By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Wednesday seemed like a good day for an easy recovery ride and so a short 36 to 38 mile ride west was planned. It had been mentioned to me that Huntress and Quicksilver had wondered why our rides seemed longer than they used to be and all I could say is our ride times are just about what they used to be. So a slower 36 mile ride would end up taking as much time as a faster 40 mile ride. That is more or less just what happened today. I cruised over to the parking lot and had coffee with Digger and Dragon Slayer and waited till almost nine before we had 14 riders ready to head south. An added surprise was Huntress had joined us just to see how far she would be able to go.

I had not planned on pulling at all today but somehow I was out front as we turned onto Acacia and got us to the light on Kirby. At first when the light changed it looked like Digger was going to pull but that changed before the railroad tracks. I took us to Cypress and made the move west towards Johnston. Soon I saw Rooster moving up and I thought maybe he was going to pull but he pulled up and started talking with Digger as we got ready to turn on Johnston and head for the light on Sanderson.

For a change of pace we went straight across the street at Sanderson and curved through the businesses heading to Cawston before coming out onto Stetson and heading towards Warren. If I was going to have to stay out front I was determined not to push myself and with the whole group following it seemed as if everyone was perfectly happy to tag along at a simple eighteen mph all the way past Warren and heading to California.

The whole pack was still behind me on California and they were still there as we turned on Stowe and headed west again. I was waiting for the sprint to start but nothing happened till we got to the first dirt road when Minotaur moved up and Hacker made a break for it. To my surprise no one went after him. Minotaur started to pick up the pace and Quicksilver pulled up to me and started to sprint by on the inside. I stayed next to her all the way to Winchester Farms where we regrouped and got ready for the ride to the Dump road and west once more.

As we headed for the Wild West Show Bandit, Shooter, ME-109, Rooster, Sasquatch, MacGyver and Minotaur rode away from the rest of us and headed for Leon. I had Huntress, Quicksilver, Highlander, Dragon Slayer and Digger with me. We made it to Leon and then down to Simpson where Dragon Slayer took over and pulled us towards Briggs. We could see we were gaining on Minotaur as we came up to Lindenburger and it was at Lindenburger that Huntress and Highlander turned for home.

Dragon Slayer, Quicksilver and I made it to Menifee about 200 yards behind Minotaur and headed for McCall. Digger was maybe 100 yards behind us. Dragon Slayer got us moving ay a good clip towards McCall and Minotaur caught the light red. It had turned green shortly before we got there but we had time to get through the light before it turned red again. At that point the chase was on and I pulled Dragon Slayer up to the light after we got by Minotaur. He stayed with me for the first third of the climb but I had the gears on him and pulled away just before the top and stopped to wait and see if Quicksilver could catch Minotaur. Sure enough she was the next one over the hill and talking smack as she passed us heading for the stop light and the turn towards the housing tract and Sumner. We had the same results climbing over the hill to Antelope and Dragon Slayer dropped down the hill like a arrow. I dropped in on his wheel and followed him to Newport where Quicksilver, Minotaur and Digger caught us. We then made our way to Garbani before heading to Briggs and back to Newport to start the ride home. We decided to stay on Dominagoni all the way to Sanderson so Quicksilver could get back early. Minotaur took us to the saddle before I took over and pulled to Leon. Dragon Slayer pulled to Winchester where we decided to form a rotating pace line and head east towards Warren. Four of us took turns pulling to Warren and then stayed with it all the way to Sanderson increasing our average speed by just over a mile per hour. We didn’t really back down heading back to Lowes and Acacia and ended up getting back to Burger King before noon. We spent some time visiting before heading for our homes and in my case a few errands and the retrieval of my Klein before the Friday ride. Sometimes you just have to say, “Life is good.”