12/01/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)



It looked like it was going to be another cold day for a ride but I was pretty sure it would warm up before we got home. I tend to ride better when it is warmer so I was looking forward to today’s ride. Once I got to Burger King it looked like 11 other riders were ready as well.

Highlander, Dura-max, Cossack, Raptor, Huntress, Wolf, Casey Jones, Attack Cat, D’Artagnon, Sea Wolf and CycoBob were all at the parking lot as we pulled out onto Gilmore and down to Acacia. Turns out Cossack got a flat before he could get onto the road and cycobob helped him change it while we waited on Cypress for them to catch up. Highlander and Raptor continued on without us on a ride Raptor had planned.


We kept the pace easy as we rode passed the airport and stayed together as a group all the way to Stowe and Winchester. We broke into three parts on the dump road and Cossack led the fast group to Briggs Street and then up to Mapes. There was some kind of police activity on the blocks just to the east of Mapes and Briggs but we didn’t stop to check it out. Wolf, Sea Lion and I followed at a distance behind the lead group and then stopped to regroup at the ARCO station before heading to McCall and over the hill. We went to the end of McCall and cut back over to Cherry Hill but we were down to eight riders because somehow we lost Dura-max and Cycobob. It turned out there was a mix up in direction. But we followed the lead group back to Bradley and headed towards Newport.

We made a quick stop at Jack in the Box before heading home. I was still testing my leg to see if the soreness was going away and I was cruising along with Sea Lion, Huntress and Wolf as we got close to the Saddle. I knew once we got over the hill that Cossack would run for the barn and D’Artagnon would be with him. I didn’t know if Casey Jones and Attack Cat would give chase till the passed me right at the top of the hill picking up speed on the downhill side

I backed down a bit as Wolf and Sea Lion went by thinking that I might have to lead Huntress down Domenigoni only to have her pass me like I was rolling backwards and watcher her pass Sea Lion and then catch Wolf. We all hooked up behind D’Artagnon and followed him towards the river overpass where I almost took myself out on Wolf’s back wheel. Huntress passed us again and Wolf, Sea Lion and I had to chase her fading silhouette all the way to Sanderson. Once we made the turn onto Sanderson she gave us a break and we all road back to Lowes together.

By the time we got back to Burger King I was just a bit tired but my leg was feeling good and had in a good number of miles. It was in the mid to high 60s by the time we stopped so it was almost warm enough that it would have been worth taking off arm and leg warmers if I had been wearing them rather than a base layer of tights and long sleeve shirt. Still I got in 43 good miles with people I enjoy riding with. What more can a southern California boy ask?