By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) It was going to be a flat Friday ride and I had some new toy to play with. A good friend gave me some Aero Bars and I mounted my old Look carbon pedals on the Klein and got ready to see if I could ride in the tuck position for any period of time. I also needed to know if I could hold a line in a group. I knew the group would be smaller because a few riders had already told me they couldn’t make it because they were sick of had other commitments. It was pretty cool when I left home so I put a base layer under my kit and headed for coffee and a meeting with the group. Dura Max and I got there first followed by Ranger, Highlander, Surgeon, and MacGyver. Before we were ready to leave Gambler, Bulldozer, Ferret and D’Artagnon pulled up. Last but not least Huntress pulled up and we were ready to go.

As always it was a slow start down Gilmore to Acacia before we came to the light at Kirby. I could almost feel the energy behind me as we waited for the light to turn green. It didn’t really materialize heading south on Kirby but slowly the pace started to pick up. There was some conversation as we turned onto Cypress but not as much as on many other days. Still I had a plan and that plan was to stay in the pack and not push the pace as I got used to the new bars and riding position. I kept that in mind as we came up to the light on Sanderson and only Surgeon, Highlander and I made it through before it turned red. I momentarily thought about making a run for Domanigoni but I knew if that happened the A riders would drop the hammer and make any B riders with them suffer until they ran us down. So we pulled over in front of Wally World and waited for everyone to catch up.

Surgeon rounder the corner onto Domenigoni first and I settled into his draft till he gave up the lead just before the little rise where I took over. I got down onto the Aero Bars and soon was rolling along at a comfortable 21 MPH. Just as I was getting into a comfortable rhythm Bulldozer came by me on his TT bike and at first I was going to just let him go. But somehow my brain short circuited and I found myself kicking it up a notch and grabbing his back wheel and holding it all the way to Warren. That however was a bad move because it separated the group and blew some off of the back. I asked if everyone was with us and between huffs and puffs I discovered we had dropped some so I stopped and waited to make sure I picked everyone up. I ended up following both groups to the saddle for a regroup and discovered we had been joined by Coyote.

As we dropped off of the saddle I pulled us down past Lindenburger and on past Menifee to Antelope. Highlander and Surgeon were first over the freeway and once again some got caught at the light on Haun. We decided not to stop at Carl’s but rather to continue on to the park on La Ladera for a regroup. The A group rolled by with most of the B group in tow. By Murrieta there was just Dura Max, Surgeon and me riding sweep. We turned onto La Ladera and into the park just as everyone was rehydrating and talking. As soon as everyone was ready Highlander and I took everyone to Honeyrun and east to get to McCall.

At the end of the street we made a left and started up the long low grade towards Cherry Hill and then up to the corner on McCall. I pulled up to McCall and started us down the hill towards Murrieta. Of course we got the light red there and had to wait so everyone had a chance to catch up. But because of that we were all together heading back to Bradley and the freeway over pass.

We made the light at the freeway and once again at the Valero Station where we got ready to start up Hospital Hill. I was pushing some pretty tall gears up the hill and wanted to try and stay on MacGyver’s wheel if at all possible. The hard part was going to be staying with him and out of Zone 4. I did pretty well till we got to the dark spot just after the new houses and looked to see I was deep in 4. I dropped a gear and slowed my HR just a bit before shrugging my shoulders and heading after MacGyver again. I managed to tag up on him just as we crested the hill but I stopped to wait for the rest of the group before dropping off of the hill and heading for Heritage. We moved quickly on Heritage and up to the park on Lindenburger. Once again I managed to stay in the aero tuck from McCall to Simpson and from Simpson to Leon. However one again I realized the there was a whole group falling off of the back so I fell back to see who was back there. Thank goodness Coyote was with us and he brought the last riders up to me before heading for home when he got to Winchester. I ended up joining the leaders at Chris’s by myself. Coffee and conversation and we were on our way back to Stowe. I didn’t get far however because I must have forgotten to torque the screws down on my new cleats and two of them fell out so I couldn’t get my right foot out or off of the pedal. Thank goodness Ferret remembered seeing a screw on the ground at Chris’s and he went back to get it and we got at least two screws in to get me back on the road and headed for home. I took them up to Stowe and headed east.

We really chatted on the way north on California all the way to Stetson and I pulled to Warren and then to Cawston where the turned and I stayed on Stetson to Sanderson and then over to Johnston to head for home. I felt pretty good about the new bars and was only concerned that I wasn’t able to hold as tight of a line as I am used to but that will come. As for now I am happy with the set up and believe I could easily do a century on the klein if I wanted.