Special report: The great race.

C. Kent, aka (Superman) The Great race Today’s ride was a bit different than some because we had a whole new cast of characters and it turned into a mini race. Sure it wasn’t the Vuelta e Espana but it was exciting none the less. Next Monday we will return to our regular scheduled ride reports. The majority of the racers left the parking lot to head north on Lyon to the starting point of the race, the intersection of Lyon and Ramona Boulevard. The group started a long double pace line about Devonshire and kept it going as they past Esplanade and headed for Seventh.

Things got a bit dicey at Cottonwood when Ivan the Terrible challenged and cross traffic car coming east. He had room to pass the intersection but it caused Akira the Ninja to cross after him after the car has started through the intersection. The rest of the group managed to stop and wait till the young drivers drove by. They then had to give chase and catch Mr. Terrible and Mr. Ninja all the way to Ramona where they met Nate the Prophet and Josh Randall, wanted dead or alive, ready to head west to Sanderson and begin the long fast run from Sanderson to Lakeview for the first segment of the race. Robert the Bruce got the jump on the Boulevard and dragged Mr. Terrible all the way to Sanderson just ahead of King George and the rest of the group.

As the group turned west the Bruce got out front and kicked things up to about 24 or 25 all the way to Warren. When the Bruce gave up the lead Mr. Terrible was running second but he decided to fall back as well and King George took over taking the Prophet, Noel the Italian Stallion, Prince Albert, and Mr. Ninja with him. As they started to pull away the Bruce had to close the gap. For some reason Mr. Terrible fell off of the pace and Josh Randall had to drag him up to the Bruce. After catching the Bruce he turned over pulling duties and took off to close the gap on the leading riders. Because it was a long way to Lakeview the Bruce set the cruise controls on and got Ivan the Terrible to Lakeview a minute or two ahead of Richard the Lion Hearted. They formed a mini group and headed south and managed to get by the leaders on 9th street. King George and the rest must have made a wrong turn so the Bruce found himself one again in the lead and pulled everyone to Nuevo and onto Ramona Avenue heading towards Central.

Ivan the Terrible and King George took the lead on Central with Prince Albert and headed south on Menifee. The Bruce was following in fourth as they got to the stop sign and ended up grabbing onto King George’s back wheel as they headed south towards the Nursery rise and Mapes. As the group got to Mapes the Bruce put his head down and started a rather long high speed run that took everyone all the way to Florida and a quick stop at the AM/PM for water. Richard the Lion Hearted refueled first and was on his way south first. The rest of the group led by Nate the Prophet and Ivan the Terrible pulled out of the AM/PM and headed south as well. The Prophet pulled the group all the way to the railroad tracks before the Bruce took over for a short while taking them to McCall to wait for the run up to Simpson and the segment east.

Ivan the Terrible and the Bruce were the last once up the rise and onto Simpson so the Bruce had to help close the gap to the fleeing leaders. By Lindenburger the Bruce caught Prince Albert and by Brigg he was on Josh Randall’s back wheel. They stayed in the back as they closed on the fleeing Lion Hearted and watched him take the Leon cut off. After they past Leon themselves Josh Randall moved to the front pulling the Bruce with him. Josh Randall pulled all the way to the last set of trees before the Ninja tried a sprint pass heading to Winchester. Josh Randall and the Prophet stayed with him to finish on the podium, only the judges know the positions. Josh Randall and Nate the Prophet headed back to their team staging area by turning to Domenigoni. Everyone else turned north and stopped at Winchester Farms. After a water stop at Winchester Farms everyone headed east on Stowe and started for home. The Bruce even managed to keep a smile on his face as they headed for California.

The ride to Stetson was steady and far from a cool down ride as they headed east to Warren. Once past Warren everyone stayed on Stetson all the way to Sanderson to avoid the pavement on Wentworth. They made it to Sanderson and then down to the light on Johnston where Ivan the Terrible asked for a slow ramp up heading to Lowes. It started out that way but soon the Bruce heard Ivan the Terrible tell King George to kick it up and an all out sprint started that too everyone to the Lowes driveway. King George led the group around Lowes and onto Acacia. There were some false spring starts after Kirby and once more on Gilmore before everyone got back the parking lot and separated to head for their own homes. The Bruce had an 18.8 average at the parking lot but it dropped to 18.1 by the time he had cruised home. It was a great day for a race and we hope the riders will come back and do it again some time.