Boating into Brandon - it's raining, it's pouring, the old man is.....DROWNING!

SNM Tour day #23

So here's the insider sexy part about being a BIG Celebrity on this Canadian Tour - are you ready??

We're sitting in a relatively disgusting laudromat in Brandon, on the absolutely slowest, slow speed internet connection which has forced us into reading old Chatelaine magazines (circa 2006) and drinking coffee from a pot that may have been here for the past week (it was still relatively warm so I figured I'd go for it) waiting for the sign in for today's blog - how have we stooped so low (or have we ever been much more high brow than this - ah there's the rub)? But before we go any further in the spin cycle - let's back up a bit to give you the preamble leading us to this point.

It poured all night and it poured all day.  The saving grace was that there was no wind and the temperature was surprisingly mild.  Mileage was relatively low, so we arrived in Brandon before noon to be greeted by Glen and Brent who were to cycle with me to the Brandon Sun Newspaper for a photo shoot.  The Sun had already run an excellent article with a stock photo on Aug 21st and had put in a pretty good "plug" for this evening's public forum.  As our trio went from the Petro Canada station on the Trans Canada Hwy into town, the rain went from a persistent drizzle to an all out downpour to a very near hail storm to a full-on monsoon - it is not hyperbole to say it was like cycling in a creek.  We went over a bridge to enter the downtown and the water was coming down the street like a waterfall.  It was unbelievable, the amount of water on the streets was epic.  Poor Glen and Brent were absolutely soaked and I stepped into 6 inches of water when we had to stop at an intersection.  The photographer was enthusiastic about the photos he was snapping of the 3 drenched souls, although he was a little hesitant to take anything but indoor shots.  Brent concluded "I'm never going to forget this day" - I said "I like to make an impression wherever I go" - he was thoroughly impressed, I think, it was hard to tell through his wet and fully steamed-over glasses. 

I was prepared for this weather so I really wasn't too bad apart from highway spatter from all the trucks.  I cleaned and dried off in the RV, and we eventually ended up here. It's so much fun to be on the road!! Since the time I started writing this, I have also found a few "Our Canada" magazines and they are actually quite good - maybe I'll submit a story or a photo or two.  Sorry but I may not be able to post any photos until later - at the rate of speed of this connection, posting a picture might literally take an hour. 

On a more sobering note, I passed the memorial to Daniel on the highway today on my run and was moved.  There is a bicycle painted all white with a picture of this Quebec cyclist who died in 2009.  This is on a stretch of straight, wide open  and well shouldered highway.  I am reminded almost daily of the potential dangers of running and cycling on the highway, something I think about but do not linger on - you can get hit by a car crossing a parking lot (just ask my mom) so sometimes just living is dangerous. Live in the moment and enjoy it all - every rain-soaked day, every laundromat, every out-dated magazine - it's all good, it really is!!

As alluded to above, I will be doing a public forum for the Brandon CMHA later this evening and I'm hoping for a good turn-out and hopefully a lot of time for Q+A and interaction.  Up to this point, I have been speaking almost exclusively  to physicians and mental health practitioners, so this will be an interesting evening.  I am very interested to see the response of the general public.  

Tour Day Sponsor - Esther Kitaguchi, thanks so much for your kindness!

Random quote of the day

In every walk with nature, we receive far more than we seek

John Muir