By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)
5/17/13
I looked outside and saw an overcast sky, wind coming from the south and a ride planned that included climbing up Bautista Canyon. As I stood there looking out of the window I took stock of myself to see how ready for a ride I really was. My legs hurt, my arms hurt, my neck hurt and if I were a battery pack I would have been half discharged. Still I wasn’t going to stay home and so I got dressed, had breakfast and headed to Burger King to get ready for the day.
Digger and I had coffee while talking to Surgeon and Dura Max and waited for what seemed like a long time before Bloodhound arrived. What we may have forgotten was we were there before 8 am and the ride didn’t start till 8:30. MacGyver arrived and for a while that looked like all of the riders we were going to have. We knew we were waiting for T-3 and Ruby Tuesday so when we noticed they were coming across the street on Florida we got ready to leave. We started out of the parking lot at 8:29 and it turns out that was just about the time Gambler was pulling into the parking lot. We picked up Huntress along the way as we pulled out onto Latham and Ruby Tuesday took us to Lyon and South.
We didn’t get far down Lyon before Gambler caught us and teased me about leaving early. I guess we were about a minute early and almost missed both Huntress and Gambler. But we were all together now and made our way past Johnston and to Stetson where we caught the light. We quickly made our way to Thornton once the light changed and headed east. It took very little time to make our way to State where we caught the light again. It was a short hop down Thornton to Santa Fe and north towards Stetson.
As we turned east on Stetson Bloodhound and Surgeon surged ahead and took the lead. Most of us seemed eager to keep the ride to a simple cruise so there wasn’t much of a chase going on until we got to Columbia were we decided to stay on Stetson rather than turn and head over to Crest. We rode along together towards the High School till Gambler and MacGyver decided to give chase to Surgeon and Bloodhound and Ruby Tuesday went with them. Huntress stopped for a phone call and had to chase Digger, T-3, Dura Max and I over the little hill and towards Lake.
By Lake Street I fell back to collect Dura Max and received a call from D’Artagnon saying he was on Fairview just about the time Gambler and Bloodhound rounded the corner off of Stetson. He must have caught them because they were all waiting for the four of us as we got to Fairview and Bautista. Surgeon and Bloodhound Took off just before we arrived on Bautista while Huntress and MacGyver were right behind us as we headed up the Canyon. I looked back to See Gambler and D’Artagnon starting to ramp it up for a speed run.
I fell to the back of the pack to talk with T-3 and Dura Max while Digger and Huntress pulled away to fade around the turn into the Orange Groves. I stayed in the back till we made the first right into the groves and then decided to see if I had anything in my legs to push towards the Dam. I caught Digger right after he topped the Dam and then left him as we headed for the river bed. I noticed Surgeon sitting by the side of the road at the white wooden fence and he said he was going to wait till we got back. I never seemed to fire on all cylinders as I headed up the hill but by using my gears I was able to spin most of the way to the top to regroup with everyone but T-3, Dura Max and Surgeon.
We waited for quite a while for T-3 and Dura Max and then decided to head back down the canyon to see if they were ok. Ruby Tuesday left first and then Bloodhound left a few minutes later. MacGyver fell in on Bloodhound’s rear wheel and we started a pace line chasing Ruby Tuesday. After the double flat right hand turn I let it go and started a run to pass MacGyver and Bloodhound. We saw Surgeon coming up to see what had happened to us and a few seconds later Ruby Tuesday pulled over to join Dura Max and T-3 heading back up the hill. I guess they had a flat. We took turns pulling till Bloodhound took a long pull that took us back to the white fence. Gambler and D’Artagnon rolled by and I slotted in using just about all of the reserves I had just to hang on to Gambler’s wheel. I did get a jump at the Dam and took a bit of a lead till Gambler and D’Artagnon reeled me in with Bloodhound and Surgeon in hot pursuit. I dug deep and caught D’Artagnon’s wheel and stayed with them as the rode everyone but Bloodhound off their wheel and took a turn at the front till we made the hard right heading for the Grove to Bridge Sprint.
I was with them heading for the last hard left when I looked down and noticed I was running close to red line on my HR monitor. Believing it is better safe than sorry I pulled out of line and watched the three head for Fairview. I pulled over to wait for everyone else and watched Surgeon and Huntress ride by before MacGyver and Digger joined me. Digger said Ruby Tuesday, had headed back up the hill with T-3 and Dura Max so we headed for Florida together.
We took our time on the way to Florida and talked about helmets, Bicycling Magazine, motorcycles and riding bikes. Soon we were past Stetson then Mayberry and finally we came up to Florida and headed west to Carl’s. When we got there only Surgeon was waiting and MacGyver had to leave so just three of us had coffee and time to talk and solve the problems of insurance, medicine, and hospital billing. But solve the problems we did before heading for home and riding up to Lincoln and west again. It seemed to be getting colder so when Surgeon left us at Park he stopped to put his jacket back on while Digger and I headed for Deveonshire and back to Santa Fe before cutting over to Latham. Digger and I turned in different directions when we got to Palm and I got home feeling a bit better than when I left home. Still I was tired and after lunch had a few errands to run. I sat down to finish the ride report and ended up having to go lay down from being dizzy. I hope I feel better next week but if it gets warm again I am sure I will. Till then maybe a nap is all I needed to recharge my batteries.
We didn’t get far down Lyon before Gambler caught us and teased me about leaving early. I guess we were about a minute early and almost missed both Huntress and Gambler. But we were all together now and made our way past Johnston and to Stetson where we caught the light. We quickly made our way to Thornton once the light changed and headed east. It took very little time to make our way to State where we caught the light again. It was a short hop down Thornton to Santa Fe and north towards Stetson.
As we turned east on Stetson Bloodhound and Surgeon surged ahead and took the lead. Most of us seemed eager to keep the ride to a simple cruise so there wasn’t much of a chase going on until we got to Columbia were we decided to stay on Stetson rather than turn and head over to Crest. We rode along together towards the High School till Gambler and MacGyver decided to give chase to Surgeon and Bloodhound and Ruby Tuesday went with them. Huntress stopped for a phone call and had to chase Digger, T-3, Dura Max and I over the little hill and towards Lake.
By Lake Street I fell back to collect Dura Max and received a call from D’Artagnon saying he was on Fairview just about the time Gambler and Bloodhound rounded the corner off of Stetson. He must have caught them because they were all waiting for the four of us as we got to Fairview and Bautista. Surgeon and Bloodhound Took off just before we arrived on Bautista while Huntress and MacGyver were right behind us as we headed up the Canyon. I looked back to See Gambler and D’Artagnon starting to ramp it up for a speed run.
I fell to the back of the pack to talk with T-3 and Dura Max while Digger and Huntress pulled away to fade around the turn into the Orange Groves. I stayed in the back till we made the first right into the groves and then decided to see if I had anything in my legs to push towards the Dam. I caught Digger right after he topped the Dam and then left him as we headed for the river bed. I noticed Surgeon sitting by the side of the road at the white wooden fence and he said he was going to wait till we got back. I never seemed to fire on all cylinders as I headed up the hill but by using my gears I was able to spin most of the way to the top to regroup with everyone but T-3, Dura Max and Surgeon.
We waited for quite a while for T-3 and Dura Max and then decided to head back down the canyon to see if they were ok. Ruby Tuesday left first and then Bloodhound left a few minutes later. MacGyver fell in on Bloodhound’s rear wheel and we started a pace line chasing Ruby Tuesday. After the double flat right hand turn I let it go and started a run to pass MacGyver and Bloodhound. We saw Surgeon coming up to see what had happened to us and a few seconds later Ruby Tuesday pulled over to join Dura Max and T-3 heading back up the hill. I guess they had a flat. We took turns pulling till Bloodhound took a long pull that took us back to the white fence. Gambler and D’Artagnon rolled by and I slotted in using just about all of the reserves I had just to hang on to Gambler’s wheel. I did get a jump at the Dam and took a bit of a lead till Gambler and D’Artagnon reeled me in with Bloodhound and Surgeon in hot pursuit. I dug deep and caught D’Artagnon’s wheel and stayed with them as the rode everyone but Bloodhound off their wheel and took a turn at the front till we made the hard right heading for the Grove to Bridge Sprint.
I was with them heading for the last hard left when I looked down and noticed I was running close to red line on my HR monitor. Believing it is better safe than sorry I pulled out of line and watched the three head for Fairview. I pulled over to wait for everyone else and watched Surgeon and Huntress ride by before MacGyver and Digger joined me. Digger said Ruby Tuesday, had headed back up the hill with T-3 and Dura Max so we headed for Florida together.
We took our time on the way to Florida and talked about helmets, Bicycling Magazine, motorcycles and riding bikes. Soon we were past Stetson then Mayberry and finally we came up to Florida and headed west to Carl’s. When we got there only Surgeon was waiting and MacGyver had to leave so just three of us had coffee and time to talk and solve the problems of insurance, medicine, and hospital billing. But solve the problems we did before heading for home and riding up to Lincoln and west again. It seemed to be getting colder so when Surgeon left us at Park he stopped to put his jacket back on while Digger and I headed for Deveonshire and back to Santa Fe before cutting over to Latham. Digger and I turned in different directions when we got to Palm and I got home feeling a bit better than when I left home. Still I was tired and after lunch had a few errands to run. I sat down to finish the ride report and ended up having to go lay down from being dizzy. I hope I feel better next week but if it gets warm again I am sure I will. Till then maybe a nap is all I needed to recharge my batteries.
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