By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) It has gotten to the point that I look forward to Wednesday rides. I tend to play more on Wednesday and I can pick my places to do that playing. Three climbs is perfect for picking and choosing those places. I headed to the parking lot looking forward to meeting up with my friends and getting on the road. Digger and Bloodhound were there as was Highlander. Surgeon, Bulldozer and MacGyver were there as well. Once Newsboy and Minotaur were ready we were ready to leave. It looked like we were a few people short but by 8 am I took us out onto the street and south on Gilmore. We did not start out all that fast but pretty quickly we were on Acacia and then Kirby to get the show on the road.

As we headed for Cypress I didn’t notice anyone chasing the group and I didn’t see anyone as we headed for Johnston. I chatted with Newsboy and we talked about the Tour de France and rounded the corner onto Johnston and then headed north on Sanderson to Wentworth. We managed to roll the turn on Wentworth and head for the airport and suddenly Huntress was with us. She must have cruised in just as we left and had to chase us to Cypress. Soon we were rolling by Hanger 1 and pulling out onto Stetson to head west.

Bloodhound started us west and we formed a nice little pace line as we passed the fire plane and the helicopter hanger. Digger was in third and kept trying to pull out of line like he wanted to pass. In truth he simply was planning on turning on Warren to take a short cut so he would get to the climbs first. The rest of us rolled west past Warren and soon Bloodhound took off with Newsboy making a run at California. They made the corner and headed south about 100 yards in front of us. They were almost to Stowe before Bulldozer started a run at them. MacGyver went with him while I held the pace to keep the rest of the group together and headed for Stowe.

We watched as Bulldozer and MacGyver closed on Newsboy and Bloodhound and then rounded onto Stowe ourselves. I held the pace again for the first third of the run on Stowe when Minotaur decided to make a run for the steel barn. Somehow I found myself pulled into his vortex and onto his back wheel breaking the pace line and chasing him most of the way to the barn. I waited till he started to run out of steam before coming around and making it to the parking lot shortly after seeing Bulldozer pass Newsboy and Bloodhound. We took a short break before heading back out onto Winchester and south towards the dump road.

We moved smoothly with me pulling all the way to Simpson before Surgeon took the lead and pulled us to Domenigoni where we caught the light and waited to head east. Once again I started the pull and got us pointed towards Warren. Soon MacGyver took over for me and we formed a double pace line. Bulldozer and MacGyver held a perfect pace for the whole group and we stayed on their wheel all the way to Warren and then to Searl. We turned onto Seven Dollar hill where Bloodhound and Newsboy took off and pulled away from the rest of us. It was here I decided to play a bit and I hit the hill pretty hard for me. I was surprised at how good I felt as I rounded the one hundred eighty degree turn and shifted down to spin to the false flat. I picked it up three gears so as to not lose sight on Bloodhound and Newsboy and watch MacGyver and Bulldozer gain on me. That caused me to push a bit harder and I knew I had set a PR on the hill. Not fast for some but fast for me. I headed back down and watched the rest of the group still o the way up. We all regrouped at the bottom. It took a while before I spotted Huntress and Highlander so I rode back to watch as Highlander replaces a tube on Huntress’s bike.

It only took a short time to get the tire back together but Huntress was suffering from a foot cramp and we had to wait for that to go away before we rejoined the rest of the group and headed back out towards Domenigoni.

Bloodhound left us again and got out onto Domenigoni first. He was way ahead of us as we closed on State Street but he caught the light red so we joined him waiting for a green. We headed north and once again. Bloodhound took Surgeon with him as they headed for Chambers and disappeared before we got there. We turned on Chambers and headed for Buena Vista before moving up to Thornton and headed for Santa Fe.

Bloodhound and Surgeon were almost out of sight as we turned onto Stetson and headed east. I knew Highlander wasn’t going to do the Ramona Climb but I didn’t know Surgeon was going to bypass it as well. Once again I decided to hit the hill but only to make a steady run at it. I did manage to stand till we could see the top and got there just after Newsboy, MacGyver and Bulldozer. Once we were all together we dropped off of the bowl and headed for Crest.

I had to wonder if we were going to see or catch Surgeon, Highlander or Digger and that was just what I was thinking as we made it to Lake and then to Stetson to make a run at Fairview. We headed back North and made our way to Florida so we could ride up to Cranston. We did see Digger heading back down. Highlander and Surgeon had gone home so the rest of us had to ride back from Cranston to Carl’s without them. Only five of us stopped for Coffee. A quick few minutes and we were back on the road heading west towards Home.

Huntress dropped off at her street first. That left Digger, Minotaur, Newsboy and me to make it to Park and the turn left. We lost Digger when we made the jog onto Devonshire. Minotaur and Newsboy left me around Yale and I was on my own all the way pack to Palm and Home. Yes I was a bit hot and tired but I felt good and relaxed before lunch and a hot shower. It was a great ride, a great day with great friends.