1/18/2013 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) The last two weeks we have been faced with the cold breath of the frozen north. The rides have been planned with a distance that would keep our feet from freeing and dropping off. But today the sun was going to come out and we were going to get just a touch of spring type weather. So the plan was to take an easy ride and kick the miles up to a half century. As I had breakfast and got dressed I decided against a base layer and settled on arm and leg warmers. By 8:15 I headed out of the door and rode over to Burger King to see how many other riders were as interested as me to get in a good ride. Little did I realize it was going to be one of our better turn outs. I got there just in time to see Dura Max and Highlander talking by the van. Centaur was just pulling up as I parked my bike by the east side windows. Rocky pulled up about the same time as Bloodhound. It already looked like a normal Friday group. Then Bulldozer rolled up so I was beginning to think we might get at least ten riders. Just then Ferret pulled in with two bikes on his car. It turned out he had his wife Mary, (Tinker Bell) with him. Punisher and Gambler arrived followed by Huntress and then D’Artagnon. We had 13 riders counting me and most of them were part of the A group or at least very fast Bs.

We took off down Gilmore to Acacia and then over to Kirby and I still had my jacket on. But it was in the 50s and considerably warmer than Monday or Wednesday. I was ready to pace myself knowing I was still down on power from my cold but I just didn’t realize how fast the A group was going to be. I have been riding sweep for two weeks so I knew I wouldn’t have to push it I was just hoping my legs and lungs would hold up for 50 miles. But that was all yet to be seen as we turned on Cypress and headed for Sanderson and Johnston.

The group was looking good as we sat at the light on Sanderson and everyone seemed happy to be there. Ferret and I chatted for a bit as we waited for the light to change. I was planning on stopping at the gas station just on the other side of Stetson in case anyone needed to stop. Only one rider took advantage of this stop and we were back on our way. I got out front and took us up to Mustang heading for Domenigoni.

Once we made the turn west on Domenigoni I took the first pull till Bulldozer pulled up to give me a break. About halfway to Warren I fell back to sweep and watched the group pull away. They reminded me a bit like a pack of hunting dogs running down the scent of prey. That thought would come back to me several times today. But as those thoughts rolled through my head we came up to Winchester and could just see the last of the group rounding the curve and heading for Leon. Once we got to Leon I could see the group waiting for us at the saddle.

We took a few minutes to rest and I reminded the group about where we were going, then we got ready to drop off of the back side of the saddle and head for Menifee. As we got close to Lindenburger I noticed Bulldozer was already waiting for us. I hadn’t noticed that he didn’t stop at the regroup point. He waited till Highlander and I rolled past him and then he joined the pack as we got to the light on Menifee. We made the turn North and headed for Holland to cut over to Antelope.

It didn’t take long before Bloodhound took the lead and started to make a gap. As we got close to Holland it was obvious he had no intention of turning but we were not close enough to shout to him. Luckily Rocky felt like running him down and brought him back to the group by the time we got to Antelope. Somehow I was in the lead as we were once again headed south towards Scott. I pulled up the grade and by Garboni before turning the lead over to Huntress and Centaur.

Things started to get a bit hectic after we crossed Scott and the group split up. The A group simply disappeared and the group I was with could just see Huntress, Centaur and Punisher ahead of us. Highlander, Dura Max and I turned the corner on Whitewood and managed to catch Huntress and her group about half way to Murrieta Hot Springs. We stayed with them till Highlander wanted to pull over and remove his jacket. Just as we got ready to pull back onto the road Gambler, Bulldozer, Ferret, D’Artagnon and Rocky pulled up behind us and zoomed to the corner. I thought for a moment they had lapped us because we had no clue where they had come from. We never saw then and didn’t think we passed them. We once again watched them pull away going north on Winchester. We pulled into the gas station on East Benton a few minutes after the group and took a break Huntress had to get home early so Gambler and his group were going to take her back to Burger King and Rocky, Bloodhound and Punisher joined Highlander, Dura Max and me is a second wave back up Winchester t Max Gillis and then Leon. We stayed together pretty well all the way to Scott and headed west where Bloodhound pulled me up the hill and away from the rest of our group. I started to soft pedal till the rest of our group caught up and Punisher followed Bloodhound to Menifee where we noticed the A group sitting by the side of the road.

It seems as if somehow they had lost Huntress and Tinker Bell. We knew they were not behind us because we left after they did and we didn’t see them anywhere along the way to catching up. We past them and headed back towards Newport with Punisher and Bloodhound well in front. Punisher and Bloodhound turned onto Newport/Domenigoni first and shortly after Highlander, Dura Max and I made the turn the Big Dogs chased us down and said their good byes as they headed for the saddle and a fast run back to Sanderson or State. Bloodhound decided to chase them over the saddle so it was down to just five of us. We stopped again at Chris’s for coffee and in my case vitamin I, (ibuprofen) my wrist has been giving me some trouble. It isn’t even the wrist I hurt in the car accident. We drank our coffee and headed back to Stowe to start home.

At least the wind didn’t fight us heading east. Rocky pulled us to California and I pulled us to Stetson and the Rocky pulled again to Warren where I once again took the lead and pulled to the airport where Highlander pulled off to head back. Rocky then worked with Punisher to pull us back to Sanderson. Rocky, Dura Max and I moved over to Johnston and headed east. Like before Rocky turned on Lyon and I turned on San Francisco while Dura Max rode to the east end of town. He almost always gets five or six extra miles on a ride over me. But for today 52 miles seemed like enough.