By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I don’t know what to call Fridays anymore. Flat Friday, Fast Friday, Easy Friday or recovery Friday hardly ever seems to end up as advertised. Today was going to be a simply day of exploration and it turned into a slinky like drag race and small team pursuit. I knew nothing of this as I headed for the parking lot about 7:15 this morning. I got there in there in time for coffee before Digger arrived and we talked till Dragon Slayer drove up. We all talked till Minotaur and Highlander arrived and lastly MacGyver. It wasn’t a big group but we were eager to make a good ride out of it anyway. We left the parking lot right at 8am and headed down Gilmore to Acacia before turning to Kirby and south.

I wasn’t planning on hitting it very hard today because I was more interested in seeing how much climbing we would have to do if we got to ride through Canyon Lakes. I took us up to Cypress without much fanfare and headed west at an easy pace towards Johnston. Highlander was staying right with me and Digger was right behind him. It looked like it was going to be an easy cruise up to Domenigoni and maybe even all the way to the saddle. We made the light at Sanderson and headed to Stetson to make our way to Domenigoni.

Minotaur took over the lead as we closed on Mustang but a slow moving truck past us and Dragon Slayer and I couldn’t resist catching a draft off of it and we soon outpaced the rest of the group and made the turn onto Domenigoni and headed west. Dragon Slayer and I slow pedaled till everyone was in line and we headed for Warren with MacGyver pulling. I took my turn at the front but soon MacGyver was back and pulling for the dry wash. We crested the dry wash at 24-25 and soon were rolling along close to 30 heading for Winchester. I took my turn again as did Dragon Slayer and Minotaur. I looked back over my shoulder and everyone including Digger was in line at 26-27. Minotaur was leading at Leon with Dragon Slayer and I close behind. MacGyver was following Highlander. When Minotaur spun out and Highlander fell off so I pushed a bit harder and Dragon Slayer pushed me all the way to the top of the saddle where we regrouped and had a snack.

When we dropped down the back side of the Saddle Highlander and Dragon Slayer took a giant lead soon Minotaur joined them while MacGyver, Digger and I slowly followed and tried to close on them. Finally at Antelope we caught them and rolled over the freeway together. Highlander led us away from Haun and most of the way to Bradley where I took over before Dragon Slayer took over from me and pulled us as a group all the way to Carl’s for a nature break.

After we left Carl’s I led Digger and Highlander out onto Newport and through the light at Murrieta. MacGyver, Minotaur and Dragon Slayer got caught at the light so we decided to make a run for Railroad Canyon and the climb to Canyon Lakes South. Highlander and Digger were right on my wheel as we rolled through Goetz and I started the climb. I had such a head start I knew I could get to Canyon Lakes before MacGyver could catch me so that made the climb even easier. It was all to no avail however because they wouldn’t let us past the gate on Canyon Lakes road. We ended up have to turn back and make our way to Goetz and Normandy so we could ride to La Ladera and head north to McCall.

Minotaur, Dragon Slayer and MacGyver took off on Highlander Digger and I and we just couldn’t close on them as we past Cherry Hill. By the time we rounded onto McCall they were crossing the light at Murrieta and we knew if they didn’t stop to wait for us we would never catch them. I rolled over the Hospital hill and saw the lead group waiting just past Menifee. We regrouped and headed for Heritage and Lindenburger.

We made it to Simpson and headed east towards Leon with Dragon Slayer pulling. We all headed north on Leon making our way to the dump road to once again head east knowing what was coming, the D V V flag sprint. Dragon Slayer was leading with Minotaur second me in third and MacGyver in forth. We crested the rise at 25 and the drag race was on. MacGyver came around just as Dragon Slayer fell off a bit and Minotaur kicked it up a bit. I couldn’t react fast enough to catch MacGyver but I did give chase and managed to get a PR out of the effort. We finished off the dump road and made it to Winchester where Highlander led us to Winchester Farms for a short break. Turns out that move was bad for Highlander because Minotaur wasn’t done running hard.

After Minotaur took a 40 yard lead I told Dragon Slayer that we should try to reel him in and so we picked it up taking MacGyver and Highlander with us. It took us a while before we caught him and MacGyver pulled past him and headed for California. We were moving pretty quickly as we turned north and I hit it hard but MacGyver caught me and I had to crab onto his wheel and stick there till we rounded onto Stetson and headed for Warren. Dragon Slayer pulled by and MacGyver went with him followed by Minotaur and I waited for Highlander and Digger. The plan was to get back to the cars and head over to the Healthy Pub for a smoothie before heading home. I got back with 44 miles on the computer and a feeling like it had been a good ride. I hope to have many more.