Saturday afternoon

Winnipeg seems to have bested Ottawa for the title of longest skating rink in the world. I'm not big on civic pride, but I am big on avoiding homework, which was the main purpose of my trip on the rink yesterday.

I've skated the river trail in some of its shorter incarnations before, but it certainly is longer this time around. And the problem with travelling a long trail is that unless you have transportation on one end, you end up doing the whole length twice. At 8.54 km, that was 17 km of skating for me. Not too bad, but maybe overdoing it a bit since I haven't skated since last January.

Having travelled first east on the Assiniboine, past the Forks, and north up the Red, I reached the current endpoint. The men in the picture seem to be testing the ice, which seems to be something you'd want to do before you clear the trail.

North-east end of the trail (map)

The ice on the Red River portion wasn't in great shape, but there were a few interesting sights along the way.

Looks fun

First of many bridges

The postcard bridge.

Moving onto the Assiniboine, ice conditions improved a bit. As in years past, there were a couple of hockey rinks cleared which were hosting a shinny hockey tournament, like something out of a Don Cherry wet dream.

Approaching the Forks

Louis Riel. He'll have his day yet!

West of the Osborne St. bridge, the crowds eased considerably and it was possible to make considerably better time. It's interesting to have a chance to see your city from the river which you don't normally get. For example, this sewage bridge, connecting Wolseley and Wellington which I had always known existed, but had never seen:

Poop bridge

Western terminus, by Omand's Creek park

It's a good way to spend an hour and a quarter on a Saturday afternoon.