By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Some say no good deed ever goes unpunished. I know it is meant tongue in cheek but never the less there are times when it seems true. I had been pushing the group pretty hard the last few weeks trying to get in the base miles and pace down for a new Century ride they are putting on in La Quinta towards the end of October. So for Wednesday I decided to tune it down a bit and made a shorter recovery ride out by the Soboba reservation and up to Cranston Station. That is how I posted it anyway. I rode over to Burger King and met with Dura Max and Digger. By 8am we had a good sized A Group with Gambler, Daredevil, Dragon Slayer, Bandit, Bloodhound and Bulldozer. That left the B group to me with Huntress, Quicksilver, Hawk, Surgeon and Digger. Dura Max left to ride with T-3 just before Red Rabbit arrived and we got ready to head for Latham. In fact Rabbit did leave while we helped Huntress fix a flat tire. Once that was done we were off to Latham and then north on Lyon. We didn’t get three blocks before the A group snapped their leashes and faded into the distance.

Of the B group that was left the three female riders may have been the quickest of the group. I felt a bit silly pulling the group north past Devonshire and then Cottonwood and finally onto Ramona and headed east. In fact it seemed to me a perfect place to give up the lead once we were headed towards State Street. To be honest I felt pretty good just keeping up with Hawk, Huntress and Quicksilver. We turned onto State Street and made a quick stop for a nature break at the Taco Bell before starting north again. Surgeon pulled us up to Soboba and then started the run to the Golf Course. Once on our way Surgeon hit the first of the rollers and shortly after we crested Hawk took off on a fast run and I told Quicksilver and Huntress to go with her. Surgeon managed to stay with them. And I got dropped like a bad habit. However I didn’t waste much energy cresting the second roller and was able to push some big gears and started to gather up riders Hawk was spitting off the back. It took all I had to catch Hawk and Quicksilver before they made it to the trees at the end of the Golf Course. We worked our way to Ramona and headed for Cedar where Digger and I picked up Rabbit before Quicksilver, Hawk, Huntress and Surgeon left us and headed for Florida. They ended up having to wait till we got to Florida and we all rode to Cranston to meet up with the A group. Picture 04

After we took a minute or two to regroup we got ready to head back to Carl’s. At that point the ride was all but over because more than half of the Group was headed for Bautista while most of the B group was headed for Carl’s. I got a great jump out of the parking lot but Daredevil and Bloodhound caught me before I could make it to Fairview. They turned on Fairview and I waited for some of the B group at Carl’s.

Huntress had to leave early as did Surgeon and Rabbit so Quicksilver, Digger and I rode back to Palm together where Digger turned for home. I followed Quicksilver to her car and then went home myself. It never turned into a recovery ride so I guess the group didn’t need one. I will need one if this pace keeps up and if the three women get any faster.