10/19/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) It was Friday again and we had a simple easy ride planned. Backwards McCall only has one little climb on Hospital hill off of Menifee and McCall and while it is a bit steeper than the other side it is shorter. So I was looking forward to the ride today and had decided to take it easy and stay in the pack all day, with the exception of when I had to go back and sweep for trailers. At least that was my plan as I pulled into the parking lot first thing this morning. As I pulled out onto Gilmore and headed south I could see Gambler, Highlander, Surgeon, Huntress, Digger, Dura Max and D’Artagnon and we met up with T-3 before we got to Acacia and headed to Kirby and south again.

After snapping a picture or two I would fall back into the group and draft off of whoever was in front of me. I was a pleasant feeling moving along with the pack and not having to fight the head wind that most times seems to hit me in the face whenever I have to pull. We made it to Cypress and easily back out onto Sanderson to head north to Wentworth and towards the Airport.

I managed to easily cruise past Hanger 1 and was three or four back as we pulled out onto Stetson and headed to Warren. I was on Highlanders back wheel and I will admit that his being taller than me made the draft zone bigger than I had thought it would. In other words I was cruising easily along as others did the work heading for Warren. Once we crossed Warren and were headed for California I stayed just where I had been and enjoyed the pull all the way to California and the turn south.

As we made the turn onto Stowe I wondered if I would have the will power to avoid the traditional sprint to the parking lot on Winchester so I fell to the back to make my decision easier and watched as D’Artagnon and Gambler ramped up the pace and pulled all but three of us towards the large metal barn. I enjoyed talking with T-3 and Dura Max far more than I think the rest of the group did trying to hold onto the two speed demons running to the parking lot. We would all be regrouping there anyway so I kept it simple and easy. We did regroup at Winchester and took a moment to take on some hydration and gel.

The next part of the ride got a bit hectic as Surgeon took us to the dump road and started us west towards Briggs. Everyone stayed together pretty well until we got to the ride just before Leon. Soon D’Artagnon pulled out in front and started to ramp it up. I got on his back wheel and followed till he clicked it into a higher gear and got onto his aero bars. I felt like I was burning too many matches and fell off before Briggs. I stayed behind to gather up and stragglers and we ended up missing the light at Florida and watched as everyone else headed for Mapes. By the time we got to Mapes everyone else had turned on Menifee. By the time we got to Menifee the rest of the group was back to Florida and the AM/PM. We regrouped again before T-3 and Dura Max left early to get a head start on McCall. The rest of us gave chase and had to watch as Gambler and D’Artagnon pulled away over the hill and past Murrieta. We still hadn’t caught Dura Max and T-3 even as we turned at the top of McCall and headed towards Cherry Hill.

We made it to Bradley and headed towards Newport and slowly but surely closed on Dura Max and T-3. They were at the light when we got there and we all had to wait for it to turn green before heading back east. As soon as we were back on our way we formed a pace line and rode to Jack in the Box on Antelope. Dura Max and T-3 continued in and we followed a few minutes later. Once again Gambler and D’Artagnon pulled away from us and were over the saddle just in front of us. By Leon they had stretched the distance out and we couldn’t close even with the light on Winchester. Still we kept up a pretty good pace all the way to Warren where D’Artagnon and Gambler were waiting for us. They paced us most of the way to Sanderson and then continued on to State as we turned on Sanderson. We all rode together back to Burger King. After saying our farewells I headed for home and got home with 42 miles on the computer. Not bad for an easy day.