12/09/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


Some of our riders will be doing the Tinsel Triathlon Sunday so I wanted t make the Friday ride a rather easy ride. However to be honest I try to make most Friday rides easier rides but it doesn’t always work out that way. All it takes is for three A riders to feel just a bit aggressive and any hope of a easy ride can go out the window. All I could do was hope the A group wanted to save some energy for the race on the weekend. After we pulled out onto Gilmore and then took Acacia I was hopeful with the A group trailing us easily.


We were setting a pretty good pace even for the warm up to Kirby and it wasn’t much slower heading south towards the Railroad tracks. I could tell I wasn’t going to get much of a chance to warm up slowly so I might as well just fall in line and hope I could hold on till we turned to Cypress and headed for Johnston.

Fortunately we tend to slow down a bit as we pass through the housing tract heading for Johnston. Today was no different and I got a chance to catch my breath as we moved west towards Sanderson. Spartacus and Highlander trailed Vortex and Wolf with D’Artagnon, Gambler and Bandit pacing themselves in the back. So far it looked like everyone was going to play nice at least that is what I thought as we moved out onto Sanderson and then made the turn towards the airport.

Vortex took us out onto Stetson and we quickly formed a pace line heading for Warren. I was surprised at how well we were rolling as we got to Warren and then rolled on towards California. Vortex took us on a pretty good lead out as we rounded the corner onto Stowe and got ready for the run to the Barn just before Winchester. Our speed kept creeping up and I kept looking back to see if the A group was about to make a break when Spartacus flatted. The time spent fixing the flat was just long enough for my legs to cool down and I was rather slow getting back up to speed. That didn’t stop the A group from sprinting to Winchester. We got to the stop sign right behind them and we all turned together towards Domenigoni.

The A group decided to light the after burners about halfway back to Warren and the rest of us worked together to follow them to the Marina entrance. It was a 4 and 4 split at that point with Wolf joining Gambler, Bandit and D’Artagnon in the lead group and Highlander, Spartacus, Vortex and I in the other. We regrouped at the bottom of Seven Dollar hill and got ready to head for McSweeney before continuing east to Fairview


After cruising through McSweeney we pulled back out onto State Street and began to position ourselves for the sprint after Domenigoni. I was in a good position till we caught the light on Domenigoni and State red. Then somehow I ended up in the lead heading for the rise preceding Chambers. This was no place to be with the whole A group behind me and ready to spring out into a sprint any moment. I kept looking behind me and could see Wolf teasing me with a wave saying he was simply waiting to see if I tried to make a break. But it was D’Artagnon who broke out first and came by me like he had been shot from cannon. Bandit and Gambler went after him and I got a late jump to follow. Wolf stuck to my back wheel like glue and I had to work my fanny off to catch Gambler. Once past him I got in D’Artagnon’s draft and closed on him about the same time as Bandit. It took all the effort I had so Bandit and I just looked at each other as we passed and more or less agreed the sprint was over.


After soft pedaling till everyone was back in line and worked our way to Thornton and then Santa Fe before coming back out onto Stetson and heading east. We were a bit tired I think so we took some time to talk and cruise past Girard and onto Columbia to ride through the old houses along Crest.

We worked our way over to Lake and then back out onto Stetson to Fairview. Once again some of the riders picked it up a bit and we spread out in a very long three part line. We regrouped on Fairview and got ready for the sprint over the bridge before making our way to Florida and then up to the ranger station.


We took a rather long break at the ranger station before taking off again for the run down to Carl’s. Vortex got out of the parking lot first followed closely by Highlander. Wolf and I dropped in on their back wheel and held on as they picked up speed heading for the trees. I knew the sprint was coming and as soon as Highlander started to pull out to pass Vortex. The A group closed on us but I got a good jump on the group and pulled through the trees in front. I still felt good but decided to hold up to make sure we all got to Carl’s together.

We had some coffee and conversation before splitting up and heading for home. I followed Highlander, Spartacus and Vortex back to Burger King before heading home with about 45 miles on the computer door to door. It was a great ride and a great day. Let’s hope the weather holds for next week.