By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) The predicted weather for Wednesday was a lot like the second day of spring. Monday had been warm after a freezing Friday. So when I looked outside I was surprised to see just a bit of overcast and the temperatures were in the 40s. I was going to bank on 60 degrees by 9am so I left the house with a light base layer under my kit and arm and leg warmers without a Balaclava or long gloves. Before I got to the parking lot I still felt like I was taking a risk with the cold. I got to Burger King first and got my coffee before Digger showed up. We were talking as Minotaur rode up followed by Highlander and Tax Man. I was surprised to see Gambler, Bulldozer and MacGyver pull up only a few minutes apart. Bloodhound arrived just before Huntress and Dragon Slayer giving us a pretty good sized group for a winter morning. Just after 9am we headed down to Gilmore and onto Acacia before catching the light on Kirby before heading south towards Cypress.

I had already decided I would split the group in two parts once we got to Domenigoni with Gambler taking the As to the saddle and I would lead the Bs some distance to the rear. At least that was the plan but it was left to be seen if I could keep to the plan today. I turned onto Cypress right behind Bloodhound and next to Highlander. It was a bit unusual to be this close to Bloodhound this early in the ride because he is normally way out front and we have to chase him west on Domenigoni and see if we could catch him before the saddle. He was out front when we turned onto Sanderson off of Johnston but not so far that we couldn’t fall onto his back wheel.

Before we made it to Mustang we were joined by Doug, (The Prosecutor) who followed us to Domenigoni. Bloodhound took us around the corner and we settled into a slowly increasing pace. By the time we got to Warren and headed for the dry wash Gambler, Bulldozer, MacGyver, Prosecutor and Dragon Slayer past us and started to pull a bit harder. Bloodhound wasn’t going to let them get away and by the time he fired up to give chase Minotaur had tagged up on Dragon Slayer. Highlander and Tax Man were still on my wheel and I stayed on Bloodhound’s. After the dry wash things picked up again and soon we were hitting 30 mph heading for Winchester. Because the pace just didn’t slack off the group started to show the strain and after we crossed Winchester it was down to Gambler, Bulldozer, Bloodhound, Prosecutor, Dragon Slayer, MacGyver and me. People were pulling off of the front as we past Leon and we were coming up on the saddle with Bloodhound in the lead. Prosecutor started the sprint as he pulled by Bloodhound. I went after him as did Bulldozer and Gambler and Bulldozer finished first with the rest of us rolling in behind him.

As we got ready to drop off of the Saddle Dragon Slayer told me he would be leaving at Menifee and Prosecutor said he was running out of time and would be turning back. I told Gambler that once we were over Revival he should just take the A riders and finish the ride and I would stick with the B riders and get them to Los Alamos. I was pretty sure that Bloodhound was going to move out to a position at least 50 yards in front of us from this point forward and as we headed for Menifee that predict came to fruition as we turned onto Menifee.

Bloodhound was almost over Revival climb before any of us got to Holland. Minotaur attacked the hill and soon was followed by Gambler and then me. We past him at the top of the hill just as Bulldozer and MacGyver crested the hill. I stopped to regroup the Bs as Gambler pulled his group away followed at some distance by Minotaur. Within minutes we had regrouped the Bs and were heading south on Menifee and stopped at Scott. We had to wait through three lights before a car tripped the light and we could head for Keller and got over to Antelope. I then pulled us to Baxter and made the left and stopped us when Digger caught the light. He made it through the light and zoomed past us so we could chase him to Whitewood and head south again.

We crested the rise after Clinton Keith and dropped like a rock on our way down to Los Alamos. I crested first and took off as fast as I could go down the Hill. It wasn’t the fastest decent on Whitewood we have ever made but it felt good and soon we were turning onto Los Alamos and pulling over to take off arm and leg warmers, the A group had stopped at Taco Bell and pulled up behind us. I once again told them to go on because some of our riders needed to make a nature stop and Minotaur went with the As. We rode over to In and Out before getting back on the road and heading east on the long climb into Los Alamos canyon.

As we neared the crest of the climb I told Huntress that the down hills were long enough to carry us most of the way to the top of the next rise. That is all except the last little short climb that takes just a bit more effort. I got to Bridge and pulled onto Leon to wait for the rest of my group. When Digger got to us he wasn’t feeling all that well. The problem being he had eaten a energy bar that he wasn’t used to and it wasn’t being kind to his digestive tract. He was still with us as we turned onto Max Gillis and again as we headed north on Winchester. Still he faded a bit we headed back towards Scott and the slight rollers on Winchester. Our biggest question however was why they had decided to tear up the road they had just finished about two months ago. Sure we had the shoulder but the slow lane was like the cobbles in the Paris to Roubaix race.

Huntress pulled us most of the way to Holland and I pulled us back to Domenigoni where we all had to wait for the light. When it turned Green Tax Man caught it perfectly and roared past us making me chase him almost all the way to Simpson. I them pulled us again to Winchester Farms where we stopped t regroup and Huntress left for home. We took a few minutes ourselves before heading for home on Stowe.

We more or less cruised down Stowe to California and turned north to Stetson. I got out front and pulled us to Warren and then the airport. We stayed on Stetson and made our way to Sanderson where Highlander made the light and we didn’t. I then took us to Lowes and Tax Man got us onto Acacia and over to Gilmore. We got to Burger king just after Highlander before parting our ways and heading to our separate homes. I had some projects to do after lunch and still felt good enough to do them without a nap.