6/15/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)



Sometimes there are names of places or things that tell you all you need to know. As a cyclist in our group there are rides than just the name tells you all you need to know even before you see the route. Juniper flats, Bautista Canyon both represent those rides. But one that everyone knows right off of the bat is Lambs Canyon. The problem is whenever the ride gets posted many riders seemed to find other things to do that day and we end up with a small group. Today I wondered about attendance all the way to the parking lot. I shouldn’t have worried because by 8:30 we had 15 riders ready to go.

Looking behind me as we turned out onto Latham it was good to see a stream of riders still exiting the Pep-Boys driveway. Most of the group was pared up at this point just talking and catching up on the two or three days we haven’t seen each other. T-3 and Rocket followed me as I turned north on Lyon and stayed close as we headed for Menlo. To my surprise the group seemed eager to work their way down Lyon and make the turn onto Ramona before heading to Sanderson. Gambler pulled around me to lead the A group up the hill. Bandit and Attack cat gave chase and the rest of us pulled up to the light on Sanderson and Ramona Expressway right behind them. This would be one of the last times we were that close till we made it through the canyon.

As we moved down Sanderson toward Gilman I rode next to Vortex and discussed the climb and the traffic choke points. I watched as he pulled ahead and the rest of the B group started up the hill. I fell back as Surgeon, Ruby Tuesday, Huntress, and Rocket passed me. I talked a few minutes with Warden and Wolf before they also pulled away with Sea Lion and Anthony, (Spartacus). I ended up back in the back drafting off of T-3 and Highlander as the whole group streamed up the first hill in Lambs Canyon. As the hill started to flatten out Highlander kicked his pace up a bit and he took T-3 with him as the narrowed the gap on Spartacus. By the second hill after we past the dump road they were pulling away while I chatted with Spartacus till we crested the last rise and followed everyone into the Jack in the Box for coffee and conversation.


We took about enough time to finish off a coffee or soda before we started to file out to begin the ride home. Attack Cat took off first and headed for the rise leading to the long downhill through the canyon. I thought about giving chase but everyone hadn’t left the parking lot yet so I held up till the A group caught and passed me indicating they would see me Friday. By the time I was on the downhill side Huntress was on my back wheel and we moved quickly down past the Dump and started for the second decent before we noticed Vortex on the side of the road with a flat. A few of us stopped to help him fix it and then took off once more for home. About eight of us made it down the hill and back onto Lyon.

We seemed to have plenty of energy to make quick work of Lyon and watched as one block after another simply rolled by. Surgeon, Highlander, Huntress, Sea Lion, Vortex, Spartacus, Warden and I made it to the turn at Latham and headed west. Ruby Tuesday and T-3 had already passed the turn and were well on their way home way before we got there.

It didn’t take long before we were back at the Pep-Boys drive way and regrouping at the parked vehicles. Lambs Canyon isn’t one of our longer rides but it is almost always enjoyable. Yes it was a bit warm today but not as bad as it has been in the past. We had a slight tail wind going up and a head wind going down that held us up slightly but all in all it was a good ride and everyone seemed to have a good time. I think I will make the Friday ride a bit more relaxed just to get a break from all the climbing we did this week.