11/07/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) It seemed like a good idea to plan on doing Juniper Flats today. It was supposed to be cool and with a very light wind. With that in mind I was looking forward to the ride right up to the point where I got ready to go to bed. But that didn’t work out well as I ended up not sleeping well and may have only had three hours by the time I had to get up. First thin in the morning Huntress called to ask when we started the ride. She was an hour and ten minutes early. After deciding she could get back in time she said she would catch us next week. Once I did get down to the parking lot we still had a pretty good group to head out onto Latham and over to Lyon.

Somehow some of us got out in front of the A group and were well down Lyon before I even noticed. Highlander told me we were missing Torpedo, Gambler, D’Artagnon and Coyote. Glancing back I could see Dura Max, Digger, T-3 and Red Rabbit and sure enough that was all. I wasn’t worried because they were a group of strong riders and I could expect them to catch us somewhere on the other side of Warren Road. I ended up pulling to Ramona and then to Sanderson and the light at the expressway.

Highlander started the pull on the Expressway and I was more than happy to let him. To tell the truth I felt a bit under powered today. If I were a car with a V-8 I was only running on 7. I could easily stay with the group as we rolled past Warren but I still felt slow. We got into a reasonable pace line until we got to the Second dairy on the right and were greeted by a barking dog. It slowed us down a bit and not long after passing the dog the A group came rolling by. We ran into a slight headwind that dropped our pace a bit and Rabbit fell off of the back but we all knew we would regroup at the light so no one was worried. Coyote was in the lead as we stopped at the little store on the corner and regrouped. After a brief stop we were on our way to Condor and the attack on Juniper Flats.

I was trying to shake off the cobwebs as we ran towards Condor but I wasn’t surprised to see Coyote pulling up behind me. What I surprised to see was Rabbit pulling up behind Coyote. For someone who was so slow on the Expressway he was running strong coming up to Condor. Coyote and I turned towards Juniper Flats together and waited for Rabbit but he rode right past us and headed for the hill. We started to close on him as we rolled through the stop sign at the small school. It was right about there a A riders came by looking to hit the climb Strava segment hard.

I gave chase to Coyote and we closed on Rabbit at the first part of the climb. Still he was pushing hard and it took quite a while for Coyote to run him down and pass him. Rabbit took off on the first flat section and it was all I could do to catch his wheel at the top of the second climb. At that point we were pulling away from Highlander, Digger, Dura Max and T-3 so I turn around to see if I could get a picture of them climbing the hill.

Highlander was the first one to pull over the second climb and he looked to be moving smoothly. He was at least 150 yards in front of Digger but it didn’t look like Digger was about to give up the chase. I didn’t know how far back T-3 and Dura Ace were but I was willing to go back and look for them.

I really didn’t have far to go because they weren’t that far behind the other two. I wasn’t surprised by Dura Ace because he always climbs like a diesel and just gets in a gear and simply chug uphill. T-3 on the other hand always impresses me. I have a hard enough time climbing Juniper with two good legs and she does in with one. Not only that she doesn’t complain but talks to me about how hard her first climb up that hill had been.

I rode next to T-3 as she worked her way to the top of Juniper and we regrouped with everyone else. The ride down the back side can be rather exciting and very fast if the road conditions allow. I started off after D’Artagnon and Torpedo but soon we were hitting speeds of 25 to 35 MPH. we made it down the hill in close to record time and I saw Rabbit waiting for us at the bottom. He pulled a U turn in front of me but I had time to pass behind him and pull the group to Briggs. We regrouped again and started for the dump road. The A group let us get a pretty good head start and we were heading towards Leon before they got off of Briggs.

I pulled our small group towards Leon till Rabbit decided to jump me and take off. Still running on less than 8 cylinders I went after him only to see Torpedo running hard up the road. I couldn’t stay with him but I could get by Rabbit and headed for the rise only to see D’Artagnon and Gambler closing on me. As they rolled by they offered a pull but I was more or less spent so I had to settle on following the three of them to Chris’s.

Dura Max and T-3 left first but after some coffee and a snack we were ready to get back on the road and head up Winchester. Highlander asked me to take it easy but I had heard that talk before and knew he was strongest heading home to the barn as they say so I let him pull to Stowe and made the turn east towards California. The group always starts out mellow but by the time we get to California the A group can be screaming along.

Torpedo had already jumped way out front before we got to California but as soon as Gambler rounded the corner and headed north he dropped the hammer. I tried to stay with him and did OK till D’Artagnon picked up the pace again and I felt like I was misfiring even as I pulled away from Highlander and Digger. I never caught the A group but I did stay in front of Highlander and Digger till I got to Sanderson. I pulled us back to Lowes and then to Kirby but I was more or less spent as we got to Gilmore and finished at the Parking lot to watch Torpedo and Highlander load their bikes in their vehicles and head for home.

We talked for a few minutes before I cruised back out onto Latham and over to Palm to start home myself. My legs were sore, my shoulder was sore and I felt a bit run down but I knew that there are days you just have to push yourself. For me this was just one of those days. I might have stayed home if I hadn’t worried about not getting to ride Friday if it rains. Still I had 39 miles under my belt and a need for a shower and lunch. It has to be better for me than couch surfing so I guess it was a good day.