12/10/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)




Sometimes you have to wonder just what we did to deserve living where we live. If you happen to be a cyclists there isn’t much more you can ask for in weather than what we had today. Traffic was light no wind and a temperature a bit under 70 degrees is just cool enough no to overheat and not so cold you need a vest. In other words I was looking forward to today’s ride.

The group quickly formed with Rocket, Dura-max, Gambler, Double Time, Sea Lion, Highlander and Cossack. Raptor rolled up but left to do one of his modified rides. Just as we rolled out of the parking lot Ruby Tuesday and T-3 joined us. We headed down to Acacia and then over to Kirby and headed for Cypress to make the cut over to Sanderson.

Once on Sanderson Ruby Tuesday took the lead and we follower her all the way to Domenigoni before turning west for the run towards Warren Road. It is here where the pace normally picks up and today was no different. When Gambler picked up the lead we crept up into the 20s. By the time we had rotated through one time we were getting close to 24 MPH and the lead group was Cossack, Gambler, Double time, Rocket, Sea Lion and I. When Cossack got the lead back we were cruising at 25 and getting close to 27. As we got to the bottom of the Saddle people lined up to take a shot at the hill sprint and even I was thinking of giving it a shot. A quick look at my HRT told me I should second guess on the sprint part and I watched Cossack, Gambler and Rocket pull away. Shortly after we started towards Menifee I flatted and that was the last I saw of Rocker, Cossack and Gambler. Sea Lion and Double Time stopped to help me and I ended up spending the rest of the ride with them and Dura-max, Ruby Tuesday, T-3 and
We made the turn onto Menifee and then Scott road before heading north on Haun to Newport. Once we started down Haun we mad at least one sprint and I couldn’t get away from Double Time. We all made the left onto Newport together before turning once again on Bradley. We quickly made it over to McCall and started east towards the hospital. Sea Lion took off and I tried to follow and somehow we made it through the light at Encanto and Sea Lion got caught at Hillpoint where I got on his rear wheel. I let him pull me almost to the flat spot in front of the Hospital when he missed a shift and I managed to sneak past. Once we started back down the hill Double time pulled like a freight train till we got to Simpson and Sea Lion pulled most of the way to Winchester. I pulled us up to Stowe and Double time started to think about Hanger 1 and the pace picked up.

We were all talking about what a beautiful day it had been and how lucky we are to be in a place where we can ride almost 12 months of the year. I noticed that our pace had averaged close to 17.5 Mph up to this point and thought it was a pretty good pace for cruising. But then it is a lot easier to cruise at that pace with six or more riders helping pull. Sea Lion was running strong and Highlander was staying with us even after being off the bike for more than a week. I was impressed with how well we were doing as a group and how well we get along as Sea Lion once again got in front and headed down Stowe to California.

I freely admit that I was getting ready for a break because my legs were starting to get tired and the saddle wasn’t quite as comfortable as it had been at the beginning of the ride. I fell back to talk with T-3 as we got close to California. It was also good to see Ruby Tuesday back with us because we don’t get to ride with her all that often now that she works out of town. We all closed on California within a few yards of each other and turned towards Stetson.

We moved down Stetson and got close to warren Road when Double time took off on a break. By the time I got to the front of the pack he was halfway to the airport. I managed to close within a few yards when he turned off of Stetson and slowed down to smile at me because he got away with the break. I wasn’t sure it was a breakaway of if it was a run to see what freshly baked goods they might have at Hanger 1. We had some coffee and some had a light breakfast before heading home. By the time I got home I had a good 38 miles on the computer. It was a great ride and a good time to spend with friends. It is the kind of thing that keeps bringing us back.