By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) 8/12/13 Looked like it was going to be another Monday and I for one wanted an easy ride. Every Monday I hope my body has adjusted to a low carbohydrate diet and has learned to run on protein and fat. By Friday I am pretty sure it hasn’t. So today I left home with the hope that today would be the day my metabolism switched. I got to Burger King in time for a cup of coffee with Digger and conversation with Dura Max and Bloodhound. I knew some riders would be missing because it was the first day of school. Highlander and Tax Man pulled up in his van followed by Surgeon and Bulldozer on their bikes. Gambler sent a text that he would be late and I saw Metric Man drive up. A bit later Alligator pulled up on a Flat Bar MTB. Daredevil and Red Rabbit joined us just as Gambler finally arrived. We were ready to head out to Latham and ride over to Lyon.

I took the lead on Lyon and by Devonshire Highlander pulled up next to me to comment on how much faster Quicksilver was riding last Friday. I agreed she was improving and by the time we got to Fruitvale we had relived most of the ride. Up to this point my sore legs were beginning to loosen up and I had enough to stay in front till we got to Esplanade where Bloodhound and Alligator pulled up front. By 7th street I got a chance to get back in the lead and get a quick picture.

As we got to the end of Lyon and rounded the corner onto Ramona Boulevard I asked Metric Man to be sure the rest of the group made the turn onto Bridge once we were headed west again. I knew the group would split up well before Warren and I had every intention of reforming the normal B group and letting the faster Bs chase the A group to Bridge. I had already lost Red Rabbit by the time we got to Sanderson and the Expressway. I didn’t want to lose any more so as soon as we turned west and the A group started to speed away with half of the Bs going with them I reformed the Bs and headed steadily for Warren. Tax Man was good enough to take us to bridge and we found everyone waiting for us there, including Dragon Slayer and Blaine. It was a good sized group for a Monday.

By the time we were moving past the cattle and sheep on Bridge the big dogs started to pick up the pace. This time however the groups split more evenly with Metric Man finally getting us all into a pace line. Dragon slayer had gone with the Big Dogs while Blaine stayed with us and finally Alligator moved up to assist Metric Man.

Once we made our way to Gilman the Bs regrouped while the As continued on towards Sanderson. We took a short break to gather the troops on the corner before heading east ourselves. Surgeon started out in front and soon we were stretched out in a long line maybe 200 yards long. A number of us regrouped once more at Sanderson before turning south and working our way back to Ramona Boulevard. We moved along pretty quickly till we got to State Street and then headed back north working our way past the Expressway and then to the college.

Once we turned onto Soboba we picked up MacGyver or should I say Dragon Slayer found him and he joined us moving east towards the rollers. Tax Man took us over the first roller and Surgeon took off as we crested. Metric Man replaced Tax Man and took us over the second roller. At that point Metric Man picked up speed and I fell back when Highlander got his wheel. As we got to the driving range rise I pulled around the group and MacGyver went with me. However my system is still not landing on all cylinders and couldn’t close on Surgeon. Still I felt pretty good as I made it up the last roller and regrouped with everyone else at the Eucalyptus trees. It was a quick trip over to the dry river crossing and then to the light. Dragon Slayer and Blaine were on the side of the road and getting ready to leave the group and head for home. The A group was long gone and texted me they were not going to stop at Carl’s because they had things to do. I headed for Carl’s and found several riders waiting for me before I got to Hemet Street. Two more riders were waiting at Cedar and joined us for a straight shot down Ramona to New Chicago and a coffee stop. Only Rabbit and six of us decided to take a coffee break so Metric Man and MacGyver headed for home and we followed a few minutes later.

Once we got to Park both Surgeon and Dura Max left us and Highlander jumped out front to push the pace back over to Devonshire. We have seen this before from Highlander so we all held on for dear life and stayed with him till we got to the light at San Jacinto. It didn’t take long till we were at Santa Fe and then down to Latham again. Once we got to Palm both Digger and I left in different direction for home and I got there maybe 8 minutes later. No my system isn’t at 100 percent yet but I enjoyed the ride anyway. Maybe Wednesday will be the magical day when my metabolism switches gears, still even if it doesn’t it is worth it in the long run.