Ride on, Highway Cat !!: INVASION OF THE KILLER DEER FLIES FROM HELL !

Day 24, Beausejour - Whiteshell Prov. Park (Man.)
Dist. 115km, Avg, 21.3k/hr. Saddle time, 5.5 hours
06 10 2011,

The weather was great and Hwy 44 was quiet, but no Friggin Shoulder !!
Once I entered Whiteshell park boundary, it was Awesome. Just to see the diverse landscape and abundance of life was a welcome change from the dull void of doom that is the prairies. I scared the crap out of a fox. Also a coyote and saw the typical deer and a couple rapters of some sort.
The rolling twisty slopes were a real joy to ride especially because of the almost zero traffic. Unfortunately my tranquil ride became a race. This dark "Borg - Like" mass descended on me from above. A collective of DEER FLIES. They sent out drones to circle my head while the Hive followed above. I tried to outrun them, but I need to hold 30km/hr. or more to drop a few of them. It's useless, because they all descend upon me in minutes. I had one pretty good hill where 40km/hr could be maintained, giving me a 5 minute bug free break. This exhausted me. Also, with the constant swinging of my arms, I almost crashed a couple times. EVIL BASTARDS ! Racing a heavy bike and swinging arms wildly on a rolling twisty rural road is a great impromptu workout that I didn't want. Oh yeah, and it is a hot day to boot.
I managed to find refuge in a convenience store just outside one of the several campgrounds within the park. I drew attention from the woman working there as I was now pouring with sweat and breathing heavy. She was very friendly to me, but was wondering why I was so freaked out by Deer Flies. She's probably right, but they really tormented me, I guess I'm a city wuss.
Anyway, I survived to get a site in "West Hawk Lake". An OK campground, but the site they gave me was on the path to the showers/washrooms, so, I didn't have much privacy. I didn't mind though because I was CAMPING, not Moteling!
West Hawk Lake is also a small town with 2 liquor venders, pub cafe/small store and a restaurant, I couldn't resist all of the above.
After securing a site, showering etc. I walked up to the restaurant for some vittles.
Met another cyclist who stopped for calories and was heading to Kenora (ultimately East Coast also) I think his name was Alex.
A young super thin guy on a very trimmed down bike. He has a month to do the trek. Will be logging 225 km/day ! Crazy. Can't possibly be doing any sightseeing, to each his own. He has the same handlebar bag as me ! (probably the heaviest item on his bike) Good luck lad, I hope the trip goes according to plan. (I gave him my Blog card) I'll probably be in Quebec, while he hangs up his bike shoes.
Had a fire this night, was nice. The firewood vendor is an interesting character.
He was a cyclist and was interested in my trip. He gave me a good price for the wood. A nice gesture indeed...
http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/parks/popular_parks/eastern/whiteshell.html