By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) In the Movie and Book “The Wizard of OZ” Dorothy is picked up by a tornado and dropped into the land of OZ. When I got outside to ride to the parking lot this morning I thought something similar had happened to me. I went to sleep in California and woke up in Florida. It was hot and humid and the air was heavy as I pulled into the parking lot and waited for Digger to arrive. By 8am we had a rather small group consisting of Gambler, Bulldozer, Dragon Slayer, Magic Man, Digger, Highlander, Red Rabbit and me. Still we were eager to get going so we pulled out onto Latham and over to Lyon before turning north and chasing Rabbit towards Esplanade.

I pulled most of the way to Esplanade when we caught Rabbit and by the time we crossed Seventh Bulldozer, Gambler and Dragon Slayer pulled by and headed for Ramona. I decided to keep the B riders together and pulled them to Ramona Boulevard and west tp Sanderson where we just managed to catch Bulldozer, Gambler and Dragon Slayer before the light ob Sanderson and the Expressway changed. Bulldozer flatted right after the turn and we were waved by as he fixed it with Gambler, Magic Man and Dragon slayer in attendance. My group found MacGyver waiting on Warren and we all headed for Lakeview knowing Bulldozer would be coming after us as soon as he was back on the road. Sure enough about halfway between Bridge and Lakeview Bulldozer and Gambler caught us so I told MacGyver to go with them and I would pull the Bs with me to Lakeview. Dragon Slayer and Magic Man left us at Lakeview and I took over leading the Bs over the rollers and onto Rider before getting to Evans and heading south towards Nuevo.

We seemed to be slowing a bit once we got to Nuevo so I pulled to Menifee and we stopped for a short Hydration break and a discussion on the pace we should have on Menifee all the way to Florida and the AM/PM. We had no idea where Gambler and MacGyver were but we knew Bulldozer had returned home. So I didn’t expect to see anyone waiting for us at the AM/PM. We stopped and got a hydration refill before heading back south to McCall and through the housing tract to Lindenburger.

I had settled into a comfortable pace to hold things together on Simpson and the move east. I pulled us steadily past Briggs and headed for Leon. Digger fell back ever so slightly but was still able to get back in the draft before we got to Winchester and headed north. It only took a few minutes before we were at Winchester Farms and more hydration. After a short break we headed down Stowe and the California where we moved to Stetson and headed east again.

I stayed with Digger and Highlander all the way past Warren and then past the airport and to the light at Sanderson. I broke for home on Johnston and headed east past Lyon and finally Palm and home. With enough electrolyte and nutrition I was not tired when I got home. So I downloaded to Strava and got ready to post to the blog before kicking back to watch some TV. At least I discovered I wasn’t in Florida even if the humidity was about 50 percent.