10/24/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Today felt a lot more like winter than it did fall. When I first got up and looked outside it was only in the 40 degree range and it was clear. As we have all come to learn a cool clear morning takes a long time to warm up. I had a new ride planned and knew it was going to take a long time for my legs to warm up but I was looking forward to it none the less. When I got to Burger King Digger, Dura Max and Coyote were already there. I got a call from D’Artagnon saying he would meet us at Ramona and Sanderson and T-3 would catch us on Lyon. By the time Highlander, Rabbit and Huntress arrived we were ready to hit the road and pulled out onto Latham to begin the ride. It took almost no time to make the turn onto Lyon and meet up with T-3. I pulled most of the way to 7th but to tell the truth I wasn’t feeling all that strong and my legs were a lot tighter than I expected.

Coyote and Gambler pulled away from the group looking to make sure they got Sanderson and Ramona before D’Artagnon. I choose not to chase them and tried to keep the rest of the group together. That was a good plan except it meant I would be pulling a lot more than I wanted to. I felt some relief as we turned west on Ramona and was able to cruise at a reasonable pace all the way to Sanderson where Gambler, D’Artagnon and Coyote were waiting. We rolled past them and rolled up to the stop light at Sanderson and the Expressway.

I wanted someone else to take the lead as we turned west on the Expressway but there was no such luck till I got to Warren and signaled to give up the lead. I fell to the back and made sure everyone was in front of me as we started our run towards Bridge. We stayed pretty close to the lead group till a rather large dog came running out to lets us know we were riding in front of his or her Dairy and we simply didn’t get back on the gas fast enough after we got past the dog so we got dropped. Huntress, Coyote, Gambler and D’Artagnon were pulling Highlander and Digger and creating a monster gap between us. We never did catch them because they didn’t stop at the Valero but we picked up Highlander and Digger. We let Rabbit leave first and we didn’t catch him till we rolled over both rollers and made it to Lake Parris drive to regroup and I had to replace the batteries in my camera while Digger looked over me.

The group had decided to modify my planned ride and to tell the truth I wasn’t sure where we were going once we got to Evans. I had talked about turning south but as I got to Evans there were the fast four heading north. They decided to turn around and join us and we moved down Evans towards Orange and the big curve to Nuevo.

We took turns pulling on Nuevo all the way to Menifee where Gambler and D’Artagnon left us and headed back to Ramona Expressway and home. Digger took us around the corner on Menifee and took us all the way to Central. Huntress took over at the stop sign past Central and held us at a Pretty good pace all the way to Winston where we were going to turn east and head back to Bridge.

Once we got onto Bridge Coyote, Huntress and I pulled away from the remaining group about 1/8th of a mile. To our surprise we caught the light at Florida green and rolled through it. It was even more surprising that the light stayed green long enough that Highlander and the rest of the group rolled through it as well. We soft pedaled till everyone caught us and rode through the housing tract together. I separated from the pack a bit and even extended my distance a bit but wasn’t interested in making a run for it so I was reeled in but the time we came out on the old dump road.

Huntress pushed the pace as we started east towards Leon and by the time we got there we had two groups. Coyote, Huntress and I slowly increased the pace just waiting to see who was going to try and make a run for it. The problem was no one did and we just ended pushing ourselves all the way to Winchester and then to Chris’s for a coffee break. We regrouped and after a short stay we were back on Winchester and headed for Stowe. Coyote took us to California and I took us to Stetson. Huntress took us most of the way to Warren but let me make a last minute sprint to Warren. Highlander pulled to the Airport road and Dura Max and T-3 headed for home on Stetson. A few minutes later we were back out on Sanderson and rolled down to Lowes.

By the time Coyote took us back out onto Acacia there were only five of us. We got in our last pace line with Coyote, Me, Highlander, Huntress and Digger staying together all the way to Kirby where we got the light red again. Digger didn’t stop back at the cars but I did and talked for a few minutes before heading for home myself. It had been a good ride even if I felt a lot more tired than I should. Still I didn’t get to take a nap as I planned so I expect to sleep well tonight.