By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I know I have said this before but Friday was going to be a recovery day. That is right, I said it, a recovery day. It was going to be shorter and my only worry was that the wind was supposed to hit us hard. I also didn’t expect a large group so it would make it easier to keep together. So off I went to Burger King to see how the ride would shape up. I was correct and the ride was smaller than some. But we had a good A group and a good B group. I had no idea if we were break up later in the ride so as soon as everyone was ready we hit the road and headed south. Then it was onto Acacia and south again on Kirby watching Dura Ace and T-3 fade into the distance.

By the time we got to Cypress we could only see two cyclists fading around the bend in the distance. But even more noticeable was Shadow waiting for us as we turned the corner. Once he joined us we continued on to Johnston and caught the light red. As soon as it turned green we were headed for Stetson and Wally world.

We moved rather smoothly south on Sanderson and soon were passing Mustang and the High school. We had to wait till we almost got all the way to Domenigoni before we could merge left but we did manage to make the turn on a green and head east towards Searl. When we got to the light and the A group headed for the Marina. The B group followed Highlander and Barracuda and Shadow came with us. Surgeon took over from Highlander till we got to State and headed South again. I got the lead back and pulled us towards Newport. After crossing the street I turned the lead over to Surgeon and fell back towards the back of the pack.

I followed till we got to the rise the used to lead to Sherpa’s house before making a run at the segment past the Golf Course and down to Sage. I got a pretty good jump on the group and was pulling away till I got past the golf course. I could see at least two riders closing on me and I simply had nothing more to give as I crossed Sage. I was pretty sure I could make the top of the little hill first but I would have to keep the momentum up or whoever was behind me would run me down on the hill. I did make it to the church first but as soon as I did Barracuda and Shadow past me. I had to pick it back up so they didn’t completely blow me away and I did much better on the Cactus Valley east segment.

It took us a little time to regroup at the end of the road and while we waited it was time to remove arm warmers and in some cases leg warmers before heading back to State Street. I was way in the back as we started back towards Sage and got distracted by talking to Barracuda. By the time we got to the downhill our little group was really moving. I started to close on them when Barracuda rolled by. The A group was still heading to the end of the valley but I knew they wouldn’t be far behind by the time we made it back to Newport. I made it to the back of the group and then pulled around and the corner and headed for MacSweeney. I got there with Highlander, Surgeon, Barracuda and Shadow followed closely by Huntress. We rode through the housing tract and regrouped out on State. Once everyone was ready we headed north towards Domenigoni.

For a change no one attacked the State Street mile. Well except for Bloodhound making a run after we got to the ride and headed for Chambers. Once we were headed for Buena Vista and Thornton Highlander reminded me that he wouldn’t be heading to Crest but staying on Stetson. The rest of us turned on Columbia and moved through the old quite old neighborhood.

It was a pretty easy ride as we worked our way past Hemet Street and headed for Lake. Huntress and I led the way to lake and over the little rise to almost coast down to Stetson before heading east towards Fairview. I got us to Fairview and fell back as we headed for Wilson Mesa. Highlander and Surgeon were waiting at Wilson Mesa and Huntress and I stopped to talk to them as Bulldozer and MacGyver hit the segment through the houses. We finally regrouped on top of the Mesa and got ready to drop down to Fairview and a run at the ,“Not the Fairview Mile,” I was only interested in measuring my performance against some of my better runs on this segment and wanted to see if I could get to over 30 by the time we got to the bridge. Sure enough I got to 31 and had one gear left. The A group left us at Wilson Mesa and the B group headed for Carl’s with Barracuda and Shadow. Once we had coffee together we separated and more than half of us headed back west towards Burger king.

Surgeon left us at Park while the rest of us moved over to Devonshire. We kept it pretty slow and steady on our way past Yale and towards San Jacinto. Two of our riders got caught at the light on San Jacinto and I stopped at Santa Fe to wait for them. Highlander was on a mission and he faded west while Digger and I soft pedaled till Shadow and Barracuda caught up. Digger and I headed for home on Palm and waved to the others as they continued west. I got home with just over 34 miles on the computer and a craving for a shower and lunch. First however my dog wanted a walk.