1/17/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)




Looking up at the sky this morning I was pretty sure we had an almost perfect day for a ride. Shortly after getting to the Burger King it looked like we might have a good turnout. Then I remembered it was a holiday and I was sure of it. Taking a quick count as we left the parking lot and headed down Gilmore I believe we had at least 13 or 14 riders and we even had Wart representing the C group even if no one else happened to show up.

The ride to Acacia and over to Kirby was easy as normal and we all had to wait till the light changed. It was a pretty tight group that headed down Kirby and worked its way towards Cypress. It didn’t take long at all to ride over the railroad tracks and make the turn onto Cypress. Once we were headed towards Johnston I looked back to see some riders I hadn’t seen in a while. Sidewinder was with us because of a school holiday and Daredevil was back after a bit of an absence. Wolf’s friend Doug and Ink Jet were back with us along with some of the regulars like Highlander, Dura-max, T-3, Attack Cat, D’Artagnon, Wolf, Double Time and Huntress.

As we worked our way over towards the Airport we were joined by Casey Jones. He can be a bit of an enigma when he joins the group because sometimes he is with us at the end and sometimes he isn’t. He is a bit like a porpoise that swims in front of a boat. You never know when he will show up and you never know when or where he might leave. All I know for sure is he was with us when we got to Winchester and he was with us when we back from the Marina but after than he was gone pretty much like where he showed up, a mystery. Still after we all did the marina hill, some more than once, we did the traditional regroup of both groups before heading for the next challenge, the climb into Ramona Bowl.

The ride over State Street was where I expected to lose a rider or two but to my surprise we still had pretty much had everyone with us that we started with. The ride up state was smooth and quick as was the ride on Chambers to Thornton before hitting Santa Fe and out onto Stetson. Highlander expressed some trepidation about the Ramona hill but T-3 was showing some determination so he decided to give it a shot. I will have to admit he did quite well as did everyone. But one thing is for sure we all feel like if is a deceptive climb and it looks as bad as it is.

After working our way back out to Thornton we finally made it over to lake and Stetson before heading for Fairview. We had spread out quite a bit but the group was still together and was still heading for the third climb on Florida. Huntress pulled us most of the way to Florida before surrendering the lead to me as we headed towards the trees and Cranston Station. Huntress got the lead back and pulled the group up to the Ranger station were we once again regroup and chatted before getting ready to head back to Carl’s on New Chicago.
The ride back down to Carl’s seemed easy and fast as always and no one seemed in any big hurry to see the ride end. We were spread out over a quarter of a mile but bunched up a bit after we got back to Fairview and then we all made the light at Ramona before pulling into the parking lot at Carl’s. We still had 13 riders and it looked impressive to see all of the bikes parked out front. There were only two that had to park by the lamp post because all of the wall space was taken.

We left in waves when it was time to go home and I ended up going with the last group. I was feeling a lot better than I had Friday and I think the group was as well. We have very little wind and no one was forced to ride alone. We got to all of the regroup spots within a few minutes of each other and almost everyone stayed for conversation and coffee before heading home. I ended up with 45 miles by the time I go home and a dead Heart Rate monitor. Turns out my chest strap must have leaked and moisture got in the battery compartment and cooked it. Well what can I say; it was three years old I think. Still it was a tossup as to who impressed me more today. T-3 climber the hills as well as any of us and Highlander stayed with us even if he didn’t feel in top form. I think Highlander is stronger than he thinks but I wouldn’t want him to know in case it goes to his head.