By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) There was just a threat of rain today but no real wetness. The sun kept trying to poke through the clouds and it was in the low 50s when I got up. But with a light wind it was still a good day for a ride. It was going to be short and flat so it was a perfect day to bring out my backup bike. And yes I name my bikes. The Specialized is Seth, the Klein is Patsy and the Haro is Jean. But I digress, no matter how I felt about the quality of the ride I had no idea how many would join me for a ride to Nuevo. By 9 am we had a small group of five riders plus me ready to head down Gilmore to Acacia. As I made my way to Kirby and headed south I was followed closely by Dragon Slayer, Digger, Tax man, Highlander and Rocky.

It was an easy cruise south to the railroad tracks and a turn west on Cypress. We talked casually and discussed some small route changes as we rode by the houses and towards Johnston. Digger kept playing with his new Garmin but it didn’t hinder him from keeping up. Dragon Slayer seemed to be riding strong though he assured me he was running a bit down on power today. Highlander was staying with Tax Man early on the ride and Rocky was more or less just cruising along and we turned out onto Sanderson and headed for Stetson.

I took us to Stetson and got us started west towards the airport. After the group past Sonic and then the railroad tracks I got on the aero bars and cruised us towards the airport and then Warren. First Dragon Slayer and then Rocky took over and pulled us towards California. Dragon Slayer was pulling strong as we headed south towards Stowe and pulled in behind him as we made the turn west. When Rocky looked to be fading I pulled out front to give Rocky a break and Dragon Slayer took the lead back and pulled us to the metal barn. We made a quick regroup at Winchester farms before Highlander hustled us south again on Winchester heading for the dump road. We all made the turn and headed west together.

Dragon Slayer finally got us in line and picked up the pace as we headed for the Wild West show. I fell in on His wheel and Highlander was on my wheel. I thought Rocky was with us but he was a bit farther back and Tax Man and Digger were pulling up the rear. Dragon slayer took us to Leon and as we turned towards Simpson Highlander informed us the pace was going to be took quick and if we were planning on the little climb past Lindenburger we would drop both Tax Man and Digger. He said he would take them down Heritage while we did the grade to Menifee and we would all meet at the AM/PM. After a short break and a regroup we headed north on Menifee with first Digger and then Highlander leading us past Mapes. After the rise I took the lead and pulled till the Nursery. Dragon Slayer took over and got us up to speed and I kicked Patsy into a fast gallop and pulled away till we got to the stop sign were we stopped to check a loose dust cover on Tax Man’s front wheel. We were off again and I got us to Nuevo and Dragon Slayer took us to Lakeview.

Dragon Slayer made the mistake of trying to get up front during the picture taking process and had to be rebuffed by Highlander. Still it was all in good nature as we headed towards Nuevo and 11th street. I got back in front at the Post office and traded places with Dragon Slayer till we got to 9th where he headed for home. I then pulled us to Hansen and the Expressway to get us started east and home.

To be honest I was perfectly happy pulling us along at a steady 19 when Highlander offered to take the lead and ramped us up to 21. Digger started to taper off just before Bridge and I got back in front halfway to Warren. As we closed in on Warren and headed for Sanderson I told Highlander I was going to drop back and make a run on Sanderson to the water department. It turns out there is a segment from the Expressway almost all the way to Cottonwood. Had I known that I might have pushed a bit harder? Any way I picked up the rest of the group on Cottonwood and took us down to Devonshire and turned towards Gilmore.

I stayed out front as we got to Kirby and then again as we got to Gilmore and turned to get back to the cars. We dropped Highlander and Tax Man off and I rode with Rocky over to Lyon and down to Mayberry before heading home myself for lunch and a shower. All in all it was a good day.