June 11, 2014
After a week’s break, getting back in the saddle requires some determination particularly when the road ahead lacks in the excitement department. I am heading into the Canadian Shield, which many people find very beautiful so I assume exciting, but I confess my ambivalence. I used to take the bus from southwestern Ontario to university which ran along the route I’m cycling now. I recall scenic sections around Lake Superior but the towns are so far apart and the Shield goes on and on. It will probably take me a couple of weeks to traverse.
I left the prairie lands behind towards the end of the day and the trees began. Soon the rocks and hills will join this dirge or operatic masterpiece if this place sparks your imagination. With rocks and hills come the terrible roads, that translates as no shoulders. And I must mention the countless inukshuks (stone markers that resemble a human built and used by the Inuit in the Arctic). I don’t know if it’s the rugged, untouched nature or just because the stones are there but people seem compelled to build them. Unfortunately few have the mastery to stack an inukshuk that lasts. A little pile of stones fails to impress in the same way. Of course spray paint is another favored medium but that fades over time or is painted over by local municipalities. The other omnipresent feature is the seemingly innumerable lakes though Superior surpasses the rest. I am looking forward to camping on its beaches at least once. My ambivalence aside, it has been a few years since my last trip through the Canadian Shield and that was by bus so I may just yet be surprised. I certainly hope so or two weeks of drudgery await me.
My last hurrah in the prairies was a detour to Steinbach for their Mennonite Heritage Village. With a variety of historical buildings and artifacts, some recreations, and a few memorials, it documents the history and experiences of the Russian Mennonites who settled on the prairies starting in 1874. My roots run through this region and people so the village is of particular interest to me. My ancestors left for Mexico in the 1920s when the province made public education with standardized curricula taught in English mandatory. The goal was to improve education and create loyal British citizens. Many Mennonites felt control of their education essential to passing on their faith so they migrated again. I would be interested to know the experience of French Manitobans during this time. The private German schools were closed as I suspect French schools would have been. I saw many contemporary French schools at least according to signage; did they return before Canada’s Official Languages Act (1969), which instituted national bilingualism? Mennonite educational institutions eventually reappeared but primarily in the form of bible schools. My alma mater Canadian Mennonite University is an amalgamation of two such schools.
Road Report: 159km
I’m on the TransCanada again except for the 50km detour to Steinbach. For most of the stretch there is no shoulder but the highway is two-laned and drivers were fairly generous about going around.