By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Today was freezing, yes I said freezing. When I looked outside this morning it was clear and 29 degrees. I knew it was going to be cold and I had the gear for it but living in the desert it is hard to come to grips with sub freezing weather. Still with several layers, shoe warmers, a wind proof jacket, Balaclava and long finger gloves I felt I was ready for a ride. All I needed to know was who many would be riding with me. I got to Burger King a bit surprised to see both Digger and Highlander. Digger was a surprise because he was supposed to have jury duty. Highlander hardly ever gets to Burger King before me. But we had coffee together and waited to see if anyone else showed up to ride. By 9am no one else did so we headed south on Gilmore and across Florida only to have to stop and let Highlander add a Balaclava as we watched Papillon coming from the other direction.

It only took a moment before we were down to Acacia and heading west. It was still cold and I was glad to be as layered as I was. Everyone else was pretty layered as well as I noticed sitting at the light on Kirby. Just as we turned the corner I got a call from Mantis saying he was just a short distance behind us so we agreed to wait for him on Cypress. We pulled over as soon as we turned the corner.

It didn’t take long for Mantis to catch up and he for one was not layered. And it almost made my legs sting just watching him arrive in what for me would be summer gear. Once he caught up with us we followed Papillon to Johnston and once again found ourselves waiting to make a turn south. We made good time moving to Domenigoni and I started us west towards Warren. Highlander took a pull as did Digger before Highlander took over again and finally gave to lead to me. I gave it up to Mantis and he increased the cruising speed as we headed past Winchester. As we got to Leon we lined up for the run up the saddle. Once on top we regrouped, had a snack and headed down the backside towards Menifee,

It didn’t seem to have warmed up one bit as we passed Lindenburger. At least traffic was light as we crossed into the left turn lane at Menifee and Highlander started us south once more. He had us moving at a pretty good clip as we crossed Holland and I was sitting behind Highlander and Digger with both Papillon and Mantis on my back wheel. I felt a bit like cyclists starting a climb with a Pit-bull and a Rottweiler chasing me. I pulled steadily by Digger and Highander and was climbing well when Papillon jumped by me. For reasons not even known to me I gave chase even knowing I could never hope to catch him before we topped the hill. But chase I did followed shortly by Mantis.

I pulled over to wait for the riders behind me and soon noticed Highlander not far behind Mantis. Digger topped the hill a few moments later and soon we were all sitting by the side of the road catching our breath.

Highlander and Digger started towards Scott first followed by Mantis and me only to be joined by Papillon sitting on the side of the road waiting for us. We crossed Garbini and I got in the drops to try and close with Highlander and Digger. Before I could close on them Papillon zipped by me and I dropped onto his wheel till we had chased them down. Out little dash had spit Digger off the back of the group and the rest of us rounded the corner onto Scott at least 50 yards in front him. Digger could see us and where we were going so we decided to ride to Haun and wait for him there.

We had Digger set the pace starting north on Haun and once the speed was established I took over the pull and headed for Holland. I really didn’t get far before a light wind started to slow me down. I simply pushed harder to get the speed back up but the wind simply increased to eat up any extra effort I put in. The closer I got to Newport the harder the wind blew and the slower I went. Soon the wind was head on and I was lucky to hold 12 MPH. At least when we turned west on Newport it was a side wind that was blocked a bit by the buildings. I took us up to Bradley and started north once again. Now the wind was almost howling in my face and it was all I could do to spin my cranks onto it. By the time I hit Golf Cart racing it was hard to even hold 9 mph. Highlander stayed in my draft almost all the way to the last stop sign until the wind got all mixed up and no one could tell where the best place to draft was. We rounded the corner onto McCall first and then waited for the rest of the group at the Valero Station. We let Digger and Highlander start up the hill first while Papillon let Mantis has and extra pair of leg warmers. We met them at the top and dropped off the hill and got our one and only tail wind heading for the park on Heritage and Lindenburger. We then took turns pulling east on Simpson in a crosswind all the way to Winchester. All we had left was to make it into the wind once more for coffee at Winchester and Stowe.

While we were talking and having coffee the wind started to die down. It didn’t stop but at least it let us keep a reasonable pace. I took us to California and then north to Stetson to start us on the last leg towards home. We took turns pulling till we got to warren and headed for the Airport road.

I stayed on Stetson along with Papillon while the other three headed past the airport. Papillon and I split at Sanderson and I took it up to Johnston before headed east and worked my way home looking forward to a hot lunch and a hot shower. Just over 40 miles on a cold windy day is pretty good I think.