Conditions reasonable considering the rain and freeze-up. Good for skate, but looked miserable for classic (would have needed klister but then would have picked up leaves from the tracks). Tried to keep up with Francois and Harris, but they stormed up Blacks (they seems to one-skate the whole way, whereas i skied offset and had a water break). They zoomed ahead and I never saw them again. They did 26 km, so assume they did the big loop. I made it to the T-junction and continued towards Champlain. Conditions were iffy till Huron (where 4 deer crossed the trail, heading for the bird feeder), bad to Etienne Brule, then bare pavement beyond that, so I turned round and returned via Blacks, continuind past the turnoff for P6, towards Mica, to get a bit more distance (my goal was 20km). I met the classic skiers at the t-junction, on my way back. Building up the distance nicely...