5/13/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)




It may still be cool now and then but one look outside this morning made it pretty clear that winter is gone. With better weather we have also had more riders turn out for the rides. I had pretty good expectations for today’s short easy ride. By 8:30 we had 16 riders so I guess it could be said I wasn’t disappointed as we pulled up to the stop light on Florida and Gilmore.


It always takes a few minutes for the light on Gilmore to change to green but once it did T-3 was quick to move towards the front of the group and lead us towards Acacia. It is almost time to split back into two distinct groups again like we do almost every summer. While we have been getting a pretty strong A group I have been surprised at how aggressive some of the B group riders have been lately. I have also been surprised at how strong those same riders have been towards the end of some of our rides. T-3 and Highlander have stepped up their game quite a bit in the last few rides and looking over my shoulder I could see that Highlander and T-3 were planning on being in a good position for this ride as well.


As I got to Acacia and made the turn towards Kirby T-3 closed with me and paced me all the way to the light on Kirby. We turned towards Cypress and she obviously had warmed up faster than I had because she pretty much set the pace as we headed south towards the Rail Road Tracks. We turned the corner together and the rest of the group followed just a few yards behind.

Today two riders joined us that I hadn’t expected, Full Throttle was back again and Barracuda joined us for more than pre-ride conversation. Add that to the heart of the A group in Rocket, D’Artagnon and Gambler and you have the prospect of a good club ride that you can do a lot with. I already decided that it would be a good idea if the A group made the extra climb to the Marina while the B group made a run for Cactus Valley. It is always a challenge to see if the B can be caught before they reach the end of Cactus Valley. There have been days that it has been close even with a good lead by the B group.


I was surprised to see several of the B group riders turn to follow the A riders towards the Marina. Still I managed to lead Ruby Tuesday, Full Throttle, Highlander and T-3 down to State Street and headed for Cactus Valley at a pretty good clip. I pulled as long as I could until I found myself a bit winded and in pain from sucking air in past my teeth. The dentist had left my mouth a bit sore and breathing hard through my mouth wasn’t making it feel any better. After I pulled off of the lead Full Throttle took over for a while until Ruby Tuesday made a small break at the hill on the corner of State and Cactus Valley. I grabbed her back wheel and drafted her all the way to Sage and up the hill till we got to the end of the pavement and waited for the rest of the B group to arrive.


We decided not to wait for the A group and headed back towards State Street only to meet the A group coming at us before we got back to Sage. We managed to get back to McSweeney before Blood Hound caught us at the lead of the A group. We more or less merged as a combined group as we moved back towards State and we found the rest of the A group waiting for us at State so we regrouped and waited for the stragglers


The A group pulled away heading east and Highlander followed with Ruby Tuesday and T-3. I waited with Warden and talked until Dura-max, sea Lion and Ocelot pulled up and joined us. We started to chase Highlander and his group east as we worked our way north to Stetson and west towards Fairview. Once on Fairview we turned towards Wilson Mesa and regrouped with Highlander, Ruby Tuesday and T-3. Once we were all back together Ruby Tuesday and T-3 decided to break off for home and Sea Lion, Dura-max, Ocelot, Highlander, Warden and I headed north on Fairview to Florida to see if we could meet up with some of the A riders for coffee at Carl’s on Florida and New Chicago.

We did see Gambler, Blood Hound, D’Artagnon and Surgeon having coffee and we enjoyed the conversation while we relaxed and relived the ride and talked about future rides. As much as I enjoy the rides with this group I enjoy the socialization as well. It is easy to see the group as friends and that makes riding with them even easier. So after telling stories for 20 or 30 minutes we were back on the road heading for home. D’Artagnon broke south as soon as we left the parking lot with the rest of us heading for Lincoln.


Gambler turned for home first and by the time we got to Park Dura-max and Ocelot left us. Blood Hound broke off at Yale and the rest of us continued on to the Burger King parking lot. We talked for a while and I headed for home and a good hot shower and lunch. It wasn’t that many miles but it was a good day with some good sprints and climbs. 34 miles isn’t bad for an easy Friday.