6/21/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)





When I got up this morning it was with mixed emotions. I wanted to see my friends and go for a ride but I was also sore from a weekend hike. I had planned on a quick easy ride east so if I couldn’t keep up I knew I could cut my part of the ride short and meet everyone at Carl’s. But I also felt like taking another day off for my legs to stop hurting or at least loosen up. Seeing friends won out so I got up, had breakfast and got dressed for the ride.

I got to the parking lot about the same time as Ocelot and just before Rocket. For a while it looked like we were going to be the whole group. But soon Surgeon, Duramax, T-3 and Raptor pulled up as well. As we chatted lightly Sherpa arrived followed by a new rider, Dmitry, who was joining us for the first time. The next was Cossack followed by the last to arrive, Quicksticks, just as we got ready to leave. We pulled out of the parking lot about 8 am and headed towards Lyon and making the turn North. My legs were still pretty tight at this point and I was wondering if I was ever going to be able to catch up with the front of the pack to get a picture. Cossack and Dmitry pulled us almost all the way to Ramona Road.



I finally got to the front just before we reached Ramona Road and headed for State Street. I had already heard that Dmitry was pretty quick so I pointed out who I thought would be in the A group today and told him what I expected to happen when we got to Soboba. We made the turn onto State Street and as I expected Rocket, Cossack, Sherpa and Surgeon got into position to lead us onto Soboba road and started to pull away from the rest of us and Dmitry held on to that group. Just as I had predicted the A group started their run as soon as they made the right turn.


After the turn was made Duramax, T-3 and Ocelot got into a line and started a pretty decent run of their own. I was riding in the back chatting away with Quicksticks watching as they started up the first little hill. All three of them had been riding over the weekend. Ocelot had put in more than 65 miles on Saturday and T-3 and Duramax had done hill repeats with Sherpa on Sunday. I wasn’t sure if I could keep up with any of them as they got over the first hill and headed for the second. It didn’t take long before Quicksticks had picked up his pace a bit and we were on their wheels by the top of the second hill. I was pretty impressed with Quicksticks because he has been off of his bike for at least a month, or at least he hasn’t been out with us during that time. Still I fell in behind Ocelot and drafted both her and T-3 till we got close to the Golf course.


We regrouped at the Golf course and caught our breath while some took the time to shed extra bike jackets, arm warmers or vests. As we pulled away the group spread out a long way and soon we got separated by a stop light and then two stoplights. However as we turned off of Washington and Ramona to get over to Fairview the A group allowed us to regroup and follow them all the way to Florida. As we got ready to make the turn towards Cranston station Quicksticks decided to make the run back to Carl’s.

Rocket, Cossack, Dmitry, Surgeon and I started up to Cranston Station with rocket setting the pace. I was on Dmitry’s wheel and noticed that he was doing a very good job of staying straight and following the draft of the rider in front of him. I looked down and noticed that we were running along between 20 and 21 MPH. That is faster than I have been able to run up Florida all by myself. Before we entered the trees Rocket pulled off of the front and Cossack kept up the pace all the way into the opening after the tree line. About 200 yards before the Station driveway Rocket came from in back and I attempted to go with him but it just wasn’t going to happen and my sore legs started to complain just as soon as I got started. About 50 yards from the driveway Dmitry came back passed me. We all regrouped under the trees at Cranston Station.


I mentioned to Dmitry that the run back down to Carl’s might be a bit quicker than we had been running all morning and he simply got a big smile on his face. Surgeon took us back down to the trees and a bit passed with Sherpa on his wheel. It didn’t take long before the pace line picked up and we were taking turns pulling up to about 24 or 25 as we got close to Fairview. Cossack broke off and headed for home and Rocket, Dmitry, Sherpa and I continued to run for Carl’s. We pulled in a few minutes later to find Quicksticks waiting for us. It was time for coffee and conversation. Half of us rode back towards Burger King and half went towards Stetson. By the time I got home I had just over 33 miles. Another great day with great friends and my legs even felt even better.