By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) We took it easy Monday so that we could get in a half century today. MacGyver had a route in mind so I simply brought it up and posted it. I had no idea how many wanted that long of a ride but it didn’t matter because I knew Huntress and MacGyver at least would be looking forward to it. It was Club Jersey day so I dressed in my kit and headed for Burger King and Coffee with Digger. Once again Dura Max left us to ride with T-3 but by 8:30 Bloodhound, MacGyver, Huntress, Digger, Papillon. Dragon Slayer and I headed south on Gilmore heading for Acacia.

Bloodhound was once again a bit like a puppy left off of the leash as he took off ahead of the rest of us and made it to Acacia. I followed him around the corner and headed west towards Kirby. We were in luck in that the light was red and Bloodhound had to wait for the rest of us. Once the light changed he was off again and headed for Cypress way ahead of the rest of us. At least he waited till we got on Cypress before heading for Johnston.

We stopped again at Sanderson and when we had a chance we were headed south towards Stetson where I passed Bloodhound at the light. We moved quickly past Wally world and zeroed in on Mustang before moving on to Domenigoni. My goal was to keep it at an easy 20 MPH heading for Warren even if that meant letting Bloodhound go. Bloodhound decided to soft pedal till we caught him and he offered to pull us all the way to the saddle just for practice. He had some trouble holding the pace down so everyone could hang on. We made it to Warren together and even over the dry wash together but we dropped one on the downhill side. However we caught the light at Winchester and were once again all together. That lasted to Leon where we started getting lined up for the Saddle Sprint. Dragon Slayer got the jump on all of us and I chased him to the top. It felt pretty good if I do say so myself. We regrouped and grabbed some hydration before dropping off the hill and heading for Menifee.

We did head down the backside of the saddle and rolled past Lindenburger as a group. And once again Bloodhound was well out front. However once again we got the light at Menifee and were all regrouped getting ready to head south towards Holland. As we were heading south Bloodhound started a run at the hill past Holland and at first everyone else stayed with the rest of us. But by Holland Papillon MacGyver and Dragon Slayer closed on Bloodhound leaving Huntress and I to battle it out running up the hill and Digger following.

As we headed for Scott Road Huntress, Digger, Papillon and I were left behind as Bloodhound took MacGyver and Dragon slayer with him heading east towards Leon. The leading group was well out of sight by the time Huntress and I made the light on Scott and headed east ourselves. Papillon brought Digger up as we crossed Leon and headed for Winchester. Digger fell back on the hill but we planned on him catching us at the Winchester Light.

Once Digger past us at Winchester we dropped down Washington like a freight train with Huntress and I taking turns pulling as much as we could. We made it to Benton just before Digger and we all headed west to meet up with the fleet three that had left us earlier. To tell the truth I wasn’t sure they would be waiting for us but they were still there as we pulled into the Station on the corner of Winchester and Benton. After a short break we were back on the road moving up Winchester and turning on Max Gillis to make our way to Los Alamos.

We broke into pairs as we headed west on Los Alamos. Papillon was with Bloodhound and I rode with MacGyver while Dragon Slayer and Huntress followed with Digger. We made rather short work of the rollers and as we crested the last big roller I pulled over for a regroup while Papillon chased down Bloodhound.

Once Digger has past us and headed for Whitewood we followed and caught him just as we got to the light and found Papillon and Bloodhound waiting. Dragon slayer and I started up the hill only to be past by Papillon as if he was on the flats and then soom Bloodhound came chugging along trying to give chase. But catching Papillon on a hill is like catching a Butterfly without a net. Dragon Slayer and I stopped at the light and waited till Huntress, MacGyver and Digger caught us. We then headed for the Hospital and over to Antelope where Bloodhound was waiting for us. Papillon had left, more than likely to go pick up his kids at school, and we headed north for the second time today. MacGyver, Huntress and Bloodhound missed the turn at Keller and so headed for home without dragon Slayer, Digger and me. We headed over to Menifee and north to Newport/Domenigoni and east. Dragon slayer and I rolled over the hill without missing a beat and waited for Digger at Leon.

Digger rolled by us and we started after him only to both get phone calls and have to pull over. Once we were back on our way Dragon Slayer and I started working together to see is we could run down Digger even if we couldn’t see him in the distance. Once we saw the overpass at the dry wash we could just see Digger passing over it. It was like two hounds spotting a rabbit and we worked even harder to run him down. We did finally catch him at Warren and ended up riding to Sanderson together. I stayed with them till we crossed Stetson and then headed east on Johnston towards home.

After we separated I easily made my way past Kirby and then Lyon and Elk with the wind at my back. All I had left was Palm and my home street and I was safely back at my house getting ready for a shower and lunch. 54 miles of a great ride and great fellowship is hard to beat. But them why try to beat it, just do it again Friday.