4/04/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


Today’s ride didn’t start out as well as might have been planned. On the way to meet up with the group Dura-max had an equipment failure that could have been dangerous. His saddle fell off of his seat post. With nothing to sit on it was hard for Dura-max to unclip but he managed with just a bit of dignity to dismount but he had to abandon the ride today. I have never thought to carry an extra seat clamp bolt and even if I did it might not have been the right size. Then Rocket showed up with some new light weight wheels and a new riding kit to fit the image of his new wheels.


The group started out a bit smaller than last week but still we had Surgeon and Cossack back plus Bandit had joined us after Updraft was back with us after a long absence. As I counted heads Wolf, Highlander, Gambler and I rounded out the group as we pulled out of the parking lot a bit after 8:30.

I expected the A riders to take off and leave the B riders early on but they stayed with us as we moved down Acacia and managed to catch the light green right behind a car on Kirby. We moved south on Kirby and soon made the turn onto Cypress and headed for Johnston. I had suspected that the A group would leave us like a bunch of frisky puppies but they stayed with us as we turned onto Sanderson.

Surgeon and I made the light turning towards the airport but the rest of the group soon caught up and followed us out onto Stetson as we headed for Warren Road. To my surprise the sky was full of Para-gliders and a hot air balloon was sitting right by the side of the road as we passed Warren heading towards California road.

After regrouping at Stowe and Warren we planned on splitting the group in two parts but Highlander got across the street first and pulled us to Chris’s as one group so we didn’t split till we got to Domenigoni. Both groups moved easily down Domenigoni and turned towards the Marina hill. Rocket made a great charge up the hill and was riding back down while I was still heading up. We regrouped at the bottom of the hill before heading to our second climb at Ramona Bowl.

We turned on Domenigoni and headed to State Street behind Surgeon. We stayed together almost all the way to Chambers. Once again we split into two groups and headed for Stetson. Surgeon and Highlander decided against the Ramona Bowl climb and Wolf and I ended up joining the A group as we moved through Ramona Bowl and down onto Crest. Rocket left us at Lake and we followed Gambler and Bandit to Fairview. The rest of the A group left the ride at Florida so Wolf and I headed for Cranston Station by ourselves.
Wolf and I did meet up with Highlander and Surgeon at Cranston Station and before we left for the run home Attack Cat joined us. We headed back down Florida and I pulled to the small rise just before getting back into the trees heading west on Florida. Highlander decided it was time to attack me and dropped me easily as we moved towards Fairview. Attack cat left us and we moved over to Lincoln and headed for Park. It wasn’t long before we were back at Burger King with just over 40 miles on the computer. All in all it was a good ride with a few climbs and just enough distance to make us feel like we had exercised.