Sunday, after church, Shirley and I headed down to the Forks and picked up my race number and got ready for the start. This year was only 12km vs. the usual 20km, so it was a much faster race. My fingers froze for the first lap and a half and then warmed up and everything was good. The bike performed well with no mechanical problems, not even after pounding down the staircases at the Provencher Bridge. I never did ride down the stairs at the Norwood Bridge, they were just a little too steep for my liking. Unlike many years, I managed not to crash once on the ride, perhaps I was being too cautious, but the course was fairly easy with only one steep downhill, and a short river bank stretch in loose snow.
I pulled ahead of another rider just before the finish line and finished with a time of 54:02. That put me in 27th place of 45, if you count the 6 guys who didn’t finish. It was a good race, lots of fun.