11/16/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

It was time for some climbing and a chance to see how my legs had recovered from my more aggressive bike set up. I didn’t know how many people would show up for the ride but I was looking forward to it. I started down Palm and noticed that there was a bit of cool humidity but at till I got to Florida and turned west. I got to the parking lot and was surprised to see Wolf and Centaur talking by Centaur’s truck. If we needed and horses shoed we were in luck.

People started to show up by twos and threes and soon we had 14 riders ready to head out to Latham and over to Lyon to begin the trek north to Ramona.


I got out in front and started an easy pull that moved from 16 to 17 and then a steady 18. I thought I would hold it steady at 18 but by the time we passed Cottonwood the pace slowly picked up till we were pushing 20 and then 21. To me it simply seemed like an easy pace but what it was really a precursor to the ride down Ramona expressway.

The A group was pretty big today and as we closed in on Warren we were doing about 23. It was easy to see things weren’t going to slow down any and I was still feeling good as we past Bridge and some of the leaders were falling off of the front. By the time I had 4 riders behind me the group started to fracture. I decided to drop back and help the trailing group make it up to the light at Lakeview. It was so foggy that Matt missed the lead group turning at the light and we regrouped before he made his way back to the light.

This would be Spartacus’s first ride up the Flats and I wanted to follow him up the hill. Double Time indicated he might head over to Nuevo and go around the hill so he left early as we waited for everyone to get rolling. D’Artagnon flatted giving Double Time a big lead so I guess he decided the hit the hill and make us chase him. I followed everyone till we started up after the big left sweeper. I decided to see if I could catch the back of the lead group but shortly after the first climb I decided to gear down and spin rather than push. By the second hill Sea Lion caught me and by the last climb Spartacus was hot on my back wheel. We crossed the top of the hill and down Juniper Flats road with Spartacus right behind me. We regrouped once more on Briggs and waited till everyone caught up after the fast downhill.

As we rode through the housing tract and back out onto Briggs things got interesting. Vortex, Wolf, Centaur and I started after Blood Hound but he had at least a ¼ mile lead. When we turned onto Grand we got in a pace line behind Centaur and started making a run for Leon. We were gaining on Blood Hound and I noticed the rest of the A group started lining up behind us. We had a reasonable lead and Centaur had us moving at least as fast and the chase group as we closed in on Leon. Vortex took over just before Leon and pulled us to almost the rise. Now the chase group was closing and Wolf took over to make a run for it. The chase group broke up into individual sprints and I saw then just before they caught us. I managed to come around Wolf and catch a wheel a few yards ahead of D’Artagnon and held onto Bandit and Gambler all the way to Winchester so we could stop for coffee at Chris’s. We didn’t stay long before we were back on the road and up to Stowe.

Double time was cooked by the time we were heading for home. He hasn’t been riding with us much and Juniper Flats is not his favorite ride. Soon I noticed he fell off the back of the group so I rode back and stayed with him till we got back to the Airport where we found Spartacus waiting for us. We caught the long light at Sanderson and Spartacus lead us to Lowes and behind the building towards Acacia.

Double time was still cruising even if he was tired and he followed us out onto Acacia and over to Kirby. Once the light changed Double Time pulled us to Gilmore. We even got the light at Florida green and made it back to Burger King before Centaur was ready to leave. I got home with 40 miles on the computer and my legs felt much better than Monday. Maybe this new set up is going to work.