By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) 6/21/13 Another Friday has arrived and another easy Friday ride had been planned. I thought it might be hot and I didn’t know if any of the A group has a race this weekend so it seemed like a good idea to start west and end up on the east side of town. It was also the first day of my low carb meal replacement program so I had some scrambled egg beaters and vegetables for breakfast got dressed and headed out of the door on my backup bike to start the day. It would be the first group ride on the Klein since I switched over from my old Dura Ace to SRAM. I made it to Burger King for coffee with Digger and found Dura Max waiting for me as well. I also got a text saying that most of the A group was heading for La Cresta so the B group would pretty much be on our own. Highlander and Quicksilver drove up about the same time as Surgeon and that pretty much made our group. About 8 am we took off through the Pep Boys parking lot and onto Latham before turning north onto Lyon to start our ride.

I started out in the lead as we moved through the intersection at Devonshire and then Menlo. I was impressed at how well the SRAM set up was shifting and how quiet the Klein was. Unlike the Hope Hubs on the Tarmac the cup and cone hubs on the Klein are quiet. And while I know you shouldn’t cross chain with this set up I have all the gears on my rear cassette available without any rubbing in any gear. However my day dreaming about the equipment changes had to take a back seat as we came up to Ramona Boulevard and headed west.

Highlander and Quicksilver moved to the front and took us all the way to Sanderson and north to the Expressway. I was a bit worried about the ride towards Bridge Street because getting there meant we had to pass the driveway with the two dogs that had a fifty, fifty chance of coming out and chasing us. However before we got there we got to see a farm or ranch hand delivering a calf out in the open field. It didn’t look very gentile either. Still when we got to the driveway where I expected the dogs it turned out they didn’t notice us in time and we were well by before they could make it past the gate. We simply pedaled on to Bridge and headed north.

As most of us know Bridge heads north until we pass the dairy and the sheep and then it slowly turns a bit east as we have about a mile or maybe a bit more to get to Gilman. We were moving along pretty good as a group before Quicksilver had to stop for a batch of e-mails. Soon we were back on the road and at the corner of Bridge and Gilman. Surgeon took us back to Sanderson and started us south back towards Ramona before giving the lead to Highlander at the bridge. I pulled the last few yards through the light and Surgeon took over again on Ramona. We all took turns leading till we got to State and stopped for water at Mickey D’s. Once back on the road we headed for State and Soboba.

I started us out over the first two rollers and Surgeon took over after we started towards the driving range. Highlander and Surgeon started to gap Quicksilver and Digger so I jumped around and caught a wheel till we got to the last climb before the end of the golf course. I noticed someone had just left the trees as we were about to regroup and had everyone follow me till we caught them at the river overpass. They were on Hybrids and didn’t talk much as we pulled up to and past them only to catch the light green on Ramona. Not much happened as we moved west towards Lake Street then Hemet Street and finally got ready to make the turn onto Cedar. Surgeon didn’t turn with us and Highlander started us towards Fairview. As we closed in on the fire station Highlander picked up the pace and Quicksilver went with him. Digger, Dura Max and I more or less cruised till Dura Max took off as well leaving Digger and I to ride in the back till we got back to Carl’s for coffee and a break. We laughed and joked about how hard Highlander tried to shake Quicksilver of his back wheel. For only being with the group for such a short time Quicksilver is coming along quite well. It will not be long before we are trying to catch her when she drops the hammer. After we were refreshed we headed for home on New Chicago and then Lincoln. Picture 55

Like many days we stayed together till Dura Max and Surgeon left on Park. Highlander started to get that I can smell the barn look and pushed us onto Deveonshire. Once we were headed west again he kept us rolling along at a pretty good clip till we came to Santa Fe and had to drop down to Latham. We headed for Burger King and the pace picked up again as Highlander made it through the light on State. We dropped Digger off at Palm and I stayed with Highlander and Quicksilver all the way back to Lyon and then to Pep Boys to turn back to the vehicles. All in all it was a very good ride today and the group held together well. I felt better than I have in a long time and was pleased with my Klein upgrades. What can you say on a day like that? Only that we are lucky to live where we live.