We had one day to explore Winnipeg, and figured the fastest way to cover real ground was by bike. We started at Assiniboine Park on the west side and planned to ride across the city using as many downtown cycle paths as we could, finishing at The Forks where the Assiniboine and Red Rivers meet.
The day was already heating up before we even left the campground — high twenties, pushing low thirties in direct sun — so by the time we unloaded the bikes at the park, we were already warm enough to question our life choices. Our biggest mistake was having our phones buried in our backpacks. Every few junctions we’d stop, dig them out, check the route, then pedal off again… only to realize we’d messed up and needed to stop once more. After a while it became a cycle-tour version of “recalculating,” and the frustration definitely built.
We did eventually make it to The Forks, and along the way saw just about every side of Winnipeg: the riverfront mansions that look like they were built with lottery winnings, and the rougher neighbourhoods where half the people seemed high as a kite but generally cheerful — lots of singing, not much menace.
(Yes that is a freaky sculpture made from hundreds of bicycles welded together…)
Fed up with the constant navigation stops, we headed into the downtown core and visited MEC (Mountain Equipment Company). We grabbed a pair of phone mounts for the bikes so we could use Google Maps while riding. Absolute game changer. Suddenly navigation was easy, photo stops were quick, and the ride back to the truck was smoother and faster. All told, we covered about 25 km.
Driving back to the campground, we really noticed how different Winnipeg drivers are compared to Calgary drivers. For fun, we asked Copilot for a summary, and it delivered:
Winnipeg drivers are known for:
- Hesitant merging
- Speeding up when someone tries to merge
- Passive, last‑second lane changes
- Creeping into traffic instead of committing
- Weather-shaped caution mixed with unpredictability
We wholeheartedly agree.
And as a follow‑up to an earlier post about hauling the bikes: here’s the finished custom rack I built for the truck, which lets us carry the bikes in the bed and still close the tonneau cover when they’re not loaded.
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