We began our last day in Saskatchewan with high hopes. The wind was forecast to be with us and we were ready to zoom into Manitoba, but as we all know weather forecasts are 99% right about 5% of the time....
After a couple hard hours we turned up in Redvers, home of NHL player Dean Kennedy. Much more importantly it was the home of an awesome visitors center and a very nice women that served a mean piece of Saskatoon berry pie a la mode! Yum yum! In looking back, perhaps the pie was meant to make us let our guard down...
We were running low on supplies so we did the only sensible thing, split up. Alan and Ginny forged ahead, out of danger while Shane , Evan and Leah picked up supplies. Perhaps it was coincidence but the "food store's" inventory was quite limited. We certainly weren't going to make it too far with just that. We loaded up our panniers with our meager meal and Shane took off ahead leaving Evan and Leah alone to face the beast
****for those reading this right before bed, be warned, this terrible tale might cause nightmares******
The beast made it's first appearance just after crossing a small bridge coming out of town as a small black spot in my mirror. "it must just be a tire mark on the road" I thought to myself. But just to be sure I checked again. The black dot was still there... But closer! I could feel my heart begin to quicken as I turned to get a better look, which is when I got my first good look at the beast.
Leah screamed as the beast lunged at her! Her legs pumped and we pulled slightly away but the beast kept coming! It was jet black save for it's pink tung hanging out of it's mouth. In the midst of the chase, it was hard to make out for sure but I'm pretty sure it had fangs over six inches long and crazy blood red eyes.
The harder we peddled, the faster the beast ran, swerving back and forth across the road. Like in any good chase scene it caused other traffic on the road to nearly collide and nearly crash into the ditch.
In a moment of genius, I saw an innocent duck by the side of the road and had a bright idea. I yelled to the beast "hey beast, hey you! Look over there!" the beast looked and my plan worked! The beast changed course and dove into the ditch after the duck.
Having lost the beast, we slowed our pace and let down our guard. And then the beast came back!
For the next 7km the beast chased us, nipping at our heels, Leah and I peddling as fast as we possibly could to stay alive. Luckily for us, the beast has not been biking for the last month and we have! Though our legs burned and our lungs ached so did the beast's and eventually it could run no more. Just as we crossed the Manitoba border, the beast howled and stopped. The beast of Redvers would not eat tonight.
In all the craziness that ensued, I was unable to get a clear photo, and my video camera was turned on but facing forward so only the sound of the beast was recorded. However I did scour the Internet for a picture of the beast and while nothing quite as ferocious turned up, I did find 2 creatures who offspring would be a perfect fit.
The rest of the trip into Manitoba was uneventful with exception that upon crossing into Manitoba, the shoulder instantly disappeared. We camped at a great grassy campground in Reston and began to recount this terribly truthful tale.
Distance: 76.16 km
Time on bikes: 5:11:13
Average speed: 14.6 km/h
Distance from Vancouver: 2494 km
Start time: 8:00am
End time: 4:30 pm
Wind: southeast (medium head)
Cheers
- The Warpotay Team
Location:Reston, Manitoba
Haha, I immediately thought of the Sandlot when you started this story...I can't believe you sacrificed a poor old duck to the Beast, though!!
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