By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Once again we were doing a Wednesday ride that was going to encourage a lot of playing and running hard. We had short sprints, long runs short climbs and long grades. All designed to get the legs working and hart pumping. And on Wednesdays I have decided to play right along with the A group. So I put on my newest club jersey and headed for Burger King and coffee. I pulled up to find Closer and Daniel already there. I went in for coffee and Digger joined us. Soon Gambler and Jackal arrived followed by Sasquatch, Mark and Highlander. A smaller group than I expected but still one that was ready to get going. At 9am we went down Gilmore and made our way to Kirby to start the day.

Digger was riding up near the front and his reasoning was sound. If he stayed in front he could stay with the group longer and there was less chance of getting dropped. So that is just what he did all the way to Cypress and then to Johnston and Sanderson. He even led us to Wentworth and only gave up the lead so we could pull him to the airport road before Highlander took us out onto Stetson and west.

Once on Stetson Jackal fell in behind Highlander and we formed a nice little pace line that took us all the way to Warren and through the stop sign. As we moved towards California Jackal pulled out front and set us up for the turn south towards Stowe. What he more than likely didn’t know was there was a sprint point on Stowe and he was still out front as we neared the corner to make the turn west again.

Jackal has some sprint speed but he had been pulling for a long time and if he didn’t give up the lead before we topped the little rise he was going to have a hard time finishing out front. Being in a playful mood I decided to go early and took off in the sprint just as soon as we were over the rise with almost a mile to go to the big metal barn. It might not have been the best move I could have made because I took Sasquatch with me. He simply waited till he thought I was spent and went around me, that move forced me to the left and onto his back wheel leaving a gap for Gambler to blast past us on the right. I was too far away to tag up on Gambler so I had to stay with Sasquatch until he had burned off a match or two before attacking him again and holding him off to the parking lot on Winchester.

After we were all regrouped and refreshed I started us south on Winchester and towards Grand. I managed to get out onto Winchester first and had to soft pedal till the group formed up behind me before slowly ramped it up was we neared Grand and pulled by Chris’s. We didn’t get far before the shout came out that someone flatted. It turns out Highlander had challenged the flat demons and they had decided to strike him for the second ride of the week.

Once the tire was repaired we headed for Domenigoni with me taking the sweep position. It didn’t matter much because we all caught the light and had to wait for the ride east. Once we started east Gambler took the lead followed by Sasquatch and Highlander. Everyone else seemed reticent to close up so I took the forth position and held on as Gambler ramped it up. We were running about 24 for the longest time and slowly Gambler took us up to 25 then 26. Just before the dry river crossing Highlander pulled off and I closed on Sasquatch. Great place to be I might add for he is like drafting a small car. Gambler gave Sasquatch a turn and then just before it was my turn Gambler came by again I latched onto his wheel and Jackal hooked onto mine. I took my turn at Warren and Jackal took his at Sanderson before we rounded the corner on Searl and headed for seven dollar hill. Mark caught me before I got to the top of Seven Dollar hill and we stopped to talk to two other riders before heading back down the hill after Gambler. We all regrouped at the bottom of the hill and waited for Digger to finish his climb and decent. Once we were all back together we headed for Domenogoni and State Street.

We made it to State Street where Closer had to leave and we headed north at cruising speed. The group allowed me to lead them up State Street without a sprint and stayed behind me all the way to Chambers and over to Buena Vista. It was then an easy jog to Thornton and then over to Santa Fe to start out on Stetson and head for Girard.

Once we were at Girard Highlander continued on Stetson while we headed for Ramona Bowl. I wasn’t planning on trying to PR the hill because I knew we had a lot of sprints and climbs left but Jackal started us up the hill and I could head the woosh, woosh of Gamblers wheels coming up behind me. So I downshifted and watched Gambler, Mark and Jackal ride up the hill in front of me. Everyone but Gambler waited at the covered area till we were all back together and Gambler headed for home. We headed back down off of the bowl and onto Crest and finally over to Lake to get back to Stetson and head for Fairview.

We had Digger leave from Stetson and Fairview first so we would have someone to chase up to Cranston Station. We made a practice lead out for the run at the Fairview segment and Sasquatch did very well getting us to 34 before we hit the Water department. We then rounded the corner onto Florida and headed towards Cranston. We saw Highlander coming back out of the trees and Digger heading into the trees and that caused us to pick it up to try and catch him. He almost got to the parking lot before we caught him and ended up pulling into Cranston back and heading back to Carl’s for coffee. After a short stop we headed back towards Burger King.

We lost Digger when we jogged over to Devonshire and that left Sasquatch, Jackal, Mark and I for the ride back towards State Street. Jackal broke for home so Sasquatch, Mark and I headed back ourselves and ended up riding back to Acacia with Sasquatch and Mark and I didn’t part company till Whittier and Palm. I got home with about 45 miles on the computer. I took a hot shower before giving the dog a walk and spending some quality time with my recliner.