7/30/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


The day started out having all the earmarks of a great day for a bike ride. Not too hot and I pre-ran the route the day before to check for newly applied gravel. I was looking forward to trying out my new road shoes and pedals and Fridays are usually pretty casual rides. Only with 20/20 hindsight can I see the day was set up to be a strange one.

My first clue should have been when I arrived at the parking lot to see Ocelot’s bike upside down with the back wheel off. Standing next to Ocelot was Duramax our official tire changing expert. I wasn’t too panicked however because the tire was flat before Ocelot drove to the parking lot where she needed Duramax to bring her a new tube. I watched as they replaced the tube and Ocelot pumped up the tire.


Next we stood around and waited to see if anyone was going to join us before we realized all of us had arrived rather early and it wasn’t even close to the time for us to leave. Just then Bandit arrived and he was followed by Gambler. Still it looked like it would be a small group. However by 8 am we had 13 riders and a definite A and B group. The plan was to ride together to Winchester and Domenigoni and then the A group would take off for the Marina while the B group followed and headed for State Street and Cactus Valley. We took off with high hopes that the plan would work. The first snag happened in the first ½ mile. Troy got our second flat of the day.
This first delay on the corner of Gilmore and Acacia didn’t cause much consternation with the group because Troy is almost a pit crew at tire changing all by himself. Plus it allowed Troy’s friend Jeff to join us seeing as he arrived just after we left Burger king. We were soon back on our way and the plan was still intact. A quick left on Kirby and a left into the housing track and the sound came forward once again, “FLAT” and as I looked back Jeff had not only flatted he had punched a hole in the tire. I figured he was finished for the day but a Kevlar boot was applied and another tire was being changed.
Because the tire had to be booted as well as the tube changed this was more like a rest stop that a repair stop so everyone gust sort of milled around and tried to get their visiting done in small groups, some in the shade and some in the sun. I did manage to go from group to group to explain the “plan” once again. We laughed and talked all the way to Johnston and over to Sanderson before making the turn towards the airport and finally over to Stetson.
At last it seemed that we were on our way and once we got passed the airport we were moving at a pretty good clip down Stetson towards Warren road. Surgeon and I talked a bit as we headed passed Warren and closed in on California and at this point the group was all together. We were doing fine on California and I managed to be in the lead group as we turned on Stowe and got ready for the run to Winchester. I was just setting into a good pace when from the back I hear. “FLAT”! I can’t believe my ears but I look back and there is Gambler, off his bike and taking the wheel off.
It took a while with Gambler’s deep rims and some of the riders were getting a bit antsy about the time. Still Gambler and the crew got the tire fixed and we got ready to get back on the road. Hit Man informed me that he would have to take off because he had an appointment later on so as we were finishing he took off on Stowe and Winchester. Once we did get going again we met up with Bandit and Surgeon waiting at the corner of Winchester and Stowe so we simply made the turn and Bandit pulled us to Domenigoni. But before we got there we passed Hit Man putting his pump back on his frame because he too had a flat. I stayed with the A group but waited at Domenigoni and Winchester for the B group to catch up. They had stopped for Hit Man and were a few seconds behind.

The B group hit its stride on Domenigoni and Hit man keep us rolling along about 20 MPH all the way to Warren Road. I was hanging on his back wheel most of the way as we looked to be gaining on some of the last riders in the A group. At the rate we were gaining it looked like we might catch the group before the entrance to the Water Park and Marina. After the little bridge over the dry river crossing we could see that there was a group just passing Warren just as we were getting to the stop light. We paused at the light and it changed but as we came around the slight bend in the road much to our surprise Gambler was off his bike once more fixing another flat.


I decided to wait with Gambler, Cossack, and Bounty Hunter while Ocelot, Phoenix, Hit man and Duramax headed for State Street and the rest of A group. I had told the whole group that we would meet up at the end of Cactus Valley so I wasn’t too worried about all the riders in front of me. All I was worried about was hanging on till we got to State Street. We caught Troy and Bandit coming back from the Marina and Cossack left us at that point. What I didn’t know was that Ocelot had left as well. Troy and Bandit pulled like a freight train all the way to the turn heading for Cactus valley and as we came even with the golf course I could just make out the small images of a group of riders ahead of us. That image simply spurred Bandit, Gambler and Troy along. I followed as best I could looking back to see in Bounty Hunter was behind me. At the end of Cactus Valley we were a much smaller group than when we started.

Bounty Hunter, Troy, Duramax, Bandit, Phoenix, Jim, Oso Rojo, Gambler and I were all that was left. Jeff left before his tire went flat again and like I said Cossack left at State Street. Ocelot went home. We saw Hit Man heading back as we got close to sage. Surgeon was gone and I wasn’t real sure when he left because he was so far ahead of me. So that left 9 out of 14 to continue on east to Carl’s. We did have two firsts and a last ride however as this would be the last ride for Phoenix because she has to go back to work and the first time Oso Rojo made it all the way to the end of the Cactus Valley ride.

I took off with a pack that included Troy, Bandit, Gambler and Bounty Hunter and stayed with them till we got back to Domenigoni and State. I got left at the light at State and Gambler and Bounty Hunter headed for home. Oso Rojo left as well and as we got to Columbia Bandit and Troy headed for home. I stopped at Thornton and Columbia and waited for the rest of the group so we could finish the ride to Carl’s together. We had some quick coffee and Duramax, Jim, Phoenix and I rode back to Burger King together.

It was a long day but I had a great time and got in 42 miles at just over 16 MPH. I will miss Phoenix and hope we can put together a Saturday ride she can attend soon. Still Centaur should be with us now and then so we will know how she is doing. Jim will be joining us more often and we should see him next Wednesday. However if there was one outstanding rider for today it had to be Gambler. He had two flats and still pushed on to Cactus Valley and Back to Hemet.


Just in case any of you are interested I will post a description of the no flat chant and dance just so people will not have to suffer the fate of my good friend Gambler.

You need one cup of pure water and a spoon. If you don’t have pure water boiled tap water will work.

1. You go out before the ride and face the wind. If there is no wind you face north.
2. You take the spoon and fill it with pure water and flip it in the direction you are facing.
3. The dance part is, Shuffle left, shuffle left, shuffle left, stop and squat.
4. The chant part at the same time as the dance is. Oh no, Oh no, Oh no, no more flats!
5. You do this for all four directions.
6. If you get a flat you did something wrong.
From the scientific journal of Professor Asop F Ables.

7/28/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


When we have such great weather I find that it is best to take advantage of it and ride as much as we can. Ok I will confess I try to ride as much as I can even when we don’t have great weather. Today was a good day for a ride and the weather seemed to be on our side. Turns out several of the riders that normally would have been out with us today had other commitments so we had a bit smaller group than I had expected. Still Cossack, Phoenix, Parky, Sherpa, cycoBob, Surgeon and a new rider Jim joined me as we pulled onto Latham and then headed up Lyon for the beginning of the run to Nuevo.


I was surprised to see Parky at the meeting place because he has been gone for so long that I had assumed he was off on one of his ride across some mid western state ride. I told him where we were going and expected him to take off in another direction only to meet up with us when we got to Chris’s. I was surprised again to see him following us closely down Lyon and heading for Ramona Road.
Phoenix expressed some concern about being able to keep up with us as we reached Ramona Expressway. It seems as if she hasn’t been feeling well but didn’t want to miss the ride. Jim told her that more than likely he would be riding with her because he had only been riding for a few weeks. All I could tell was that as we turned onto Ramona road and headed for Sanderson both of them seemed to be doing just fine. In fact I wasn’t sure I could keep up with either of them.

Once we did get rolling down Ramona Expressway Cossack took the lead and pulled cycoBob, Sherpa, Surgeon and Jim with him. I got caught at the light at Warren and Phoenix and Parky pulled up behind me. Shortly after we got started again I noticed CycoBob was stopped by the side of the road looking at a flat tire. I stopped to help and Phonix and Parky rode on expecting a quick change and that we would catch them before we got to Nuevo. Didn’t work out like that because CycoBob’s spare tube was bad. But we were in luck because Casey Jones showed up and had a tube that would work.
We finally got back on our way and regrouped with some of the others at the small service station on Lakeview and Ramona. After a few seconds rest we pulled out onto Lakeview and promptly Surgeon and I lost the rest of the group. Turns out that CycoBob and Sherpa couldn’t remember seeing Jim ride by when they were stopped so they were trying to call him as we left. Pretty soon Cossack and Casey Jones caught up with us and we saw Parky ahead as we turned on Nuevo road. We caught Parky on Menifee and I slowed to ask if he had seen Jim. Turns out he didn’t and by the time I looked up Cossack, Surgeon and Casey Jones were fading into the landscape. Phoenix call from up in front of us and told me she had Jim with her and would meet me at Chris’s.

I picked it up a bit and headed for Simpson when I got another call from Phoenix saying Jim had a flat and didn’t have a tube. I managed to find where they were waiting and assisted in the changing of the second flat of the day. But just as we were about to get back on the road Phoenix noticed her tire was a bit low. A quick look let me know we had a goat head and our third flat. After another tire change we finally were on our way and heading for Chris’s.

After some coffee and conversation those of us still together started for home. A quick run up Winchester and a turn onto Stowe and we were on our way. Normally this is the part of the ride were we do most of our talking and today was no different. Sherpa explained the advantages of clipless pedals to Jim and Phoenix and I discussed me catching her off guard when I took my pictures. It only took a few minutes before we were at California and Stetson. Phoenix left us as we turned on Gilmore and I rode back to Burger King with the rest of the group.

After watching Jim and CycoBob load his car Sherpa and I rode home together. It turned into a 38 mile ride at a bit over 16 MPH and the temperature was in the mid 80s as I got home. I got all the way home before I discovered my back wheel wasn’t on correctly and my rear brake had been dragging ever so slightly all day. I still had a good time and enjoyed the company almost as much as the ride. This week has turned out to be a great week to be a cyclist living in our area.

7/26/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


I got up this morning at looked out at a clear blue sky and a cool morning and said to myself, “Self, this is a beautiful day for a ride.” I had my breakfast, got on my Kit and put the water bottles on the bike. Checked that I had all the gear I normally take, put on my helmet and gloves and out the door I went. It was my hope that several of my friends would feel the same way I did and show up for the ride. I even made it a bit shorter than normal just so the people that were going to ride Tuesday on the Bautista dash would get in a recovery ride early.

At least two riders were waiting for me at Burger King, Duramax and Sidewinder. After Burner pulled up next and I noticed Sherpa’s bike was leaning against the wall. Rocket, Ocelot, Phoenix, Surgeon, Hit Man, Tax man and Rick arrived next and just before we were ready to leave we had to change a flat. I was surprised how serious everyone looked as we first pulled out on Latham.


We turned onto Lyon and headed for Ramona Road and looking back I could see everyone was staying together pretty well. It was good to see Sherpa with us again. Part of the reason I am still riding is because of his early encouragement and pointers. Even if every time he gave me a pointer I swear at first it seemed like new parts of me hurt that never hurt before. But after a while I did get better using some of the techniques he told me to try.

As we rode down Lyon I started to think about what would happen as we got to Soboba and I was pretty sure that half of the group would be making a run of the little canyon. I also knew that whatever group took off it would include Rocket, After Burner, Cossack, Sidewinder, Sherpa, Rick, Hit Man and Surgeon. However as we got passed Ramona Road only Surgeon and After Burner were riding in the front. Once on State Street the line started to form up with Rocket, After Burner, Cossack and Surgeon moving to the front. Somehow we had lost Sherpa and Hit man so we stopped and regrouped. Once we were all back together we lost no time heading for Soboba.

Just before we made the turn After Burner made a break for it and took a bit of a lead. A group formed in front of me and I started to follow but decided to hold back and try to pull the second half of the group up the first and second hill. Tax man was right behind me as we crested the first hill. As we got ready to go up the second hill Sherpa pulled up next to me and I fell in behind him. However I noticed we were losing the second group so I backed off. I decided to fall back and make sure we all were accounted for by the time we got to then golf course and ended up riding in the back till we regrouped.
After we took off again we got separated by the light at Mountain. As the second group tried to catch up Ocelot managed to get our second flat. We lost the lead group at that point and by the time we were back on the road Rocket and Sidewinder had already stopped at Carl’s. We were having coffee when some of the other riders joined us after riding all the way to Cranston Station. By the time we were all ready to leave for home only Phoenix, Surgeon, Sidewinder, Tax Man, Hit Man and I were left to ride back towards Burger King.

We traveled down Lincoln and over to Park discussing what a great day this had been for a ride. It had been a while since Tax Man had stayed with us for the whole ride and it was a pleasure to get a chance to visit with him after so long. Usually I only get to talk to him before the ride.

We lost Hit man just before we made the turn onto Devonshire and Surgeon was pulling away from us slowly but surely. Sidewinder looked as fresh as he did when we started the ride. Not that it had been all the strenuous but still 17 year olds seem to have energy to spare and short rides don’t seem to even get them warmed up.

Because of the flats and shorter ride I didn’t have as many miles as I had planned and it wasn’t as fast as we have gone before. But the weather was close to perfect and the company was great. Much like last Friday it was just a fun ride with good friends. But I think I can take good rides with good friends anytime they are offered.

7/23/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


Fridays are always unpredictable. I plan for easy rides for Fridays and sometimes they turn into 35 mile sprint races. Sometimes they fracture like glass with riders leaving because they don’t have enough time for the whole ride. Today I honestly didn’t know what to expect but after the ride I have to admit I was very satisfied.


I got to the Burger King just before Duramax and we watched as the rest of the rides arrived. By 8 am there were 15 of us ready to ride. We had Sue and Keith as a C group even if it would be their last group ride for the summer. We had a good sized B group and a reasonable sized a group.

We all pulled out of the parking lot heading down Gilmore to Acacia and then over to Kirby like normal. Looking back I could see the women of the group were fairly represented with Huntress, Ocelot, Phoenix, Mary and Sue.
Turning off of Kirby we managed to get a head count and I noticed we were down to 14 riders and Hit man was missing. Turns out he was caught up in a phone call and had to cancel the ride. I also knew that Centaur and Phoenix would be breaking off early because they hadn’t been riding all that much lately.

The rest of the group rode easily together and got caught up on personal information as we neared Johnston. We had planned a new route today that would take us all the way down Domenigoni/Newport to Lake Elsinore. I looked to Gambler, After Burner and Surgeon to hold the pace down to about 20 in hopes that we could all stay together as much as possible.

We pulled out onto Sanderson with the whole group still together including the C group. I got a kick out of Sue’s enthusiasm as she seemed delighted at being able to stay with the main group all the way to the High school and just about to Domenigoni.

Once we were on Domenigoni we settled into a long pace line and headed for Warren road. Some of us got caught at the light on Warren but we regrouped and stayed together till we got to Winchester. But the time we got to Leon Gambler, Aaron, After Burner and Surgeon were in front and heading for the saddle. I decided to move up in the pack to watch the attack on the hill. Slowly the line started break apart and a gap developed that I managed to cross t get in behind Gambler, Surgeon, Aaron, and After Burner. After Burner started to hit the grade hard and Gambler went after him. Gambler finally managed to pull around and he must have pulled the hill in excess of 23 MPH. We regrouped at the top and caught our breath and got some liquids in before heading on towards Sun City.

As expected Centaur and Phoenix left us at Marietta and the rest of us made our way up the new part of Newport the connects to Rail Road Canyon. The road turns out to be nice and wide as well as smooth because of the new pavement. At the beginning of the grade we spread out in one very long line. I found myself in the trailing group and watched as Mary closed on me as I neared the top of the grade.

The ride down the other side of Rail Road Canyon seemed to make the ride up from our side all worth it. We stopped for coffee at a small coffee shop that seemed anything but glad to see us. We didn’t stay long before we headed back to attack Rail Road canyon once again. This was the longer grade but everyone seemed to make it just fine. We were still pretty much together as we got back to Sun City.

As we got back to the Saddle the women started to get aggressive. First I got “Chicked” by Ocelot as she sprinted by me going up the saddle and then I got “Chicked” again as Huntress passed me as she chased down the lead group

I ended up following Duramax and Ocelot back to Sanderson where they continued on to State Street. I realized that I was still getting back into the riding form I had before vacation but still have a way to go. My feet were tired and hot and my legs were a bit tired but still I got in 45 miles with a good average of 16.5 MPH from front door to front door. I did end up taking a nap after a small lunch but shoot, sometimes I did that before my vacation.

7/21/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


This would be my second ride after getting back from vacation and while I was feeling pretty good I can tell I wasn’t used to getting in close to 40 miles a day while I was gone. I was lucky to get in 10 miles. But it was my hope I would feel a bit stronger than I did Monday. The weather looked like it would co-operate so I switch my wheels and off I went to meet everyone at Burger King.

By 8am Huntress, Duramax, After Burner, Sherpa, Rocket, Surgeon, Quicksticks, Oso Rojo , CycoBob and I were ready to go. We all traveled down Gilmore, Acacia and Kirby in quick order and together. When we turned onto Cypress the sun was to our back and the weather was still in the 60s.


I was pretty sure that sooner or later the group would break into two groups. Even if Sherpa was supposed to be one cruise mode I was pretty sure that Rocket and After burner would pick up the pace and that just maybe Surgeon and Huntress would go with them. I didn’t know about Sherpa and cycoBob or Duramax and Quicksticks but I was determined to keep may pace low enough to keep my heart rate under 155.

The break took place after we turned off of Winchester onto Grand while Duramax, Quicksticks and I cruised behind the main group. Everyone regrouped by Lindenburger and we turned onto Domenigoni as a group. Rocket and After Burner hit the saddle in the lead and I started to give chase only to realize I was well over my 155 limit and heading close to 171 so I backed off and watched as Sherpa and some other passed me. After crossing over the saddle we broke into a lead group of six and a trailing group of four. While Rocket, Sherpa, Surgeon, cycoBob, After Burner and Oso Rojo headed for state street in one pack Huntress, Duramax, Quicksticks and I followed in a second group. We didn’t lose sight of them but we didn’t catch them either.

After the turn onto State Street we broke up some more. Rocket had tom leave as did Oso Rojo. We regrouped with CycoBob and Surgeon while Quicksticks headed for home. Sherpa and After Burner were ahead of us somewhere as six of us headed down Stetson. Finally we lost Huntress at Lake Street while the rest of our group continued on to Fairview. The five of us got to Carl’s first because it seems as if Sherpa stopped to see if the bike shop in Val Vista could add air to his Zips. Oncethey met up with us at Carl’s we have coffee before heading back towards Burger King in a group of four. We joked and talked almost all the way to Park where Duramax left for home.

I managed to get back home before 11:30 with just about 40 miles on the clock and an average speed right about 16 MPH. The best part might have been I had an average heart rate of 128 for the ride. According to my calculations I was in the fat burning zone for the whole ride, except that one little chase at the saddle. Another great day with some great friends. What more can a cyclist ask for?

7/19/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


So where have I been and why is there a gap between the dates of this blog? I have been on a vacation of about 18 days visiting New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. Yes I took my bike and yes I managed to get in some rides but all in all I believe we are spoiled living here is Southern California. We have some nice places to ride and we have better than average roads.

I did manage to get in about three rides in Gallup and two in Colorado. I did ride into town in Gallup at least twice and stopped by the Cultural center and grabbed a picture of the Bronze statue of the Navajo code talker.


The roads were a bit ruff but the bike lane was about eight feet wide all the way into town. It was a bit less when coming back until you got back passed the business area and then it went back to eight feet most of the way home.

Colorado didn’t have real wide bike lanes or at least they weren’t in Cortez but they have a three foot rule in Colorado so the cars are supposed to give you three feet when passing you. Doesn’t always happen but it seems as if they tried. At least I didn’t get run over by any Elk while I was there.


I was looking forward to seeing everyone again when I got home and rather than sleep in I got myself up and into my kit for the Monday ride. I was pleased to see that at least ten rides showed up having heard that it had been hot while I was gone. We all talked for a while after getting to the parking lot before After Burner informed us it was Eight am. So we were off from the parking lot and down to Kirby is short order. I understand Rocket has had to stay off the bike for a while but he was back today just to get out.

After we turned off of Kirby I looked back at the group behind me and realized how much I missed the group while I was gone. I was feeling good and the weather was nice and the ride wasn’t going to be all that long or difficult. It was also good to see Tax man and Von Richthofen who I hadn’t seen in quite a while even before I went on vacation. Sidewinder and After Burner were looking energetic and Gambler and Bandit were looking very relaxed. The Hit man was riding easily with Duramax. With me we had ten riders and for a Monday after a heat wave I thought that was pretty good.

I managed to pull us onto Domenagoni and most of the way to Warren before giving up the lead and falling back to the back of the pack. We held a nice easy 19 or 20 MPH for the next few riders until we got close to Winchester and then we fell apart as a group. We regrouped at the Saddle and Rocket said he had to turn back while Von Richthofen and Tax man made the turn on Linderburger and the rest of us continued on towards LaLadera.


The group got a bit smaller as we passed the freeway on Newport when Sidewinder took off on a solo ride and Hit man left for a brief family check up. Turns out Hit man and Sidewinder ran into each other later on. The remaining five of us rode out to LaLadera, over to McCall and finally stopped at Chris’s. Duramax continued on to ride home on Domenigoni and I followed After Burner, Gambler and Bandit back to the Airport before heading for home. It was a quick 38 miles and a reasonable 16.8 MPH average. Not bad for the first day back. It is a great group to ride with and a great place to ride.

7/02/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


When I first started riding with the group everything seemed like it was going uphill to me. I had to down shift to get up a driveway and my top speed climbing Domenigoni Saddle was 9 MPH. I hated going east because I knew it was all uphill heading towards Val Vista. I remember the first time someone told me we were going to ride to Juniper Flats and I breathed a sigh of relief. Little did I know at the time that there was nothing flat about Juniper Flats. Today I planned a ride to Juniper flats as a nice easy Friday ride. Times have changed.

I got to the Burger King and a few riders were already waiting for me. Sidewinder and Afterburner were standing there talking to Duramax as I parked my bike. Ocelot pulled up just ahead of Gambler and Rocket. Next Bounty Hunter and RCMP, (Dudley) arrived with Cossack and Metric Man. Ruby Tuesday and T-3 got there about the same time as Huntress and The Phoenix. We had a C group made up of Red Rabbit, Sue and Keith so we had 18 riders ready to go. By 8 am the main group was on the road heading for Devonshire and then the turn on Lyon. Eric and Mary joined us as we made the turn.



Metric man took off in front and set a pretty good pace for our trip down Lyon. Normally we sort of cruise to Ramona Expressway before turning west towards Nuevo but it didn’t look like we would be doing much cruising this morning. In fact it looked like we would be pace lining almost the whole ride. Gambler was pushing his new TCR near the front and we had the two young men eager to show what they were made of. With Rocket, RCMP and Cossack in the mix I was pretty sure that once we turned onto Ramona we would be picking up some speed.

My assumption was correct because not all of us made it through the light on Ramona and we had to play catch up till the lead group got caught at the light on Sanderson. Duramax said he would stay with the B group invalidating any excuse I might have for not trying to hang on to the faster group. With that I watched as the young guns took off and set the pace at 21. They made a few attempts to pull away from the group but soon we were moving along at a constant 23 or 24 MPH leaving me absolutely no time to take any pictures. We passed Bridge Street in a tem person line with Huntress and Ruby Tuesday right in the thick of it. Soon however we picked it up again and at 25 started shedding riders as they fell off after leaving even the slightest gap. We regrouped at the light before Lakeview and after a few minutes wait took off for Juniper Flats.

The speedsters took off and I fell back to ride with Ruby Tuesday, Bounty Hunter and Huntress while Metric man and Eric we about two hundreds ahead of us. As huntress teased me about picking Juniper Flats as my last ride before vacation I realized we would be coming to the first of the two big steps in the climb and that both Huntress and Ruby Tuesday were quite capable of out climbing me if I got to the step at the same time as they did. So I took off after Metric man and Eric and made a slight gap between myself and them. I could still pull away a bit on the smaller grades but it seemed to me they would gain on me at the steps. I did catch one of the two in front of me and got to the regroup point just ahead of my two nemeses. We then made short work of the downhill side of Juniper and made the turn on Florida and down Briggs to the dump road in short order. We made a total regroup of the two groups at Winchester.


When we got up to Stowe it was time to get back into a pace line and head for California Street. I was pretty sure the same people that had lead the run down Ramona would be out front heading down Stowe and so I tried to get out front and get a picture before they ran away from me.


We didn’t have far to go before we would be on Stetson and somehow once on that street I always seem to get my second wind. We were moving pretty well down Stowe and much to my surprise we were in a pretty tight group. Up to this point the weather had been about as nice as anyone could have asked for and much to my surprise I wasn’t all that tired. I also realized this was a very good group to ride with. We have people of all skill levels yet they all ride together more for the joy of riding than anything else. Yes we challenge each other and we match our skills against each other but the victor doesn’t look down on the vanquished and is willing to do everything they can t help the other rider get better even if it means they themselves my one day be the vanquished themselves.


We spread out a bit on Stetson and made the run towards the Airport in a line about a half mile long. We started to close a bit as we passed the airport and somehow most of us managed to regroup at Sanderson. I was looking forward to stopping at Kelly’s because by now it was getting hotter and I wanted an ice cold low cal smoothie and some ice water. It was still a pretty big group as we pulled into the parking lot even if Cossack and Metric Man had to leave us. I was very pleased with the turn out today and very thankful to Sue for leading the C group. I understand they had a brief stop at Kelly’s as well. I was also impressed with the B group for climbing Juniper Flats and not losing any more ground than they had coming down Ramona. T-3 said it was one of the best climbs she had had. I will miss the group while I am gone and look forward to riding with them when I get back. I will keep everyone posted on my progress in New Mexico.