1/4/2013 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) It was Friday and cold but it was still a good looking day as I looked outside to see clear blue skies. I still had to dress pretty warmly as I headed out to Burger King but I felt pretty good about how my breathing was holding up and how my legs felt so I was looking forward to today’s ride. I will admit I was surprised to see how many riders showed up. Taking a head count just before we got ready to leave there was Digger, Dura Max, Josh, Highlander, T-3, Ruby Tuesday, Gambler, Bloodhound, Dragon Slayer, Highlander and I. We got on our bikes and pulled out onto Latham before turning south on Lyon to begin the ride.

It didn’t take long for me to lead everyone past Whittier and then Johnson before we all caught the light at Stetson. The stretch from Stetson to Thornton is always pretty rough, a bit like cobble stone so we had to move towards the middle on the road to smooth out the ride. Up to this point I was able to stay up front but I was pretty sure that once we turned on Thornton and made to ever so slight climb to State I would tire and have to back off to avoid a coughing fit. As Gambler pulled up next to me followed by Josh I informed him that the group would be his to lead down Domenigoni and we could regroup at the Saddle.

Dragon Slayer had already offered a pull but I had to fall make to check on everyone anyway so I dropped to the back of the pack and soon watched seven riders separate from Ruby Tuesday, T-3, Dura Max and me. As we turned onto Domenigoni with Dura Max in the lead and they continued to pull away from us but not as quickly as I expected. As we worked together and took turns pulling we soon past Sanderson and topped the rise heading for Warren. We closed quite a bit on the lead group at Warren but couldn’t seem to close any more till we noticed they had picked up speed and dropped a rider. It seems as if they picked up two more riders by Winchester where we caught Digger. We all rode together to the saddle to find Blood Hound and Dragon slayer waiting for us. The rest of the group was waiting at Lindenburger. Once we were all headed for the light at Vista we turned into the housing tract and came back to Briggs to head south again.

It turns out we added Bandit and Rocky to the group back on Winchester so we had a very strong A group heading for Garboni. Looking forward I could see the pace would be too fast for me but not horribly so and there were some strong riders behind me that I was pretty sure there would be a wheel or two I could grab once we made it past Holland Street.

Just as I thought the group behind me picked up the pace and soon Gambler and Highlander were passing me and starting to close the gap with the leaders. I rounder the corner and headed west towards Menifee in the company of Dura Max and T-3 only to see the rest of the group standing on the corner of Menifee and Garboni and Gambler bent over looking at his bike while Bandit was checking on his. When I pulled up Gambler looked a bit worse for wear.

As I pulled up to see what happened everyone was talking at once and for just a moment I thought maybe God had struck the group with the same thing he did at the tower of Babel and everyone was speaking in a different language. Slowly but surely the words started to come together and it became clear that once again Bandit and Gambler came together in a manner not designed to keep two riders upright. I am not sure but at times I wonder if we need to separate those two riders till they discover they are riding bikes not skating in the Roller Derby. Whatever the case it is hard to tell who got the worst of it when Bandit tried to make a right turn on Menifee rather than heading straight to Antelope. Gambler may take time to heal but Bandit bent a wheel. You could tell who felt worse, Bandit was rather downcast as he had to call for a ride.

I took the rest of the group, minus Josh, Gambler and Bandit, to Antelope and pulled them to Holland before the group split and I fell back with Dura Max, T-3 and Ruby Tuesday. We got caught at a light just past the College and lot sight of the group well before we got to Newport and headed back east. I stayed with then till we got to Lindenburger and Simpson when they stopped at the park for a nature call. I could see the rest of the group heading for Leon but couldn’t close the distance before Winchester. When I got to Chris’s the group was down to just five of us. We had coffee and after a short break headed back up Winchester behind Highlander and then I pulled east to California and headed for Stetson.

Once we got to Stetson I was still able to pull us to Warren before giving up the lead to Highlander. He took Punisher and Digger past the airport and Bloodhound and I stayed together to Sanderson before turning north to Johnston and east once more. We picked up Dura Max at the gate leading to Ruby Tuesday and T-3’s house and rode together back to the street leading to my house. I got home without breaking into a coughing fit and walked inside looking forward to a hot shower and some lunch. It is pretty good for a cyclist living in Southern California this time of year. We may miss one or two rides because of rain but that is a lot less than most places I can think of.