This cool windy morning saw 26 riders on 22 bikes dressed very warmly leave the Crystal Falls church parking area at 9:30am. Going

was excellent with most of the water on the trail covered with 1 inch of ice. Some of the riders wanted us to deviate from the

scheduled track to make the ride more challenging but we continued on course stopping often for breaks. When we got to the Tilden

Lake restaurant on hwy 11 we had to cross the bridge because the two alternate routes were impassable. On our way back this

created a bit of distraction because of OPP intervention but because we had guards directing bike traffic for a safe crossing we were

allowed to continue on our way.

With the amount of lunches served the restaurant was very busy but we all enjoyed the stop over. Coming back was fun and the section

before Tomiko Lake was more challenging because of the amount of water on the trail. The new communication units were tried out

and we were not completely satisfied with the results. We arrived back at the parking area at 3:45 pm after 72 km., where some 8 riders

stayed to enjoy a Christmas roast beef meal served at the Crystal Falls Community Centre. Thank Barry Beauchamp, lead and Claude

McGrath, tail for the enjoyable day.