Day 31 - Winnipeg, MB - REST DAY

June 13, 2026

Start Time – N/A

Stop Time – N/A

KM Travelled – None by bike

Elevation – None by Bike

Special Stuff – Spending time with my brother

Today starts early like usual with puttering, except I putter all the way to 11:00 when my brother swings by to pick me up.

First thing we do is head over to the campus where I studied for a year. It’s a long way from the hotel, and I’m glad to be travelling there by car.

The neighbourhood where I grew up had a Mennonite Church – and I attended the church youth group. My first year after graduating from high school, I decided to go to bible school, and I picked Canadian Mennonite Bible College in Winnipeg. My mom and my Oma (Dutch for grandma) dropped me off at the train station and I took the train by myself to Winnipeg. I was so young and inexperienced – it was a really big deal. That train ride gave me a genuine appreciation of the beauty of Canada that has stuck with me throughout my adulthood.

School is out for the summer and the campus is empty, but the buildings are mostly the same including the residence. The school has transitioned to the Canadian Mennonite University, and the campus seems to have expanded across the road to include a beautiful ‘castle’. I feel oddly emotional remembering feeling homesick and calling home on the payphone at the end of the residence hallway (keeping it short because long distance was expensive). Back then I was, well, as Khalid’s song goes, young, dumb, and broke.

We go to Assiniboine Park and walk around - it smells like lilacs in the garden. It’s a cold day so there aren’t many people. The park is just amazing – so big and spacious. I don’t think I appreciated how special this park was back when I was a student. I get a flash back of walking down the long parkway in the freezing cold with some classmates to do some volunteer work at the Youth Corrections Centre. Winnipeg is shockingly cold in winter.

It is hard to believe it has been 37 years since I was last in Winnipeg. I’ve had a lifetime of experience since then.

We drive around the city to check it out and stop for lunch. It feels nice to just chat.

When I get back to the hotel, I research the beginning of Ontario – which is totally new for me. There will likely be no more tornados, but there will be other challenges like single lane highways, bad shoulders to ride on, bears and bugs. I think the terrain will be changing to the Canadian Shield. I expect to be in Ontario for a month. I will miss riding in the prairies, and I look forward to the next part of the adventure.

I have had such a great rest day and have thoroughly enjoyed this special time with my brother.