11/05/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


The weather conditions for our group rides have been close to perfect the last few days. From last Friday through today things have been clear and very little wind. It was my hope that today would be just like the other days and as I looked outside I had a feeling things were going to be just fine.

There wasn’t quite as many riders today as I expected but still we had 10 and I noticed Raptor and Snow Goose were leaving the parking lot just as I got there. We didn’t talk long before it was time to mount up and leave. A quick trip down Gilmore, over to Kirby and turn onto Cypress and we were on our way. Ruby Tuesday and T-3 looked ready to get some road work done.


Up to this point I wasn’t sure if there would be groups or not. After the way T-3 and Sea Lion pushed the group on Wednesday it was just possible that with the addition or Ruby Tuesday we would just have one big pace line all the way to the end of the ride. Still with Rocket, Cossack, D’Artagnon, Hit man and Surgeon in the mix I knew the pace might pick up at any point and I could only hope to stay close if the group did start to split.

We made it through the housing track and out onto Sanderson without any problem and moved passed the Airport without my Heart Rate monitor taking some magic jump to 250 or better. Something at the airport or at most airports that at times seems to mess with my Monitor but not every time I get near one. Once out on Stetson we settled into a pace line that took us all the way to California and Stowe.

Once we made the turn onto Stowe we allowed things to creep up to about 21 MPH but the group held together well. In fact we didn’t need to regroup at Winchester and simply rode down Winchester to Domenigoni were we all got caught at the light. Once we made the turn east on Domenigoni things started to break up a bit. Once Rocket, Cossack, Hit man and D’Artagnon took a turn at pulling we were at 24 and the group broke in two. Dura-max had three other people with him and we had six total. We were still more or less in two groups when we got to warren Road where I spotted Sherpa sitting on the side of the road waiting for us. I made a tactical error and slowed down to pick him up and Rocket, Hit man and D’Artagnon got away from me as I fell out of the draft. Soon Sherpa passed me on a TT bike and I found myself about 100 yards back with no way to close.
I continued on till Surgeon let me catch him and we took turns drafting till we made it to State Street were we watched Rocket and the guys disappear heading to the Golf course. It turns out the Sea Lion had to leave early so we lost him after he turned for home as we ended up regrouping on Thornton and Buena Vista. This was pretty much the last time the group was together because we lost Rocket on Stetson leaving five of us in the lead group and three following.

We lost D’Artagnon at Lake and Stetson and then we lost Surgeon on Fairview and Florida. Dura-max, Ruby Tuesday and T-3 decided to head for Bautista and that left 4 of us to make the run to Cranston. Sherpa made a great pull all the way passed the trees and we ended up in a sprint for Cranston. The ride back to Carl’s was fast with Sherpa pulling most of the way back to Fairview on the TT where he and Cossack broke off for home. Hit man and I made a quick coffee stop before heading for home.

I ended up with a bit more than 39 miles at a bit more than 17mph. Like I said we had three good cycling days and today simply made it 4 good days in a row. Hit man and I ended up riding back to the west side of town together with little or no trouble and I got home just in time for lunch. Like I said before, “another great day for a ride.” I am glad we live where we do.