By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) It was Monday and an easy ride had been planned. The problem with planning an easy ride is you never know how the other riders will respond to easy. At times it can be like herding cats because everyone has their own idea of what they want in ride. There is also the problem of not seeing what goes on in the back of the pack. Still a 36 mile ride on a familiar course should be doable. And that was what I was thinking as I headed for Burger King to start the day. I got to Burger King in time to have coffee with Digger and had a talk with Dura Max when Dragon Slayer and Surgeon arrived. Bloodhound and Quicksilver weren’t far behind followed by Highlander, Tax Man and MacGyver. I was thinking it was a manageable group and led them out onto Latham and over to Lyon and South.

I could tell Bloodhound hadn’t looked at the route because by the time we got to Lyon re wanted to turn north. We managed to yell the directions at him and he rounded the corner and headed for Florida. We crossed Florida and caught the light at Acacia. The road from Acacia to Whittier isn’t the best but it smoothes out between there and Johnston. However, there the fun ends because from Stetson the Thornton is like cobble stone. Still we turned onto Thornton and headed East without too many complaints.

All we had to do now was make our way to State Street and head south to Domenigoni. I managed to lead us to Domenigoni before Dragon Slayer and MacGyver pulled by me and asked what pace we should set. I asked for 18-19 and with the exception of Bloodhound we all fell in behind them and headed west for Sanderson. Bloodhound simply increased his lead as we crested the rise at Searl and extended it as we headed for Warren. Dragon Slayer and MacGyver were sill pulling as we crossed Warren and over the dry wash. Looking back I could see we had everyone in tow and were quickly closing on Winchester. It not only looked like they were willing to pull all the way to the Saddle but they did pull all the way to the saddle where we regrouped.

We didn’t have many more challenges left as we dropped down the back side of the Saddle and headed for Laguna Vista. Tax Man took us through the light and Bloodhound started us towards Briggs. I chased him to the corner before realizing that I had made the same mistake last Friday and split the group into pieces. I backed off to get a picture only to have the group roll by me like water rolling around a rock. Fortunately they had a mini regroup on Garboni and then again as we met up with Shadow on Garboni and Menifee.

We made short work out of the rest of Garboni and made it to Antelope and headed back to Newport, stopping for a short restroom break at Le célèbre restaurant français Jack in the Box. We managed to get back on the road and headed for Lindenburger in two groups. Once heading north we waited till Dragon slayer and his group caught up to us and regrouped so we could head to Simpson together. We decided to ride down to Leon and over to the dump road to take a shot at the DVV sprint to the Wild West flag.

As we got to the end of Leon we started to like up like getting ready for a sprint at one of the tours. Shadow and Bloodhound took off first but it didn’t look like they were working together. I knew I would zone out before I got to the flag but I was willing to give it a try. Dragon Slayer was after me like a Cheetah with MacGyver ramping up like a turbine with Quicksilver being pulled along like a leaf in the wind. I made it halfway to the flag before Dragon Slayer came around and then MacGyver dropped the hammer and pulled in front like he was just cruising. It was all I could do to stay in front of Quicksilver and we reformed on the upgrade left sweeper leading to Winchester. We turned north and stopped at Winchester Market for water, coffee and watermelon. After reliving part of the ride and polishing off three small containers of watermelon we got ready to head back east on Stowe. Once again Bloodhound seemed eager to get home and took off first. We headed east and waited till Surgeon took the lead and Quicksilver gave chase.

Soon Shadow and Dragon Slayer took off after Quicksilver and they pulled around and headed for California. For me the ride was over and I was just cruising for home as the rest of us got to California and headed for Stetson. Once on Stetson we headed for Warren where we watched Surgeon turn for home. Everyone turned on the airport road except Dura Max and me. The two of us rode to Sanderson and over to Johnston and rode together till we past Palm and I headed for home myself. It was a nice paced ride and a relaxing one getting ready for a more challenging one on Wednesday.