By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) When I got up this morning and looked outside I couldn’t help but think of a Horror or Science Fiction movie. There was a layer of fog outside that looked like something the zombies or space aliens would come walking out of to capture the unwary. I considered wearing a long sleeve jersey and a long sleeve base layer. But I also expected the fog to lift and it was supposed to be in the 80s. So it was arm warmers, leg warmers, a sleeveless base layer under my kit and a small vest over it as I left the house. On the way over to the parking lot I was glad I remembered to turn on my rear blinker because if I could only see a block or so in front of me I was sure drivers would have a hard time seeing me when I got to Florida. Still I made it safely to have coffee wit Digger and spend some time with Dura Max before he left to ride with T-3. Still Huntress, MacGyver, Bloodhound, Highlander and Red Rabbit pulled out of Pep Boy’s parking lot and down to Lyon in front of me. I caught up by the time we got to Devonshire and took us up to Fruitvale.

I fell back to pick up Rabbit and the rest of the group started to fade into the distance. I slowly tried to pull Rabbit back to the group but it seemed like it was more effort than he could muster when it was this cool and overcast. Looking towards the east it looked like the sun was burning through but looking to the west it looked like a fog bank waiting to swallow us up. By the time I had Rabbit past Cottonwood I could tell we were never going to catch up but soon I saw there was some kind of mishap about a block before Ramona and I stopped to see if it was a flat. Rabbit continued on while we worked on the problem. A few minutes later we were turning onto Ramona and heading towards Sanderson.

As we headed was we had to stop and adjust the bars on Huntress’s bike and that let Rabbit get farther ahead. Once we had the bards adjusted we were on our way and quickly got to Sanderson and finally onto the expressway. Bloodhound took us to Warren and I took over heading past the first two dairies and then towards Bridge. Just before we got to Bridge we caught Rabbit and I thought about drafting him but he fell of rather quickly and we had to go around. I took us north on Bridge and we pulled away from Rabbit and past the cows and sheep.

As we got near the bend in the road on Bridge MacGyver, Blood Hound, Highlander and Huntress started a rather fast pace line that quickly dropped Digger. About 150 yards later Huntress dropped off and I moved up behind Highlander. As MacGyver picked up the pace a bit more Highlander pulled off and I had to close with Bloodhound. Just before Gilman Bloodhound pulled around to snipe the segment from MacGyver and I went with him. We all laughed as we waited for everyone to regroup at Gilman. Sometimes it feels good to just run yourself and test your stamina. That is at least how I felt. After a few minutes I took the lead and headed for Sanderson. About halfway there everyone fell off and I headed for Sanderson alone until Bloodhound ran me down. We got to Sanderson together and waited for everyone else. MacGyver flatted and decided to call it a day and called for a ride. The rest of us headed for Ramona and the turn towards state. Bloodhound didn’t slow down much till we got to State and stopped for a nature break. We then pulled back out onto State and headed towards Soboba.

When we started down Soboba Bloodhound once again set the pace and by the second roller I had to close on his back wheel and hang on as we moved away from the rest of the group. He sure wasn’t acting like this was a training cruise but then he is going to La Quinta. I stayed with him to the rise at the golf course and then I passed him on the hill before the last green where we will regroup. He caught me again just before we stopped.

After we left and headed for the bridge a burnt my last match for the day and got to the hill sprint first. From then on I just followed Bloodhound back on Ramona till we got to the light at Hemet Street and headed for Cedar. Once we made the turn I was ready to cool down before we got to Florida but Bloodhound kept on going and I had to follow him to Carl’s. When we got there Rabbit joined us for coffee. We didn’t seem to stay all that long before we had to get back on the road and head back to the west side of town. Bloodhound left us first and then Highlander made a run for the barn while Huntress, Digger and I followed back to Palm. Digger turned for home and I dropped Huntress off at her car and headed for home myself. It was just over 40 easy miles and I was ready for a shower and lunch, but first our dog was ready for a walk. At least I got a second cool down.