By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Normally I look forward to Wednesday’s ride and hope to have a large group. Today was not one of those days. I went to bed early to be sure I was rested and planned a favorite course so there was no stress there. But after breakfast when I headed towards Burger King my legs were heavy and a bit tired. No matter I pushed through it and heded over to see who was riding today. I got to the parking lot about the same time as Dragon Slayer and we talked till Highlander and Tax Man arrived. We stood around for a while talking but no one else showed up and it was just the four of us ready to head out onto Gilmore and south. The advantage to only having four riders is we could work on keeping the group together and that was just what we had planned as we turned on Acacia and then again in Kirby to start south again.

Sore legs or not I had determined that I would do a lot of pulling today and so I started us down Kirby and turned at the corner at Cypress. Highlander pulled up next to me and we chatted as we rode through the housing tract and headed for Johnston. By the time we got to Johnston Dragon Slayer had moved up to pull a bit and took us to Sanderson and straight across the street so we could weave our way to Cawston.

I got us out onto Stetson and pulled towards the Airport. We set the pace right at 18 mph and held it there like a cruise control. I gave up the lead at Warren and followed the group to California. Dragon Slayer moved to the front and pulled us south towards Stowe. He picked it up just a bit because we were not running into the wind and we turned onto Stowe at close to 19 mph. Dragon Slayer pulled hard into a slight breeze and I relieved him about 300 yards from the metal barn and into the Winchester Farms parking lot. We took a quick break and started south once more with me pulling to the dump road and starting us west.

Now the leg pain was setting in but I still had the energy to draft Dragon Slayer as we headed past the Wild West Arena and headed for Leon. After the rise in front of Leon I pulled till we got to Briggs and started us north into the teeth on the wind. Dragon Slayer took the lead back and successfully got us to Florida in front to Heritage High only to wait at the light. Dragon Slayer and I worked together to pull Highlander and Tax Man to Mapes where I took over and got us to Menifee. At that point the race was on and I started us south towards Florida and the AM/PM. Dragon Slayer got by me and I followed him into the gas station for a regroup and nature break. As we headed south from the AM/PM Dragon Slayer worked hard on recovery so he could attack McCall and get to the top as quickly as possible. He is still learning how to use his new gears and doesn’t quite have the gear selection down yet. Still each climb gets better and we hit the bottom of the hill together and he stayed with me for the first third of the hill till he missed a shift and I got away. We regrouped at the top of McCall and headed down the hill towards Bradley and the end of McCall. This time there would be no stopping as we headed for Murrieta.

Dragon Slayer found the perfect gear to climb the grade past Murrieta and beat us all to the turn and down to Cherry Hill to head back to Bradley. We were all back together and stayed that way all the way to Bradley and made the turn towards Newport. We managed to get to Newport and headed east to stop and have coffee at Jack in the Box. I for one felt I needed the rest before we headed back out onto Newport and fought the wind back to Hemet. After we had something to drink and got back outside we decided we would do our best to bring the whole group back to Sanderson together. I started us off as we rolled by Antelope and Dragon Slayer took us past Menifee and to the base of the Saddle. I took over at the top of the saddle and to Leon where Dragon Slayer came back around and too us to Winchester. I got us back to the Dry Wash and Dragon Slayer got us to Warren. I took us to the side street just below the rise that you have to climb to see the light at Sanderson. Dragon Slayer took us to Sanderson and I slipped by to get us pointed towards Stetson.

At Mustang Dragon Slayer took the lead again and got us all the way to Sanderson where we had to wait for a green light. We were once again in the teeth of a head wind and Dragon Slayer was doing yeoman work pulling us past Johnston and then Wentworth Before I could pull around and take us to Lowes. We moved around to the back of the store and then out onto Acacia and over to Kirby. I got us to Kirby and Dragon Slayer got us to Gilmore before we turned back towards Florida and the Burger King Parking lot where we could stop and load the cars for home.

We took some time to talk about the steadiness of our pace today and while we have been known to ride faster we still had one of our better average speeds for the day. I had almost forgotten about my tired legs when working with Dragon Slayer to get us back on Domenigoni to Sanderson but as we visited I knew I was overdue for a shower and lunch. So I left and rode home for that purpose. I had some errands to run or I might have added a nap to the things I needed when I got home. But as the say sometimes life gets in the way of our plans.