2/20/2012

By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


Today looked like it was going to be clear and warm much like Friday but when I walked outside with the dog this morning it was cold. So I went back into the house and added arm and leg warmers. I tossed on my jacket and headed for Burger King.

Wolf, Chinook, Rick, and Blood Hound were already there and Highlander and Tax Man were unloading their bikes. D’Artagnon pulled up at the same time as Gambler and Al wasn’t far behind. The last guy to arrive was Rein and we were ready to go. Raptor arrived to lead the C group and while they were discussing their route we headed out onto Gilmore and down to Acacia.


I was glad I kept my jacket on because it didn’t get any warmer heading towards Kirby. Highlander pulled up next to me and looked about as strong as ever. I guess when you give a guy the group trophy he gets energized. Anyway he looked like he was eager to do Goetz today and I figured I would have a hard time keeping up with him. At the very least I knew he would be on my wheel like a heat seeking missile. We turned down Kirby and over on Cypress before turning on Johnston to catch the light at sanderson.

I pulled everyone up to Mustang before we caught the light again and as we took off D’Artagnon pulled in front with Gambler following. We discussed the pace line speed once we were on Domenigoni and Gambler moved up to tell D’Artagnon. Gambler ended up taking the lead on Domenigoni and pulled up most of the way to Warren. He dropped off and D’Artagnon pulled us to Winchester. After we crossed at the light and got started Gambler took over again but before Leon he dropped the hammer and the group started to split apart. They knew we were going to stop at Carl’s so they weren’t going to stop at the saddle but several of us did and we regrouped to start the run to Carl’s.

When we got to Carl’s the big dogs were waiting for us. I discussed alternate routes with Tax Man because he wasn’t positive he wanted to climb Goetz but after assuring him I would stay with him he agreed to finish the route with the rest of us. We left Carl’s and headed down Newport and then over towards Goetz following Bandit, who we had picked up along the way. When we started the climb the big dogs took off and several of the B group gave chase. Tax Man did pretty well on the first climb and fell off only slightly as Highlander and Rein pulled away from us. Tax Man and I got to the top of Goetz about a minute behind Highlander and then headed down to Ethernic to regroup with everyone else. I took off first and we turned onto Murrieta heading south.

We took the short cut to McCall that Full Throttle had shown us and worked our way over to the light and had to wait quite a while before we got to head for Hospital hill. The A group hit the hill hard and continued on to Chris’s while the B group regrouped at the top of the hill and headed for Simpson. Wolf and Al pulled us all the way to Winchester where we turned and regrouped at Chris’s.

When it was time to leave I forgot to remove my cleat covers and everyone left me. I had to chase all the way to Stowe and half way to California. As I started to gain on the group D’Artagnon fell back to pull me up but I had enough steam to get there myself. But as I caught up Tax Man fell off and I had to back down to stay with him. We weren’t far behind as they turned towards Stetson.


Tax Man and I watched the group pull away as Gambler and D’Artagnon took off on a sprint and Blood Hound tried to give chase. Wolf and Highlander took off after them as did Rein, Chinook and Al. Once Tax Man and I turned in front of the airport we picked up Rein after he missed the turn and stayed with him all the way to Lowes. It only took us another 5 or 6 minutes to get back to Burger King where Highlander and Wolf were waiting. I took off for home and got there with 44 miles under my belt. It was a good day even if it never warmed up.