10/11/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


Just planning for today was a pleasure. The weather was getting better and I was feeling better and it was my Birthday. Well it was Bounty Hunter’s birthday as well so it should be a double great day. I determined early on to just go out and enjoy myself and that is just what I planned on doing.

I got to Burger King to greet Duramax, Rocket and Ocelot and I could see Ben and Wolf unloading their bikes. It was still early when Sherpa, Surgeon, T-3 and Bounty Hunter showed up and Valkyrie pulled her truck into the parking lot. Hit man and Mark were the last to arrive. Today I already knew who would be making the full ride and who would be leaving early. I knew Duramax would lead Ocelot and T-3 on the bypass and I knew that Sherpa would be leaving us in Marietta so there was absolutely no reason for me to not ride with the big boys for the day.

We moved down Gilmore and made the first turn on Acacia and the next turn on Kirby all together. I received a call from Quicksticks so I was pretty sure we were going to see him out on Domenigoni. We moved through the houses after turning off of Kirby and headed for Johnson and Sanderson. As we got to Sanderson Rocket and Bounty Hunter slowly moved to the front of the group. I didn’t know how fast they intended to ride once we started west but I was going to do everything I could to hold on.

Once we did hit Domenigoni the pace line formed and soon we were moving along at about 20 MPH. People took turns pulling and by Warren Road we were cruising at about 23. It seems as if each leader picked it up a bit till we were moving along at close to 25. Now the group started to spread out and I simply kept my head down till we got to Winchester where we finally saw Quicksticks. We stopped to help him fix a flat and Sherpa left us to ride to an appointment.
Duramax, Ocelot and T-3 left next planning on turning at Laladera. As we were putting the tire back on Quicksticks bike Valkyrie pulled away and we gave chase shortly after. We didn’t get far because Quicksticks had another flat within the first half mile. By this time we had lost Surgeon, Valkyrie, Duramax, Ocelot, Sherpa, and T-3. With the group we lad left I knew the ride to Goetz was going to be a quick one.
The Goetz Climb turned out to be faster than we normally do it and the ride back over to McCall was fast as well because I noticed that even after the climb we had an average speed over 17.3. We crested McCall and headed for the housing tract at the bottom of the hill.

I can’t believe how well I felt today. The whole group seemed like it was clicking and we were working together and looking out for each other. At least I thought we were as we headed towards Simpson. We more or less recollected all of the remaining riders and settled into a steady pace together.

We got to Chris’s before 10am and took the time to talk and get to know each other better. I had some coffee and an energy bar and we talked cycling, bikes, and told war stories. It was even better because Shadow was with us by this time and we hadn’t ridden with him for months. So we pulled out onto Winchester and headed for Stowe. Just before we got to Stowe I noticed Casey Jones sitting on the side of the road watching us go by. As we made the turn onto Stowe I fell back to talk with Ben and Bounty Hunter just as I watched Casey Jones come flying by. After the climbs we had today I didn’t know if anyone was even interested in giving chase but I gather that Hit Man and Mark did and Shadow started to take off. But I didn’t see if they ever caught him because before I could get up to speed I watched Rocket fly by me going back in the other direction. He went to retrieve a water Bottle Mark dropped and I waited at California and Stowe for him. Still I got in 45 miles by the time I got home.

Once again it was a good day and a good ride to be with good people. I am glad we live where we do and I am glad that I know the people I know. It turns out that Valkyrie had decided to go to Clinton Keith road so we got back first but I let her know we were only a phone call away. That is just the kind of group we have.