1/24/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


I know it is winter but I sure didn’t think it was going to be so cold when I started out for the parking lot to meet with the cycling group. I can say I am thankful that my wife bought me a cycling windbreaker for Christmas because it came into good use this morning. Even standing in front of the windows at Burger King didn’t encourage me to remove my jacket. Still it was a good sized group that was ready to pull out of the parking lot by 8:30 to head for Juniper Flats.

Wart was going to be the lone C group rider today and Dura-max and Sea Lion would be taking the B group home early so we were set up to have a good run out Ramona to Hansen. We made it through the parking lot at Pep Boys and rode east on Latham towards Lyon so we could make the turn north towards Ramona. There was a big school bus following us so I never noticed if anyone was following us or not.

We slowly built up speed as we got passed Devonshire, Oakland and Menlo. It was still rather cool and my legs didn’t seem to want to warm up but I was spinning easily and had every hope that it would get warmer before we had to pick it up on Ramona. It was about the time we passed Cottonwood that T-3 must have caught up with us. She must have seen us leaving Pep Boys and had to run hard to catch up before we got up to Ramona. I will admit I hadn’t noticed her chasing at that point until I reviewed my pictures after I got home.

We rode to Sanderson and made a right to the light on the expressway. I don’t think we have ever made the light green and we had to wait till it changed for us. This is one light where running a turn signal is one of the last things you want to try so we waited till it turned green. Once the light changed we turned west on Ramona Expressway and I pulled till we got to Warren Road and then allowed the pack to pass me. This was the first time I noticed T-3 had joined us. We rode behind the B group till the turned on Bridge Street and then followed the A group to Hansen where they were waiting for us. From there on we all took off for Juniper Flats where Casey Jones joined us as T-3 and I stopped to remove our jackets. The next stop wouldn’t be till we got back to Florida and Briggs.

The run down the back side of Juniper was as exciting as ever and soon Casey Jones started to pick up speed with Attack Cat close in pursuit. By the first turn on the downhill side we were packed up like a swarm of bees and flying down the hill about as fast. As we exited the last turn I looked down at my computer and noticed my top speed was just a bit over 43 MPH which makes the run almost as fast as the downhill in Lambs Canyon. Rocket and I slowed down to make the turn on Watson as Casey Jones and Attack cat flew past and ended up going all the way to Florida on Juniper Flats road.
After the Briggs regroup we continued on to the old dump road and worked our way over to Winchester before going back north to Stowe. We talked as we rode back to California and then down to Stetson. Our plan was to stop at Hanger 1 for coffee and then head home. Rocket rode passed the airport and headed home and Attack cat left for some appointment as well. Centaur, T-3, Casey Jones, Wolf and I stopped and took a quick break before heading for home. Once again it was a great ride and everyone seemed to enjoy it or at least parts of it. It did get warmer by the time we left Hanger one and I ended up with just over 37 miles. Not bad for a cold winter day.