By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)
2/13/2013
I got up this morning looking forward to a warmer day than we had had in more than a week. My legs seemed to have recovered from the century and I decided I was ready for a little climbing. The only question we how many others wanted to hit some hills with me. I looked outside as I got ready for breakfast and it was clear and blue. I then looked at the Thermometer only to see it was a chilly 35 degrees and wasn’t going to warm up till after 10am. It is getting to the point where I have had just about as much cold weather as I want so it can start warming up right about now thank you very much. So I bundled up and headed for Burger King to meet up with my friends and head to three climbs east.
I got to the parking lot after Dura Max and Highlander. We were joined by Bulldozer, Gambler, Rocky and Bloodhound before taking off down Gilmore.
To tell the truth cold weather bothers Dura Max the most but I am not sure that I am not a close second. I did manage to remove my ski mask but I still had on my built in Balaclava, Jacket, long sleeve jersey, base layers, bibs and long fingered cloves. Even with all my extra gear on I felt cold and when I am cold I am not happy. However I was with friends and I was on my bike so that in itself cheered me up as we moved west on Acacia and south on Kirby and finally onto Cypress while talking to Dura Max.
Dura Max inspires me because I know the cold air pains him and yet he is one of the more dependable riders in the group. It takes dedication to both cycling and the group to get out knowing that you will suffer even when you aren’t dropping the hammer. But there he was riding by my side or right behind me as we worked our way out to Johnston and then back north on Sanderson to Wentworth. As we pulled up to the street the light changed green and I think that is one of the first times the turning light responded to a group of cyclists that I have been with. We took the jog over to the airport road and I could see I would be first out onto Stetson when we turned west again.
I decided not to push it more than about 80 percent going west on Stetson and pulled us out onto Stetson at about 18 mph and kept it there as we past the Sherriff’s helicopter pad and then continued on to Warren. Traffic was clear as we got to the stop sign and I took us across and towards California. No one seemed interested at this point of taking the lead so I kept it as we turned south on California and pulled everyone up to Stowe.
After we made the turn I gave the signal that I wanted off of the front and Bloodhound took over as I fell to the back. I drafted Gambler and Bulldozer about halfway down Stowe till they got ready to pick up the pace on the lead group and then I stayed with Dura Max. It didn’t look like a real fast sprint to the parking lot on Winchester but it was faster than I wanted to go at the time so two of us cruised into the parking lot a bit behind the rest of the group
I was back out in front again as we headed south on Winchester and still traffic was light so we had no trouble getting out at the stop sign and forming a pace line. Once I could see that we were all formed up I slowly eased the pace up till it was a comfortable 19 heading for the dump road. We rolled by the dump road and the railroad tracks and finally Chris’s as we came up on Simpson and I knew the cold was getting to me because my knees were sore. Still it was my turn at the front and I couldn’t pass it off till Simpson.
I ended up pulling all the way to Domenigoni and turning east before Gambler pulled up and took over. I watched him go with everyone but Rocky, Dura Max and I and we set the cruise control at 18.5 heading for Warren again. By the time we got to Warren we could no longer see the lead group but we were determined to get to the marina road and ride up Seven Dollar hill. Rocky headed for the hill as soon as we turned right off of Searl and I followed a few bikes back with Dura Max chasing me. I dropped into the small ring and slowly downshifted to keep my spin up as I rounded the 180 switchback. It was one of the easiest climb I have made in a long time and I turned around and headed back at the top of the hill with Rocky and Dura Max behind me.
The downhill run from the marina is always a good ride and if you careful you can get up a lot of speed. I was running out in front of a car that came out of the parking lot by the lake and was able to stay in front of him all the way back down to Searl where we were going to regroup before heading to State street.
We pulled out onto Domenigoni and headed down to State planning on turning north. Bloodhound started us off and soon he had us clocking about 23. Bulldozer pulled in front and took us to 24 before Gambler attacked at the rise. I tried to go with him but I was flat footed and just didn’t have the juice I needed to stay with Gambler. We finally turned onto Chambers to start the ride east after getting back out onto Stetson. The group broke up at this point and Gambler left with Bulldozer before the rest of us got to San Jacinto to make our right turn towards Ramona. Highlander and Dura Max stayed on Stetson heading for Fairview. Rocky, Bloodhound and I climbed up to the Ramona Bowl before heading back down the back road and onto crest. It took us a while but finally we made it to Fairview and up to Cranston Station to meet up with Dura Max.
Highlander had gone home so we rode back down towards Carl’s. Rocky turned off and headed home at Fairview and Bloodhound didn’t stop at Carl’s so Dura Max and I had coffee and then headed home ourselves. I left Dura Max at Park and rode home with 43 miles on my Garmin and a smile on my face.
To tell the truth cold weather bothers Dura Max the most but I am not sure that I am not a close second. I did manage to remove my ski mask but I still had on my built in Balaclava, Jacket, long sleeve jersey, base layers, bibs and long fingered cloves. Even with all my extra gear on I felt cold and when I am cold I am not happy. However I was with friends and I was on my bike so that in itself cheered me up as we moved west on Acacia and south on Kirby and finally onto Cypress while talking to Dura Max.
Dura Max inspires me because I know the cold air pains him and yet he is one of the more dependable riders in the group. It takes dedication to both cycling and the group to get out knowing that you will suffer even when you aren’t dropping the hammer. But there he was riding by my side or right behind me as we worked our way out to Johnston and then back north on Sanderson to Wentworth. As we pulled up to the street the light changed green and I think that is one of the first times the turning light responded to a group of cyclists that I have been with. We took the jog over to the airport road and I could see I would be first out onto Stetson when we turned west again.
I decided not to push it more than about 80 percent going west on Stetson and pulled us out onto Stetson at about 18 mph and kept it there as we past the Sherriff’s helicopter pad and then continued on to Warren. Traffic was clear as we got to the stop sign and I took us across and towards California. No one seemed interested at this point of taking the lead so I kept it as we turned south on California and pulled everyone up to Stowe.
After we made the turn I gave the signal that I wanted off of the front and Bloodhound took over as I fell to the back. I drafted Gambler and Bulldozer about halfway down Stowe till they got ready to pick up the pace on the lead group and then I stayed with Dura Max. It didn’t look like a real fast sprint to the parking lot on Winchester but it was faster than I wanted to go at the time so two of us cruised into the parking lot a bit behind the rest of the group
I was back out in front again as we headed south on Winchester and still traffic was light so we had no trouble getting out at the stop sign and forming a pace line. Once I could see that we were all formed up I slowly eased the pace up till it was a comfortable 19 heading for the dump road. We rolled by the dump road and the railroad tracks and finally Chris’s as we came up on Simpson and I knew the cold was getting to me because my knees were sore. Still it was my turn at the front and I couldn’t pass it off till Simpson.
I ended up pulling all the way to Domenigoni and turning east before Gambler pulled up and took over. I watched him go with everyone but Rocky, Dura Max and I and we set the cruise control at 18.5 heading for Warren again. By the time we got to Warren we could no longer see the lead group but we were determined to get to the marina road and ride up Seven Dollar hill. Rocky headed for the hill as soon as we turned right off of Searl and I followed a few bikes back with Dura Max chasing me. I dropped into the small ring and slowly downshifted to keep my spin up as I rounded the 180 switchback. It was one of the easiest climb I have made in a long time and I turned around and headed back at the top of the hill with Rocky and Dura Max behind me.
The downhill run from the marina is always a good ride and if you careful you can get up a lot of speed. I was running out in front of a car that came out of the parking lot by the lake and was able to stay in front of him all the way back down to Searl where we were going to regroup before heading to State street.
We pulled out onto Domenigoni and headed down to State planning on turning north. Bloodhound started us off and soon he had us clocking about 23. Bulldozer pulled in front and took us to 24 before Gambler attacked at the rise. I tried to go with him but I was flat footed and just didn’t have the juice I needed to stay with Gambler. We finally turned onto Chambers to start the ride east after getting back out onto Stetson. The group broke up at this point and Gambler left with Bulldozer before the rest of us got to San Jacinto to make our right turn towards Ramona. Highlander and Dura Max stayed on Stetson heading for Fairview. Rocky, Bloodhound and I climbed up to the Ramona Bowl before heading back down the back road and onto crest. It took us a while but finally we made it to Fairview and up to Cranston Station to meet up with Dura Max.
Highlander had gone home so we rode back down towards Carl’s. Rocky turned off and headed home at Fairview and Bloodhound didn’t stop at Carl’s so Dura Max and I had coffee and then headed home ourselves. I left Dura Max at Park and rode home with 43 miles on my Garmin and a smile on my face.
No comments:
Post a Comment