1/05/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

It has been a while since most of us have been out on a ride together. Locally we have had about ten days of rain and some of us have been on vacation and all of us seemed just a bit tight and rusty as we met at the Burger King.

Huntress was there with the fit kit for our new jerseys and some of the riders that don’t normally ride in the cold had stopped by to try on the jerseys. By the time we were ready to leave we had a group on ten ready if not eager to ride. We left almost at 8:30 on the dot. We must have looked like a group of snow riders even if compared to back east we had a nice sunny day.


The ride towards the south was calm and very crisp. I had on a base layer, a long sleeve jersey, windbreaker, Balaclava and long fingered gloves and still felt a bit cold. Some were dressed even warmer than I was. Cycobob and Ocelot looked like they were ready for skiing and Highlander just looked comfortable. Rocket and Cossack just looked cold but I was pretty sure they would warm up once we were out onto Domenigoni.

Sure enough as we turned towards State Street Rocket, Cossack, D’Artagnon, Attack Cat and Casey Jones made a run for the Marina. Somehow Attack Cat missed the Marina turn and continued on as Rocket, D’Artagnon, Cossack and Casey Jones headed up the hill. The rest of us passed on the marina and headed for State so we could make the run up Cactus Valley road. I pulled most of the way to the turn and the rest of the group closed on me as I tried to keep a good pace on the grade. Dura-max was right behind me as I turned for the golf course but I managed t pull away slightly only the be run down by Wolf so I fell in on his wheel and followed him passed the golf course. Highlander, Ocelot, Dura-max and Cycobob were right behind me as we closed in on sage.

The B group was about 200 yards behind Attack Cat as we reached sage and started the climb into Cactus Valley. Wolf kicked the pace up a bit as we climbed passed the Baptist Church and it was all I could do to try and stay with him as we crested the hill and passed the yard with the traditional Pit Bulls. For some reason they were not out chasing us behind their fence and we continued on to the end of the road where Attack cat was waiting.

It wasn’t long before we saw Rocket cresting the rise after us. He must have been riding like a cat with its tail on fire to get there so soon after we did and he had Cossack and Casey Jones in tow. A few minutes later D’Artagnon rode up and it was conjectured that he had made two runs up the Marina ramp. I wasn’t sure but I knew it was just possible the run back down to Domenigoni and State Street was going to be a hard fast ride. I lined up everyone and got a quick picture before we started for the ride to Carl’s on the east end of town.

Attack Cat started with one of his quick starts and soon Casey Jones was off giving chase. Well before we got back to the Pit Bull house Attack Cat and Casey were pulling away from the rest of us when Wolf, Rocket, Cossack, D’Artagnon and I decided to give chase. I started to close on Casey as we got close to Sage and he was closing on Attack Cat at about the same place. 100 yards after the stop sign Casey caught Attack Cat and 25 yards after that I caught Casey Jones. I passed and thought I had enough steam to pull away when Rocket caught and passed me. I simply couldn’t force myself to kick it up a gear and fall in on his wheel and a few yards later Cossack closed letting the wind out of my sails. I gave up the chase and Casey, D’Artagnon and Attack cat passed heading after Rocket and Cossack. I waited till Wolf caught us and we rode to McSweeney together.

Rocket and Cossack left at Chambers and we regrouped there. In told Attack Cat where we planned to turn on Columbia and we lost sight of him and Casey shortly after that. We lost D’Artagnon at Columbia and didn’t see anyone else as we turned onto Lake before we got back to Stetson. Highlander turned for home at Fairview and the rest of us rode to Wilson Mesa before heading for Carl’s. We never did see Attack Cat and Casey Jones again, not even for coffee. So we made a quick stop and split up to head for home. I rode back with Cycobob and Wolf and ended up with 36 or 37 miles when I got home.


It was a beautiful day even if it never got above 60. Still it was good to be home and good to ride with friends again.