9/03/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


It was my intention to have a nice easy uncomplicated flat ride this Friday. I didn’t want a ride that was too short or too long, too fast or too slow I wanted one pretty much like the baby bear’s porridge in the story, just right. So I went to my map program and picked out a nice looking little ride through some houses we don’t normally ride through. I left the house pretty proud of myself for coming up with a relatively new route that would be interesting for the B group and add a little challenge for the A group. I couldn’t wait to see how all showed up for the ride.

When I got to the parking lot at Burger King Updraft was already waiting for me. But it wasn’t long before Ocelot, T-3 and Duramax arrived followed shortly by Gambler, Highlander, Hit man and Warden. It was good to see some returning riders with us as well as some new ones. Centaur was back and he was joined by Mike and Gina both new to the group. It seemed like I had an A and B group so I was ready to go. At 7:30 we headed out of the parking lot and over to Kirby to head north towards Esplanade.


The ride was going pretty smoothly till we crossed Sanderson on Esplanade where the road started to feel a bit like cobble stone. It didn’t get much better as we approached Warren road. Once we were passed Warren road the scenery got better but the road didn’t. I began to hear rumblings from behind me and I knew it wasn’t from the bikes. Skinny little 700x23 tires don’t do well on cracked pavement. Thank goodness there was something to look at as we rode along.

We worked our way through the housing track and over to California Street before turning south towards Devonshire. It seems the rain we had a few weeks ago washed a lot of sand onto the road back in the area and we found ourselves riding slaloms till we got to California. The smooth road towards Devonshire was a great relief to most of us and it gave us some time to discuss removing this particular ride from our list of favorites. No problem for me because I wasn’t all that found of it anyway. I don’t think Gina was going to give it thumbs up if asked about it either.

Once out on Warren and heading south I explained the plan to release the A group once we got onto Domenigoni. I didn’t have to mention it twice as Gambler and a few others started to pick up the pace. Once they were out on Domenigoni they were like a released pack of dogs running after a rabbit. I informed the B group that we would not be stopping at the Marina thinking we would get a head start on the A group heading for Fairview. It didn’t work out just as I planned because Ocelot, T-3 and Duramax headed for the marina and Hit man, Mike, Gina, Highlander and I headed for State Street. Once we were out in front of everyone else we were like bank robbers running from a posse thinking the A group would be coming off of the hill any minute and running us down.

What we didn’t know was the A group regrouped to collect the few B group riders that went up to the marina. Still we split up at Columbia and Stetson and regrouped at Fairview and Mayberry. Mike and I headed for the Ranger station and Highlander, Gina and Hit man headed for Carl’s. Mike and I made the Ranger station without seeing any sign of the A group behind us and we even waited to see how far they might be behind us. After a few minutes we started back down Florida to meet up with the group at Carl’s. We saw Updraft running towards the Ranger Station like a Santa Ana wind so we pushed it a bit to get back in case he decided to turn around and run us down. Turns out Warden had a flat so we got to Carl’s before Duramax and his group.

We sat and talked for a while and got to know Mike and Gina a bit better. We can only hope they feel comfortable with our group because we enjoyed having them with us. Of course we teased Warden about having a flat and generally had a great time visiting. It looked like Gambler and some others went home early but he has to work so that isn’t a big surprise. Still Casey Jones met us at the coffee shop and we visited with him and Raptor for a while as well.
We headed for home our separate ways and I went with Warden and Gina back towards the west end of town. First Gina broke off and then Hit man so I got back to Burger King with Warden just after Centaur and Highlander. It was a great ride even if we split up a few times. I got in close to 40 miles and I still feel pretty good. But just as I pulled up to the house the temperature read 100+ degrees. Starting early was a good idea after all.