Autumn in Riding Mountain ...

We ended the week in the same way we began it ... riding out bikes on the trails in Riding Mountain National Park.

Yesterday, after church we loaded all five bikes in the van and drove to the Central Trailhead north of Lake Audy. The plan was to venture back out to the old POW camp at Whitewater ... The plan was ...

The reality was:

Beetle and Ms H whining, and complaining AND shrieking "We HAVE to go back ..." So, Mom hung back with them while Noahkila and I kept going ... Then at about the 6 km mark or so, he bailed ... Should a 12 year old boy run out of steam BEFORE his almost 40 year old father???

So he and I turned back and met the other three back a couple of kilometres on the trail where they were having lunch ... We paused and I decided to continue on and take the Grasshopper trail that hugs the buffalo compound as it wends its way south along the east side of Lake Audy. It was a great ride - the colours were stunning ... the trail was just the right challenge ... and one of the view points looking out over the lake was simply extra-ordinary.

We had agreed to meet at the campground at about 4:30 ... I rolled in about 4:10, and spent the next twenty minutes doing the loop from the campground to the gate of the bison compound and back along the lake a couple of times ... It was glorious day for a bike ride ...

Today my knees are hurting - in a good way ... but I know it was great way to spend an autumn afternoon - the shrieking, complaining and yelling notwithstanding ...

Maybe one day the kids will be able to not only keep up with thier old Dad, but they will be able to actually enjoy the journey ... One can always hope ...

(By the way - the photo is NOT me ... my photos from the last couple of bike trips are still not in a format that allows transfer to the computer - but soon ... stay tuned !!)