salad again! After lunch, we pushed on into the wind and heavyBetula Lake, traffic to and rested at Pine Point Rapids, a beautiful trail that we did not have time to walk or bike. Since it was still the long weekend, we booked a campsite at Otter falls at the camp office at Nutimik Lake. After leaving the camp office the wind and traffic increased, but we found a rough dirt trail to ride for the rest of the way, with the exceptions of a few detours. We finally made it to Otter Falls and set up our camp. It was a difficult ride and we were exhausted! Thankfully the local restaurant was open and we enjoyed the special perogy poutine!

The Mega Manitoba Movie: Episode XIII This is our rest day at West Hawk Lake in Whiteshell Provincial Park. Enjoy

In episode 12 we wake up early in the morning and travel approximately 70km north on the gravel road of 308! Other than the Provincial Park of Moose Lake, there is nothing on this road but gravel. It was shortly after this day dad was having problems with his back wheel. Later we discovered that he broke 4 spokes which would end our trip at the fourth corner of Manitoba. It took us a while to arrive at East Braintree, but there were no services, only a few houses and an outdoor museum which had outhouses, to which we were thankful. We could not find a garbage can, so we held onto all our garbage from lunch and snacks until we got to West Hawk Lake. The ride between East Braintree and West Hawk Lake was a lot better than the gravel, but it was busy with vehicles since it was the long weekend. We want to thank the campfire.at West Hawk Lake for booking us a campsite right after a cancelation! We were about to ride our bikes to the next Lake which had fewer services than West Hawk. Since we had been on the road for several days, we decided to take another rest day at West Hawk Lake.

In Episode XI we leave St. Malo Provincial Park a bit early so that we could arrive at Moose Lake Provincial Park. The total distance was 150 KM!!! In Episode X we had traveled 138 + km from Manitou, Mb to St. Malo. South of St. Malo, there are few services and before this stretch, we purchased several Cliff bars, Gatorade crystals, and Sardines! We began to travel south on Highway 59 and made it to Roseau River and a beautiful rest area. After a small snack, we got back on our bikes and made the east turn at highway 201 heading toward Stuartburn, Mb, and Vita, Mb. We stopped at Vita and the local grocery store and ate lunch. We quickly continued east on the 201 through Sundown, Mb, and made it to the junction of Highway 201 and 12. Traveling southeast on number 12, we came to a corner called South Junction. It seemed as if nothing was at this corner except a fuel station, C-Store, and a restaurant. After speaking with someone local, we decided to have supper at the restaurant since there was nothing for several miles!!! We also purchased a flat of local spring water which was refreshing! After an awesome taco salad and rest, we continued on highway 12 toward the THIRD Corner of Manitoba SPRAGUE!!! We Turned North on Highway 308 and rode our Bikes into the Community of Sprague, Mb. The area is beautiful, but there is very little to see in Sprague. We had seen a few deer but did not have very good footage for this episode. After taking a few photos and video, we pushed on through the evening to Moose Lake Provincial Park before it would get dark. After what seemed like an eternity, we finally made it to Moose Lake and found a camp spot for the night. After setting up our campsite and a quick shower, it was dark and we got some sleep.

Episode X!!! After a day of rest with family we got back on our bikes and rode into the town of Manitou, Mb. We turned north on Highway 244 (bypassing Morden and Winkler, Mb) and rode for 16 km into a strong headwind. We finally made it to the corner of 244 & 23 and turned East on 23. Our morning destination was MIAMI, not Florida, but Manitoba. Our family in Manitou recommended lunch at the local deli/bakery in the general store. Best deli sandwich on the whole trip! After an early lunch we continued on highway 23 to Roland, Mb and got a photo of the giant pumpkin. 23 took us into Morris, Mb and we had supper at a local restaurant. To the East of Morris on 23 the highway was under construction so we left a little later and biked to highway 59 and turned south to St. Malo Provincial Park where we spent the night.

In episode IX we leave Turtle Mountain Provincial Park heading north on highway 10. Like Riding Mountain National Park the panorama view was awesome! It was nice to bike downhill, but when we turned east on highway 3 we began to bike in the wind. We planned on another long ride so that we could spend some time with family and rest for a day or two. We stopped in beautiful community of Killarney for a rest and lunch. By late afternoon we made it to Cartwrite, Mb. Determined to make it to Manitou, we came to Crystal City, Pilot Mound, and La Rivere, Mb. After walking our bikes up from the Valley in La Rivere (and denied the best burgers in Canada) we finally made it to our destination. On our day off, we settled for burgers at King Pinz, but they were not as good as Siggis in La Rivere, Mb.

In episode VIII we begin our bike ride in Deloraine. Since we left the campground before the camp manager arrived, we gave our camp fee to Andy who gave it to the camp manager. Andy always visits Plumas, Mb in the fall for hunting. Thanks Andy, hope to see you in Plumas! Before turning south on highway 10 to turtle mountain provincial park, we decided to turn north to Boissevain, Mb to eat lunch and get a photo of Tommy the turtle. We should have filled our water bottles up with water, but thought it was not necessary since the provincial park would have water available. That was a big mistake! Due to the drought like conditions in Mb, the water in the park was undrinkable! So much for our gatorade crystals. Thankfully Tom saw us biking into the park and later that evening offered us all the water we needed! Thanks Tom!!! The park was awesome, it is just too bad that there was no drinkable water. As a result we only stayed one night.

In this episode we visited the second corner of Manitoba on our trip. Our bike ride began in Elkhorn, Mb and ended in Deloraine, Mb, another long day. Before noon we past through Virden, Mb and had a simple lunch. The temperature was predicted to rise to only 24 that day, but it had actually increased to 30 +. When we arrived to Melita, the second corner of Manitoba on our trip, we bought some ice cream bars and a big bag of ice to cool off. After another simple dinner, we decided to ride 40 km east to Deloraine where we would camp.

In episode VI we survived the downpour overnight at Asessippi Beach & Campground. A lot of our items were soaked, including our tent. Thankfully the sun was out first thing in the morning so we dried what we could before heading up the major hill o. the other side of the valley. It didn't take long to travel to Russell, Mb, a town we biked to on our first trip across Manitoba in 2018. We picked up some groceries at the IGA and ate lunch at Connie's Drive-In. Our lunch was very good and I recommend the drive-in to anyone visiting Russell. I believe it is run by local folks and they source local beef. We spent a little longer in Russell than expected and we began to head "Southeast" on highway 16 (also 83). Right after Binscarth, we turned onto highway 41, traveling south to the town of St. Lazare...at this point, we ran into some problems and Josh shares them in the video. A beautiful valley, but we again had to climb a hill. At this point, we had to make it to Elkhorn, Mb, and we were running out of time...

In this episode, we set out from Dauphin, Mb in the early morning and biked through some of the thickest fog we have seen in the summer. We biked west on highway 5 through Gilbert Plains and Grandview Manitoba. Surprisingly we arrived at Roblin, "the jewel of the parkland," by early afternoon. Roblin was the first of the four corners of Manitoba we had hoped to visit. It is approximately 13 km to the Saskatchewan border. After lunch and a short visit with Fr. Wood at St. Matthew's, we biked south on highway 83. The wind from the south made this afternoon trip extremely difficult. Instead of camping at the Asessippi Provincial Park, we chose a more private beach and campground on the east side of the highway, right at the bottom of the valley. The owners were kind and courteous, they even opened a cabin for us when there was a risk of a massive hail storm overnight. Thankfully our tent kept us dry and we did not get the hail we were supposed to get. Also, the campground has really good natural spring water from their well. We made sure to fill up all our water bottles before we left in the late morning! Check out their website asessippibeach.com

In this Episode we finally leave our awesome campground in Erickson and bike to our first town Onanole, Mb. We pushed on into Riding Mountain National Park and ate our lunch with a special treat. After a good rest we biked through the park heading toward Dauphin, Mb. This was one of the most beautiful bike rides we had in all of Canada and there were a few surprises!!! Although we could have pressed on past Dauphin, we decided to rest and stay the night.

In this SHORT episode we stayed at the campground in Erickson, Mb. It rained off and on throughout the day and night. We were so thankful for the picnic shelter. Although this episode is short with absolutely no biking, in the next episode we bike to Onanole, Mb, through Riding Mountain National Park to Dauphin, Mb.

In this episode, we suffered through 7 inches of rain overnight in Big Valley and the morning aftermath. We seriously considered going back to Plumas since all our gear was soaking wet. We knew we could not stay another day or night in Big Valley, so we made the decision to travel the 37 km (mostly uphill) to the next town to the West called Erickson, Mb. We stayed at their wonderful campground for two nights!

The Mega Manitoba Movie: Episode I In this episode, we began our bike ride in our hometown of Plumas and finished the ride in Big Valley. After setting up the tent and retiring for the night, we had 7 inches of rain with hail in about a two-hour period. Needless to say, we did not get a lot of sleep... #cycling #cycletour #cycletouring #manitoba #bike #fatherandson #plumas #downpour #bikepacking