Tour de Ninette

Duke representing ABES

Every so often it’s good to load up your necessities for living into some panniers and go for a bike ride. Glenn Bergen (ABES Auxiliary--Woseley Chapter) and I ventured west for such an adventure. We settled for Ninette, MB because of its central location to Spruce Woods and Turtle Mountain Provincial Parks. Being wily vets of this region we checked the wind forecast and settled for the advantageous “wind at my back” route. 

Glenn Bergen ready for the road.

Day 1 from Ninette to Spruce Woods was about a 90 km ride. Our Dinner Special inquiry at the Spruce Wood Inn in Glenboro proved too much to resist so after we set up camp we wheeled back for a delicious plate of roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding (not pudding by the way.)

We knew day 2 from Spruce Woods to Adam Lake was going to be a long day--and it was. We started off by sleeping in. By the time we were ready to embark I noticed the tire on my trailer was flat. I forgot to pack a trailer tube. After 2 failed rushed patch jobs, I finally settled for the do it right approach. 

One of too many flat sessions

We left camp at 11:00, biked back through Ninette and agreed to push our way to Killarney for a late, late lunch. We knew there was a 30% chance of rain, but we got 100% wet. We paused at the Killarney Legion to rain proof ourselves and gear (best done BEFORE you get saturated), warmed up with some lunch, shopped for some evening camp supplies and made the final push to Adam. My trailer tire failed once again about 5 kms before Adam Lake. At around 8:00 p.m. and 134 kms later we finally arrived at the camp office to book our site. The non-serviced sites were another 2 kms away (BOO), there was no food to purchase (BOO-er) and when we got to the site we found out there was boil-only water (BOO-urns). But, as chums for nearly 40 years, there is little that can deter this duo. Glenn finagled a 4 liter ice cream pail of Brandon drinking water from some fellow campers, we set up camp, and had a wonderful evening meal of Hickory Sticks (appetizers), Sour Cream n’ Onion Ripple chips (veggie) and a protein drink (steak). The evening was topped off with a Hot-Toddie taste off (Alberta Rye wins over Irish Whisky).   

Hot Toddies and Hickory Sticks

We knew day 3 would be a breeze after our day 2 experiences. But there was the small matter of a wounded trailer tire. Very wounded, as it turned out. An autopsy revealed a 2 inch gash in the rubber. I cashed in all my chips and Frankensteined a repair with my remaining 6 patches. I was able to drag myself and trailer almost until Killarney when the wheel finally flatlined. We hid the trailer in a farmer’s field and I drafted Glenn back to Ninette. We rodded back to the trailer with the truck and headed home. A very grand trips of 300 kms. 

Or you could remember to pack an extra tube or two.

Post Adventure breaky in Killarney