9/03/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) There are just a few favorite rides that people seem to like for Mondays and Juniper flats just happen to be one of them. So I posted a ride for Juniper Flats and only needed to see who was interested in showing up. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised when I got to Burger King and even more surprised once we were out on the road. Dura Max was waiting as usual and he was leaving as usual to ride with T-3 and Ruby Tuesday. Highlander pulled up with Tax Man and Surgeon pulled into the parking lot about the same time. The Red Rabbit was with us again and to my surprise Metric Man showed up coming all the way down from Beaumont. Digger arrived and we were ready to go. For Digger this would be a first. Like my first time he wondered how hard someplace called the Flats could be compared to any other ride. We pulled out onto Latham and headed to Lyon just to find out.

For some reason the group seemed rather eager as we cruised north on Lyon and moved quickly past Devonshire and spotted Dura Max and his group in front of us. They must have spotted us as well because we really were not closing on them as we rolled past Fruitvale. We continued to keep pace with them till the caught the light on Esplanade and we rolled up behind them. It warmed my heart to see T-3 out and looking strong. Ruby Tuesday must have had the day off and it was good to see her as well. We stayed together all the way to Ramona Boulevard and headed towards Sanderson.

Once we turned onto Sanderson we got stopped at the light on the Expressway and had to wait for a green. Once we were on our way Metric Man pulled us to Warren where we caught the light again. As soon as we were on our way again a pace line formed and I looked back to see we were dropping part of the group. I dropped back only to be past by Digger, T-3, Ruby Tuesday and Dura Max. For some reason the Rabbit was falling back but it turns out he was riding in his small ring and simply couldn’t spin past 17-19 MPH. I tried to keep within range of the departing two groups but I noticed Torpedo was pulled off to the side of the road making adjustments. He didn’t need my help so I continued pulling the Rabbit all the way to the stop light where we regrouped before the attack on the Flats.

Once we were back on our way the Rabbit took off like he was on fire. It took me at least a quarter of a mile to catch him and it took another quarter of a mile for the group to catch us. By Contour the Rabbit had fallen back with Tax Man and Digger was behind them. Dura Max, T-3 and Ruby Tuesday were cruising somewhere behind that. Way out in front was Torpedo and Metric Man. By the stop sign Metric Man came back to join Highlander and Surgeon. Tax Man and Rabbit past me making a charge at the climb. I dropped back to ride with Digger to give him some insight on how to pace himself. We only made it over the first climb when Ruby Tuesday came flying by chasing after Highlander and Surgeon. Some of the group waited till Digger and I got to top of Juniper Flats and after only a few moments Dura Max, T-3 and Ruby Tuesday crested the top and started down the back side. Soon Highlander gave chase and I followed Metric Man on the decent. Surgeon, Metric Man, Highlander and I rounded the corner on Florida and regrouped at the high school where we got a call telling us that Tax Man had a derailleur failure and was calling home for a ride. We headed for the dump road on Briggs. Just after we came out of the housing tract Ruby Tuesday started a fast run at the dump road. After turning east Metric Man managed to close on her back wheel and as he started to pull away I caught his back wheel and the ride was on. I held on the best as I could till we got past Leon and he started to back it down a bit. The group split up on Winchester and Highlander, Surgeon, Rabbit, Digger and I went to Chris’s while Metric Man, T-3, Dura Max, Ruby Tuesday headed for the barn. After we had a break at Chris’s the rest of us followed to Stowe and the run back home.

The run down Stowe was easy and uneventful and we followed Surgeon onto California. I pulled once we got to Stetson and kept the lead till surgeon left us at Warren. I was still out front as we turned into the airport road and we worked our way out to Sanderson and like every other day the light was red. Highlander started us north on Sanderson and we pulled into the Lowes parking lot to work our way over to Acacia and back to Gilmore.

We rode back to Burger King together and briefly stopped as Highlander loaded his bike in the car and Digger and I road back to Palm together and headed our separate way home. I got home feeling pretty good and after rehydrating took a cool shower and kicked back. I was good to see Rabbit and Metric Man on the ride today and it was good to see Digger make Juniper flats on his first try. All in all it was a good day.