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



As the sun came up this morning I could see we were going to have another great day. I was also feeling pretty good and was looking forward to an energetic ride. Normally I don’t like climbs but today I was planning on doing better at climbing and still have some juice left over. With that in mind I left the house and headed for Burger King.

I could tell by the look on everyone’s face they considered today’s ride a challenge. We would be heading west to Winchester before making the turn east towards the Marina. I know some don’t care for climbing but we still had a few flat straight runs for pace line work. So as we pulled out of the parking lot and worked our way over to Kirby we were 12 strong and moving along at a good pace. We had a strong A group and a good B group and it was divided pretty evenly.


Rocket, Gambler, Bandit, Bounty Hunter, Double Time and Wolf were in the A group and Duramax, T-3, Ocelot, Valkyrie, Cycobob and I were in the B group. We held the whole group together till we got out onto Stetson and made the turn onto California. I was surprised to see Valkyrie and Double Time take the turn onto California with the A group. I found myself way in the back of a quickly receding pack.
It was a lot of work but I did manage to get with the lead group before they made it to Winchester and Stowe. We all pulled into the parking lot at the corner of Stowe together and only had to wait for a few minutes at most for everyone to regroup. The next stop was going to be down Winchester to Domenigoni to the Marina. The A group started to pull away and I fell back with the B group and turned on Domenigoni. We picked up Double Time and Wolf so the group was split in half.

By the time we got to the Marina entrance Rocket, Gambler and Bandit were already starting up the hill while Bounty Hunter and Valkyrie were waiting for us. The rest of us started up the hill about the time Rocket, Bandit and Gambler were on their way down. The rest of us made it up and started back down a few minutes later. We regrouped at the bottom of the hill where we were joined by Huntress.
Huntress took off and we followed her all the way to State Street where she was joined by the rest of the A group as they once again pulled away and headed for the golf course and then to Stetson. The rest of us followed a few minutes later and turned east on Stetson before turning again on Girard and up the hill to Ramona Bowl. The climb was deceptive and longer than it looks by car but we made it and regrouped at the top before heading out the back side of the bowl towards Crest. We lost Rocket and Bounty Hunter at this point and followed Gambler and Bandit through the houses and once again watched as they pulled away with Huntress. The rest of us stayed together all the way to Lake Street.

We traveled down Stetson and caught up with T-3 who was heading towards Bautista Canyon. The rest of our group made the turn onto Fairview and headed down to Florida. We caught up with Huntress, Gambler and Bandit at Mayberry where Gambler was changing a flat. We continued on to Florida and once again Huntress, Gambler and Bandit pulled around me and pulled away heading for the ranger station. Wolf and I started to give chase but we just had too much distance to make up and we watched as they pulled into the ranger station ahead of us. Turns out Valkyrie was already there.

I managed to catch a wheel on the way back and followed Gambler and Bandit back to Carl’s. It turned into a hard run and I was glad to take a break and have something cold to drink before heading for home with Double Time, Wolf, Cycobob, Duramax and Ocelot. It was starting to get hot and I looked down at my computer and saw it was 98 degrees. A week ago we had cold wet weather and this week it has been hot and dry by the afternoon. Duramax and Ocelot left us at Park and the rest of us continued on west towards home.

After turning on Park we easily rode passed the Goats, Sheep and Zebras that one of the big houses has. We continued on to Columbia and then onto Devonshire. From this point on it is pretty much all downhill back to Burger King. After a few blocks Valkryie left us for home and we continued on passed the hospital and then to Santa Fe.

I rode with the last three riders back to Palm and decided to turn for home. It was bouncing between 96 and 100 degrees and I wanted to get home and get into the shower as soon as possible. I noticed I had just about 43 miles on the computer and my average Heart Rate was still less than 122. As I had hoped it was a good ride and challenging as well.