On Saturday I skated 95 miles (>150km) on the trails around Montreal, a trip arranged by Francis Ross. I never once repeated the same trail in the same direction. Under a clear sky and with light winds it was better than I ever expected. There is a network of trails on the south shore that I had never rolled on before and I didn't know the extent of them. The older Lachine canal trail had been upgraded in several places adding underpasses to avoid crossing any roads. Virtually the whole trip was on trails and we rarely had to cross any roads at any point on the journey. Most of the trails follow the river and the scenery was exquisite. Unlike during a race, you could actually enjoy it. Originally 7 people or so had expressed interest in this trip, but only 3 showed up on the starting line. It turned out to be a good number, and it didn't hurt that one, Jonathan Royer, was a very strong and young racer who did the majority of the work. On a trip of that length there are a number of reasons to have to stop: bladders, foot pain, food, water, so if there had been many more people it could have slowed things down considerably. As for discomfort, it was significantly easier, with less pain, than racing a marathon, and other than needing a snooze (I got up before 4:30 am) I'm none the worse for wear, compared to Ottawa 2 weeks ago after which I was crippled for a few days. I look fwd to returning for the 176 km trip later in the year on the P'tit Train du Nord through the woods in the northern Laurentians, and hope some of you will agree to join me. Stephen Fisher