By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Wednesday has become the big ride day. I try to push the distance or the elevation gain or something to make it a harder than average day. The ride I had planned for today however I didn’t really expect to get in. It was supposed to rain pretty much all morning and start clearing by 10am. In fact it did rain up to about 5am today because I could hear it hitting my awning. However by the time I got dressed and had breakfast it was clearing and I was determined to get in a ride if at all possible. I got to the parking lot and got some coffee just as Digger showed up. We were still exchanging greetings when to my surprise Highlander showed up. He is not a fan of the rain. Dragon Slayer was back from vacation and Sasquatch was there with new wheels and tires. Our visitor from Rhode Island, Mark had rejoined us and Huntress pulled up as well. We also had Jackal pull up, on his new Trek, just before we were ready to leave. So we pulled out onto Gilmore and made our way to Acacia.

As we pulled up to Kirby I was glad I hadn’t succumbed to the temptation to remove my jacket as we stood in front to the glass at Burger King. It was a cold morning and the dampness was trying to work its way into my bones as we waited to turn. It got even cooler as we turned towards Cypress and the air hit us. It may not have been Balaclava weather but it was close. I was glad I also had on glove liners. After we turned onto Cypress I took us to Sanderson and decided to head for Domenigoni. We crossed the light on Stetson Green and we soon rolling by Wally World and closing on Mustang.

Dragon Slayer took over at Mustang followed by Sasquatch and then me. We started out on Domenigoni with Sasquatch pulling like a freight train. Things didn’t slack off much when dragon Slayer took his turn and finally I got the lead and pulled most of the way to Winchester with Dragon Slayer taking us to the light. By then we had lost digger and Jackal so we pulled up to the trees after Winchester and waited. Once back on our way I started us off and then gave the lead over to get some rest at the back of the line. By leon I could see Jackal moving up on our rear and from experience had a good feeling that he would attempt a sprint up to the top of the saddle. I commented on that concept to Dragon Slayer and he led me out on an early charge up the hill before Jackal could get in out draft. We regrouped on the top of the saddle and took a short break while everyone else arrived. As soon as everyone was ready we dropped off the back side of the saddle and headed for Menifee and South towards Holland. I was going to pull the group up the little hill called revive but Jackal and Sasquatch took off to the crest of the hill with Dragon Slayer in close pursuit. I pulled everyone else to the regroup point and got ready for the dash between Garboni and Scott.

Dragon Slayer and I made short work of the Garboni run and got to Scott and through the light with Mark in tow. Soon the rest of the group arrived with Sasquatch showing up a bit slow after tossing a chain. We headed east towards Leon and made the turn south again more or less in a group. We were stretched out a bit with Digger riding sweep about a quarter mile behind. We stopped just past Max Gillis and got ready to attack Los Alamos and head to Whitewood.

The climb up Los Alamos was invigorating and it wasn’t long before we were all at the top of the canyon and heading down the other side towards Whitewood. Once again Sasquatch was off like a runaway train and it took me most of the way to Whitewood to catch him. I then waited for Digger and Jackal while the rest of the group climbed Whitewood and headed for the hospital. We regrouped on Antelope and headed for Keller before turning onto Menifee and headed for Domenigoni. Once on Domenigoni we headed east again and the backside of the saddle. If was after the saddle where the excitement really began. Dragon Slayer, Mark and I had to chase Sasquatch as he chased the group with Highlander and Huntress all the way to Leon. Dragon Slayer got us up to the lead group just as Sasquatch pulled past them and started a pull that picked up their pace. I came around with Jackal, Dragon slayer and Mark in tow and before I knew it I had Sasquatch as well. After taking my turn at the pull I gave it over to Dragon Slayer and then Jackal who tried to keep us rolling at close to 30 MPH. When he pulled off the pace was too great and it was down to just Dragon Slayer Sasquatch and me. Dragon Slayer fell off and I had to close on Sasquatch and followed him till he picked it up again only to get to the light at Winchester just as the cars were turning left in front of him. He was still sitting at the light as I came flying by just as it changed to green with Dragon Slayer on my wheel. Sasquatch didn’t give up but rather chased us all the way to the dry wash where I took another pull and headed for Warren finally losing Dragon Slayer and having to chase Sasquatch by myself. I held onto his wheel till we started up the last rise before Sanderson. I pulled around just before we were ready to pull over to the left and got ready to make the turn north. We then collected our stragglers and headed for Lowes and over to Acacia and the final run back to Gilmore and home.

We decided to visit for a few minutes at the parking lot before heading to Starbucks for coffee with dragon Slayer. After a hot cup of coffee I headed for home and a hot shower. However because I was late getting home I had to take the dog for a walk first and then shower and run some errands before assigning myself a place in my easy chair and a cold drink.