By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) 6/14/13 Fridays are always unpredictable and this Friday wasn’t much different. All I knew for sure was it was supposed to be clear and warm. Other than that I had no clue how many riders we would have or what kind of pace we would have. So I got up, had breakfast, put on my kit and headed for coffee. I was standing there with Digger and Dura Max when Highlander arrived followed by Ruby Tuesday and T-3. Huntress called me and said she would meet us at Wally World and Dragon Slayer sent a text that he was in town but wouldn’t be riding today. Gambler and Bulldozer got there at the same time and we realize that we were about all that wanted to ride today. Right about 8am we headed south on Gilmore and west on Acacia to turn on Kirby.

This wasn’t going to be a long ride and except for the A group climbing the Marina hill there wouldn’t be much climbing. But it is always a nice ride. In fact for a Friday it is just about perfect. Heading south on Kirby no one was pushing it and we smoothly rounded the corner on Cypress.

We simply cruised through the housing tract on Cypress and turned onto Johnston to catch the light at Sanderson. As soon as it turned green we headed for Stetson to cross the light. I noticed Huntress waiting at the driveway to Wally World and she waited till we passed before dropping in on the back of the group as we headed for Mustang.

Our next move would be down to Domenigoni and east towards State Street. I was still in the lead as we rolled by Searl where Gambler and Bulldozer headed for the seven dollar hill and we continued on to State. I turned the lead over to Highlander who took us the Newport and gave it to Huntress. As we got to the hill where State turns to Cactus Valley Huntress rode the group off of her wheel and Highlander grabbed her wheel as they headed east towards Sage. Digger tried to close but they were getting away so I gave chase and managed to catch them by the Golf course and made it to the hill at the same time they did. After the Baptist church we all more or less kicked it into cruise and regrouped at the end of the road.

We met Gambler and Bulldozer on the way back to Sage and they turned to try a segment between Sage and Chambers on State. I told anyone interested that they could chase them and I fell back to ride with Dura Max. As predicted the two A riders hit it hard and the rest of the group was spread out between them and Dura Max and me. We followed the group through MacSweeney and regrouped on State.

A short break and we were headed north to Chambers. Huntress jumped on it as we left Domenigoni and I drafted her all the way to the rise. We had to bypass Chambers because of Construction and made our way to Thornton before getting back to Stetson and heading for Fairview. I ended up being one of the last ones to get to Wilson Mesa.

Our last challenge was the ride back down Fairview to Florida and then to Carl’s. Highlander suggested that I pull the group all the way back and I thought he was kidding. So I dropped off of Wilson Mesa before anyone else was ready. I had to back it off a bit for the group to grab a wheel and slowly I started to pick it up on our way to Stetson. Ruby Tuesday and T-3 left us before I crossed Stetson with Highlander and Huntress on my wheel like heat seeking missiles. I kept it in zone 4 all the way to the bridge and stayed in zone 4 about halfway between the bridge and Mayberry. Highlander, Huntress and I made it through the light on Florida and to Carl’s first. Digger and Dura Max pulled up as we were walking into Carl’s and so we sat down to coffee and conversation for about 15 minutes. We moved back out to the bikes and headed west to go home.

We dropped Dura Max off on Park and the four of us continued on to Devonshire. We had to pick up the pace a bit as Highlander’s horse could smell the barn. We got caught at the light on San Jacinto. We headed for Santa Fe and down to Latham and west again. Digger and I split for home at Palm while Huntress and Highlander continued west back to Burger King and Wally World. I got home feeling pretty good and had lunch and a shower. I didn’t even need a nap today.