By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) The day before Thanksgiving was not the more well attended ride day we ever had but I was surprised by the number than did show up. Digger, Gambler, Highlander, Bulldozer, Tax Man, Rocky, MacGyver, Minotaur and I left the parking lot right at 9am and headed towards Lyon on Latham. I started us north on Lyon and moved us on our way towards Ramona.

There was no way I would describe the ride north as fast or even energetic. The ride was simply an expression of our commitment to riding a bicycle. I don’t know if I would go as far as describing cycling as being like flying but it does clear your mind and put you in contact with your body. You can feel the road through your hands and feet. You can feel the torque applied to the drive train and the friction against your tires. You can even feel the hole in the air the rider in front of you is punching as you draft them into the wind. I have heard often about a runner’s high that runners get but there are moments in almost every ride we do that I feel almost like I have become part of the machine we call a bicycle. About then I snap out of my revelry and realize we had to turn east onto Ramona.

I still found myself out front and pulling as we got ready to turn off of Lyon and take the jog on Savory and over the speed bumps onto Ramona and east to State Street. In fact I was allowed the lead all the way to the light at State and a chance to wait for a green before heading north on State Street towards the Expressway and then the college. We were catching the lights almost perfectly and rolling along at a cruising speed of about 70 percent. I managed to lead us to the river bridge and made the turn onto Soboba. Now we had the Soboba Rollers ahead of us and the question of if we were going to run them or cruise them.

I started us out at a reasonable pace only to have first Gambler and then MacGyver pass me. I jumped on MacGyver’s back wheel and things started to get wound up a bit. Minotaur blew by us and made a run at the second roller. Gambler closed on him and soon the three of us had pulled by him and were headed for the driving range. As we flattened out I considered backing off after we past Minotaur but Bulldozer pulled up to me and pushed me on. I got back up to speed and soon Bulldozer had me up to MacGyver’s back wheel. Once by MacGyver I once again considered backing down rather than push to get up to Gambler but once again Bulldozer wouldn’t have it and had me back up to speed and onto Gambler’s back wheel. I even went by to take a turn at the front only to burn out and have to fight keep MacGyver from running me down before the last hill and the end of the golf course. I stopped at the top of the hill while Gambler, Bulldozer, MacGyver and Minotaur continued on to Lake and Ramona. Once I had the rest of the group together we joined them at the light before heading east towards Cedar.

Minotaur pulled by us and made a run for Cedar but no one gave chase as we all rolled up to the light before turning left and heading towards the Fairview Fire station. While Minotaur was out front he was well in reach of the big dogs as was shown when MacGyver, Gambler and Bulldozer went after him. We got to the light on Florida and picked up Rocky I pulled for a while and then Rocky took over and we started to close on Minotaur. By the time we got to the trees it was just Rocky and me. Minotaur was halfway to Cranston as we came out of the trees and I relieved Rocky and we got to within about 30 yards as Minotaur turned into the Cranston driveway. We were taking a break when Centaur and a friend of his pulled up on their motorcycles and visited. We then started back down to Carl’s for coffee. Digger had a pretty big head start but we caught him before Fairview where Gambler, Bulldozer and MacGyver left us. We stopped for coffee before heading back up to Lincoln and west towards Park. Once on park Digger was going to leave us and we needed to make the jog onto Devonshire.

Tax Man and I lost Rocky and Highlander while we waited to make the turn to Devonshire and just as we were about to catch them I flatted. Tax Man stayed with me during the repair and we rode together till we got to Santa Fe and then on Latham. We parted ways at Palm where I went home and started my shopping before Thanksgiving. I got home tired and took a shower before going to the store and getting home to meet the just in time t meet the UPS man before dinner. It was a long day but one where I got a lot accomplished.