Needing to be pushed back a day because of the rain last Saturday, the Contagious Mountain Bike Club (CMBC) pushed their Royalty of the Canyon (formerly King of the Canyon) race back a day. The event began and ended at the Schwatka Lake Day Use Area.

The Royalty of the Canyon had two distances, the 25- and the 50-kilometre. Both races used a variety of the trails in the city limits.

Four crowns were given out Sunday. A King and Queen were named for the top riders in the 50-km race and the 25-km male and female winners were the Prince and Princess.

Awaiting all the riders at the end back at Schwatka Lake was a raucous crowd and a barbecue.

The riders left at 10 a.m. Sunday. It was the father-daughter duo of J.P. and Maude Molgat, racing in the 25-km event, who came barrelling down the Rim trail toward the boat launch on their way to the Prince and Princess crowns.

Maude, who was celebrating her 15th birthday, edged out her dad, who came in at two hours even, by one second.

J.P. said it was Maude's birthday gift that they do the race together. The pair stuck together on the trails throughout the 25 kilometres.

"One time I went ahead, but Maude said she was more comfortable riding ahead of me," said J.P. "She set the pace. It works better that way."

He said that he had a tough time keeping up with Maude.

Having poured rain last Saturday, J.P. said the trails weren't so bad.

"The roots were a little slippery," said J.P. "We had a few times were had to get off the bikes, she had a few falls, one time I almost ran her over but everything is good spirits."

They both agreed that it was neat that they got to share the titles as the 25 kilometre royalty and that they were impressed by their times.

"We were surprised we finished just slightly over two hours," said J.P. "There are a couple of sustained climbs. The worst one is Cantlie Connector because it was slippery and had lots of roots. It was a 10-minute climb."

Hot on the heels of the Prince and Princess was the second-place finisher, Cole Germain. He finished in two hours, three minutes.

Once the top three 25-kilometre mountain bikers had ridden past, it was all quite, outside of the sound of squirrels and birds, on the trail leading to the finish line.

Then a low rumble and the sound of snapping twigs could be heard in the distance. Moments later Dave Gonda came zooming down a straight-a-way, moving at a blistering pace toward the crown waiting for him.

Gonda said because of the rain the day before, he had to change how he would race.

"It's always different with the course being pretty wet today," said Gonda. "You had to be a little more cautious on the downhills. I went with a lighter tire so I could make up some time on the climbs and flats.

"The roots and dirt were just a little greasy. It is just a little bit more holding back in the corners."

Gonda finished the race in two hours, 38 minutes, the only 50-km rider to finish below the three-hour mark. For most of the race, he said, he was riding alone.

"After 15 kilometres, I just rode my own pace," said Gonda. "I figured Jonah (Clark) would make up some time on the downhills on me.

"So I thought I could get a bit of a gap on the climb and he would catch me on the downhill. In the end, I got to the bottom of the first downhill, which was Downtown Boogaloo, and I just kept riding my own pace. Turned out to be pretty good."

Gonda said he has raced in the Royalty of Canyon at least five times. He has been the King before but until Sunday, he had not reigned as champion for a few years.

He said he believes it's awesome that the CMBC continues to hold the event. Despite the day change, 14 riders came out compared to last year's nine.

Joining the royal court as Queen was Chrissy McConnell, who handled the slippery conditions in three hours, 47 minutes. The title of Queen was vacant last year.