oldhippie
Senior Member
My wife tempted me to go for a little ride Tuesday. When she got home Monday evening with her sister-in-law from a grad meeting, she asked if I wanted to go for a ride Tuesday. My first answer was no since the forecast was for miserable wet weather but I just had to ask why. Seems our nephews’ correspondence course was overdue and he needs it marked to graduate with his friends. The office is in Winkler in south central Manitoba.
Tuesday morning checked the weather; no lightning or major wind in the forecast. So I figured sure, why not, good excuse for a ride rain or not and I could stop in at Gaslight HD in Morden and check it out
.
Light showers Tuesday morning so on with the rain gear, 3/4 helmet w/visor and picked up the package from my wife at school and off I went.
Headed south on Hwy 11 for a few miles and turn right on #214, Milner Ridge Rd. to ride through the Agassiz Provincial Forest. Nice scenery and almost always see deer along the road. 214 ends at Seddon’s Corner and farming country opens up as I turn west on #44 with the rain coming down a little harder. Headed through the little town of Beausejour and on west to Hwy 12 where I turned south to ride past my old stomping grounds of Hazelglen. Not much left of my parents old farm. Most of the buildings have been torn down except the hog barn my dad built in ’67 and another that’s been cut down to a single level. Our old house that was built of logs sometime before 1920 is long gone but someone has built a new house behind it.
Turned west on #213, Garvin Rd through more lush green, but very wet, farming country. When I get to the intersection with #206, I made the not so good decision to stay on #213:wall. Just over a mile past there is a 2 mile stretch of hwy that is lined with busy gravel and sand pits. Each of those trucks exiting the pits is tracking wet gravel and sand onto the road. Just slowed down and held on tight with no sudden moves or braking.
Wanted to bypass Winnipeg, so I turned south on #207, Deacon’s Rd, and followed it to the Trans Canada Hwy. The only thing missing for the first 6 miles of #207 is the road snakes to turn a bike into a mechanical bull ride.
Took the Trans Canada to the south perimeter hwy around Winnipeg and turned south on #75. The rain had slowed to just a very light drizzle and all but quit by the time I stopped for gas in the town of Morris. The pretty young lady at the Petro Canada station smiled and said it wasn’t the nicest weather for a ride. Just told her it was too wet to cut the grass so decided to go for a ride:bigsmiley20:.
Continued on #75 south to #14 and turned west to Winkler. By Winkler the clouds were breaking and the sun was starting to shine through. Once in Winkler, I dropped off my package, took off my rain gear, donned my shorty and headed a little further west to Morden to visit Gaslight HD.
Owners Rudy and Betty Ens have a classy and eye appealing establishment along with friendly staff. The exterior is old school garage, quite the departure in looks from a lot of H-D dealers. Inside they had a good selection of apparel and parts.
With my newly purchased t-shirt in hand, I headed over to Boston Pizza for some lunch, then pointed the bike east and headed out of Morden on hwy 3. Half way between Winkler and Morden, I followed #3 as it turned north to Carman. I love riding through farm country. The wide open space and light traffic make for a peaceful ride. A little disheartening to see the damage to the crops from that downpour we had last week. Reports of 25% damage from flooded/drowned crops.
At Carman, #3 turns to the east (been that way before) so I decided to continue north to Elm Creek and Oakville to the meet up with the #1 Trans Canada hwy. Headed east to Winnipeg and took the north perimeter to #8. McPhillips Rd to Selkirk and finally #59 to 317 and home.
A little over 7 hours and 330 miles will have to do until I can get some decent time off to go further for longer. I'll have to settle for reading about other members long rides.
Tuesday morning checked the weather; no lightning or major wind in the forecast. So I figured sure, why not, good excuse for a ride rain or not and I could stop in at Gaslight HD in Morden and check it out
.Light showers Tuesday morning so on with the rain gear, 3/4 helmet w/visor and picked up the package from my wife at school and off I went.
Headed south on Hwy 11 for a few miles and turn right on #214, Milner Ridge Rd. to ride through the Agassiz Provincial Forest. Nice scenery and almost always see deer along the road. 214 ends at Seddon’s Corner and farming country opens up as I turn west on #44 with the rain coming down a little harder. Headed through the little town of Beausejour and on west to Hwy 12 where I turned south to ride past my old stomping grounds of Hazelglen. Not much left of my parents old farm. Most of the buildings have been torn down except the hog barn my dad built in ’67 and another that’s been cut down to a single level. Our old house that was built of logs sometime before 1920 is long gone but someone has built a new house behind it.
Turned west on #213, Garvin Rd through more lush green, but very wet, farming country. When I get to the intersection with #206, I made the not so good decision to stay on #213:wall. Just over a mile past there is a 2 mile stretch of hwy that is lined with busy gravel and sand pits. Each of those trucks exiting the pits is tracking wet gravel and sand onto the road. Just slowed down and held on tight with no sudden moves or braking.
Wanted to bypass Winnipeg, so I turned south on #207, Deacon’s Rd, and followed it to the Trans Canada Hwy. The only thing missing for the first 6 miles of #207 is the road snakes to turn a bike into a mechanical bull ride.
Took the Trans Canada to the south perimeter hwy around Winnipeg and turned south on #75. The rain had slowed to just a very light drizzle and all but quit by the time I stopped for gas in the town of Morris. The pretty young lady at the Petro Canada station smiled and said it wasn’t the nicest weather for a ride. Just told her it was too wet to cut the grass so decided to go for a ride:bigsmiley20:.
Continued on #75 south to #14 and turned west to Winkler. By Winkler the clouds were breaking and the sun was starting to shine through. Once in Winkler, I dropped off my package, took off my rain gear, donned my shorty and headed a little further west to Morden to visit Gaslight HD.
Owners Rudy and Betty Ens have a classy and eye appealing establishment along with friendly staff. The exterior is old school garage, quite the departure in looks from a lot of H-D dealers. Inside they had a good selection of apparel and parts.
With my newly purchased t-shirt in hand, I headed over to Boston Pizza for some lunch, then pointed the bike east and headed out of Morden on hwy 3. Half way between Winkler and Morden, I followed #3 as it turned north to Carman. I love riding through farm country. The wide open space and light traffic make for a peaceful ride. A little disheartening to see the damage to the crops from that downpour we had last week.
Reports of 25% damage from flooded/drowned crops.At Carman, #3 turns to the east (been that way before) so I decided to continue north to Elm Creek and Oakville to the meet up with the #1 Trans Canada hwy. Headed east to Winnipeg and took the north perimeter to #8. McPhillips Rd to Selkirk and finally #59 to 317 and home.
A little over 7 hours and 330 miles will have to do until I can get some decent time off to go further for longer. I'll have to settle for reading about other members long rides.
