10/26/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


It looked like it was going to be an iffy day for a ride when I looked out Sunday night and felt the moisture in the air. It was obvious it had rained when I got up and looked outside first thing in the morning. Looking at the forecast it seems like a good chance we could get in a ride so I tossed on some extra layers over my cycling kit and headed out of the door to meet up with whoever decided to join me. By 8am I was surprised to see 18 riders, and some of them new, ready to hit the road. So it was out onto Gilmore and head for Acacia.


It was still a bit cool as we headed west towards Kirby and I was glad I had on a base layer and a jacket. We pulled up behind a car at the light so I was pretty sure we would make it as soon as the green arrow showed up. Blood hound stayed behind me all the way to Cypress as we turned west once again and the group hit cruise control as we started towards Johnston. Once again we were stopped at the light on Sanderson and waited to make the run towards Domenigoni.

To my great surprise we hit the light green at Stetson and Sanderson so I began to speculate that they have changed the timing between Johnston and Stetson. But it didn’t matter because the group was picking up speed as we passed Wally World and headed for the high school. We quickly passed the school and Centaur took the lead and pulled us towards Warren. The whole group was rolling along at a pretty good clip as we past Warren and crossed over the dry wash. Right after it leveled out and we were back to a 23-24 MPH pace Highlander flatted big time with a pop that sounded a bit like a gun with a silencer.

Once the flat was fixed we were back in one big pace line and headed for Winchester. I was back in the lead as we rolled by Winchester and was planning on pulling out on the lead before we hit Leon. Before I could give up the lead the A group took off on their run towards the Saddle. I gave chase only dreaming than I might catch a back wheel and just as I did the back rider fell off and my chase was over. We didn’t see the A group again till we pulled up to Carl’s and watched the A group heading out. The A group made it to McDonalds well before the B group but we were able to join them for coffee and conversation.

We talked about the ride for a while before I looked over to see Gambler, D’Artagnon and Bandit in a huddle suspiciously looking like they were discussing the run for home. I was only about half done with my coffee so I wasn’t planning on giving chase with the B group for a while after they were ready to leave.

Whatever their plans were they would be taking the lion’s share of the group with them. Dura Max, Sea lion and Ocelot had turned off at Murrieta so we were down to 15 riders. Wolf had to get home early to get some things for work Thursday leaving us with 14 riders.

I think one of the things I enjoy about our group is how they take care of themselves. No one has to assign what group someone rides with the person simply goes with the group they want to. If they can’t keep up with the A group the B group will pick them up along the way. So Gambler, Bandit, Centaur, D’Artagnon, Full Throttle, Jack Rabbit, Matt, Jake, and Blood Hound headed out of the gate to make quick work of the ride home. Huntress, Highlander, Piranha, Vortex and I followed about 10 minutes later. We decided to get out of the wind on Domenigoni and head north on Winchester and then east on Stowe where we expected less wind and less traffic.

We made easy work of Stowe and California before Vortex and Piranha left us at Warren. Huntress and Highlander pulled most of the way back to Sanderson where Huntress took off and all but sprinted to Lowes. I managed to hang on till we got back to Acacia where Highlander pulled us back to Burger King and the finish of the ride. I had a mile or two to go as I left for home and got there with 47 miles on the computer. The day turned out better than expected and the weather co-operated. We have it pretty good out here; at least no one is suggesting we change to studded Bicycle tires.