By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I was still a bit sore from the ride on Saturday but I got up to ride today anyway. It was supposed to be clear and a bit cool so I took my time and selected clothes a bit warmer that I normally do. I had breakfast and headed to Burger King to see who would be riding with me. By 9am we were ready to go and about nine riders followed me onto Gilmore and headed for Acacia. We had Sasquatch, Highlander, Digger, MacGyver, Gambler, Bulldozer, Bloodhound, Dragon Slayer, Rocky, Jackal and me. At least that was what I saw as we turned onto Kirby and headed south.

We decided to take the short route to Domenigoni so that the A group could climb the Marina hill while the B group continued on to Cactus Valley. When we go all the way to Winchester before heading to Seven Dollar hill the A group has a chance to get far enough ahead of us so that the B group has to push pretty hard to beat them to Cactus Valley. If we took Sanderson it was harder to create that gap so we were interested in staying close to them all the way to Sanderson and then past the High School.

We were right behind the A group as we turned east on Domenigoni and made our way to Searl. All but four riders turned on Searl while the rest of us headed for State Street. I pulled us till we got to Newport and the stop sign and Highlander took us around the corner onto Cactus Valley Road and headed towards the Golf Course. Sasquatch took over for Highlander while I followed about three back. Jackal was tucked in the draft and had stayed there through two rotations; I knew he was up to something. Digger lost the draft at the corner but was still in sight as we crossed Sage and hit the little hill. Jackal jumped the climb and past Sasquatch in a sprint. I went with him and we simply waited till one of us gave up before crossing the top of the climb. I had enough juice to make it to the top without sitting down. We all regrouped at the end of the road.

We took time to hydrate and wolf down a snack while waiting for the A group. The first one to get to us was Bloodhound followed by MacGyver, Bulldozer and Gambler. Dragon Slayer and Rocky arrived next once we had collected everyone we got ready to head back towards Sage just in time to be joined by Socrates. We moved at a gentle steady pace back to the same little hill before sage where Bloodhound and Jackal dropped off first followed by Dragon Slayer and Highlander. I was on MacGyver’s wheel as we caught Digger and closed in on Highlander and Dragon Slayer. Once MacGyver pulled us to those two I took over and pulled the group up to the fleeing Jackal and Bloodhound. I caught them just before the turn and then fell in on the back of the pace line as we quickly made our way back to Newport. We made our way to McSweeney and regrouped back on State. Once again we headed north with Bloodhound and Socrates leaving first after Digger rolled by.

The whole group was together as we made the turn onto Stetson and Rocky took turns with Dragon Slayer pulling us east. Bloodhound stopped on Girard to see if anyone wanted to run up to Ramona Bowl but no one did. Dragon Slayer pulled us to Columbia and headed for Crest while Highlander stayed on Stetson and headed for Fairview. Sasquatch led us through the old homes on Crest and we all admired the quaintness of the neighborhood.

I don’t know why Highlander doesn’t like the ride through Crest but most of us rather enjoy it as we more or less just cruise by the houses chatting away like old friends reliving old days. I fell back to ride with Socrates and the A group got away from us. Rocky fell back to join us and stayed with us to Lake and then out onto Stetson again. We had managed to beat Digger to Lake and Stetson and he had to chase us all the way to Fairview and the turn to Wilson Mesa.

Once through the housing track we regrouped and decided to send Digger toward Florida with a reasonable head start. We gave chase a few moments later and it took us almost all the way to Stetson to catch him. Then we went into a mass sprint at the bridge. We made our way to Florida and Bulldozer left us for home. Bloodhound had left earlier so we made our way to Carl’s for coffee. Highlander didn’t stop because he had an appointment. After coffee we headed back for home and the Burger King parking lot.

Gambler left us first because he lives close to Carl’s and the rest of us headed for Park. Digger left us at Devonshire. We made our way to Santa Fe and west on Latham. Jackal left us at Buena Vista and we caught the light at State. Rocky left us at Palm and I stayed with MacGyver and Dragon Slayer all the way back to the parking lot. I then rode over to the Healthy Pub for a Herbalife Shake with Dragon Slayer before heading for home myself.