By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Tale of two bike rides It looked like it was going to a great day for a bike ride. Because it was supposed to be a great day I expected a large group so I cheerfully got dressed and headed for Burger King. I pulled into the parking lot to see Digger waiting and Highlander pulling up. A good start I thought to myself. Soon Bloodhound, Gambler and Bulldozer arrived making me think we had a even A and B group. Daredevil drove up and I thought Huntress was on her way. Huntress called and said she broke a spoke and wouldn’t be there just as Ferret and MacGyver rolled in. At that point I knew the B group was well outnumbered and it could turn into a fast day. We pulled out onto Latham and started north on Lyon to start our journey.

Highlander, Digger and I got a head start and made it to Lyon first and managed to cross Devonshire well in front of the rest of the group. Next we were by Menlo and still hadn’t been run down so we felt pretty good about our pace. As we pulled up to Esplanade I could see someone was closing fast but it wasn’t till we had to stop for the light that the rest of the group caught us. Not bad, I thought, for a Friday. Once we were back on our way I took the lead shortly till Bulldozer picked up the pace followed by Gambler and Ferret. I jumped onto their back wheel I decided to see if I could stay with the A group.

However I soon realized the B group could never hold the pace we were getting to so I dropped back to get Digger only to watch Highlander leave with the big dogs. I didn’t care much because Friday can be a kick back day if we want it to be and shortly after Cottonwood we rolled up on Highlander and our little group of three took off in the direction of the large group. After the turn onto Ramona Boulevard I could see Bloodhound had been blown off of the back of his group and we were gaining on him.. We rounded onto Sanderson and just missed him at the light. I then pulled the little group west to Bridge where Bloodhound waited for us and gave me a break pulling to Gilman to regroup with part of the A group.

Somehow Gambler had lost Daredevil and Bulldozer was nowhere to be seen. It didn’t matter except I had no clue if they had gone ahead or went on a different ride. Still there was no way we were going to stay with them at their pace so we let them go and I pulled my little group of three down Gilmore to Sanderson. We decided to stay on Gilman and rode all the way to Soboba to see how well the repaved Gilman. It turns out the road is much improved even if it gets a bit narrow in places. Still we made it to Soboba and headed to the golf course. I pulled all the way down Soboba and then over the bridge to Ramona before turning onto Cedar to make our way to Florida and stop by Casino. After a short stop we headed to Carl’s for coffee. After some coffee and conversation we headed for home not having seen anyone by MacGyver since Bridge and Gilman.

We made our way to Lincoln and over to Park and then lost Digger so he could ride to Menlo and Home. I rode back to Burger King with Highlander and then took the long way home to get in a few extra miles before getting home for lunch and a Shower. The A group got to burn it up and the B group took their time but I am sure we all enjoyed the ride in our own way.