By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I recovered pretty well from the Saturday ride and took it easy on Monday so I got up Wednesday ready to play. I had gone to bed early and got up rested and had breakfast. After a shower and shave I was ready to get dressed and head out of my door to meet my friends at the parking lot. I got there after Dragon Slayer and before Digger. We were talking as Highlander arrived and he talked us into moving over by the windows to get some warm sun. As we stood there talking Closer arrived followed shortly by Huntress. Once again it wasn’t a big group as we were getting ready to leave. Red Rabbit rode up to see where we were going and took off to get a head start. We pulled out onto Gilmore and saw Gambler rounding the corner off of Florida just before we crossed the street. We rode down to Acacia together and over to Kirby before heading south towards Cypress.

Gambler was fully warmed up after having to make a mad dash from the east end of town when he remembered that we were not changing start times till next week. He was taking it easy on us as we moved over the railroad tracks and turned west through the houses. I pulled up next to him and Dragon Slayer as we got to Johnston and encouraged them into turned to Stetson before heading west again. I led us to Stetson and started us towards the Airport.

I held the lead till we past the airport and caught Red Rabbit before having to slow for Warren. Highlander came up and teased Gambler for going so slow and that proved to be a big mistake. We picked up speed heading for California and formed a pretty good pace line heading for Stowe. As we turned West Gambler picked up speed again and soon we were hitting 24. The group started to hand grenade about 400 yards from the metal barn while Dragon Slayer and I held onto Gambler’s back wheel for dear life. I considered turning the last 100 yards into a sprint but realized we still had more than 30 miles to go and some climbing in front of us so I just stayed into the draft till we regrouped at Winchester Farms.

Once we were all back together we headed back down Winchester towards Grand and noticed Bandit coming at us. He turned around and lead us back south and headed us west on the dump road. I was feeling frisky so I drafted them to the rise before pulling around and leading us over the top and toward Leon. The effort once again broke the group but it was fun so I took us south towards Simpson where we soft pedaled till everyone was in tow.

Dragon Slayer took over the pull and got us on Simpson heading west. He pulled us all the way to Lindenburger where we more or less regrouped at the light. As the light turned Dragon Slayer took off and gapped us. Bandit and Gambler pulled me almost up to him and I managed to close the gap and pass him as he hit a wall before the light. I ended up following Gambler and Bandit to the light on McCall. As we sat there we noticed Highlander, Huntress and Closer coming from Heritage. They made the light green and were almost to the hill before we made the turn and gave chase. Huntress and closer made it to the top just as we caught them. We dropped down Hospital hill and regrouped at the gas station on Bradley. Digger, Highlander and Huntress left first and Gambler, Bandit and I followed to Murrieta with Dragon Slayer and Closer riding drag. Huntress and Highlander rounded the corner and headed for Honneyrun. We turned onto La Ladera with Huntress taking us all the way back to Normandy.

Highlander took us to Goetz and started us towards Newport. I slipped around him at Newport and headed for the rollers on Railroad Canyon. Bandit caught me just before the top and Gambler came by me right after we crested. I ended up having to chase them all the way to Canyon Hills. I waited for the rest of the group there while Gambler and Bandit headed for Newport and home. Once we were all back together I hit the Canyon Hills rollers hard and soon pulled away from the group. Dragon slayer caught back up to me and I pulled till we got to the downhill and the last four or five rollers. I got away at the rollers and waited for them at the top of Holland hill. We then dropped down the back side and headed for Haun. I started the pull to Newport so we could make our way to Jack In the Box for coffee.

We had coffee and conversation at Jack in th Box while Red Rabbit and Digger arrived. The Rabbit left first and we followed about 10 minutes later. We took turns pulling and I kept everyone buy Dragon Slayer behind me as we crossed over the saddle and headed for Leon. I pulled up to Dragon Slayer and we took turns pulling to Winchester. After we left the light Dragon Slayer started us east and soon we zeroed in on Rabbit before heading for the dry wash where I took the lead and took us past Warren. Huntress took over and pulled almost all the way to Sanderson before giving it back to me.

I followed Closer and Highlander down to Mustang before we all caught the light at Stetson and regrouped. Dragon Slayer wanted to stop at the healthy pub so I planned on staying on Sanderson while the rest of the group headed back to Burger King. Dragon slayer and I met at the healthy pub and had a shake before heading for home ourselves. It was a great day for a ride and I feel like I had a good one.