By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) It is Wednesday and we are still climbing and practicing as a group for a big ride in August. I for one was looking forward to this week and today in particular because I need a lot of work on my own climbing. In fact I have just changed my crankset and picked up bigger gears that I need to test before attempting any climb to Oak Glenn and Big Bear. So I had breakfast and got dressed before heading to Burger king and coffee. I got there a bit early so I rode around the block till Digger arrived to have coffee with me. We both were surprised to see Sasquatch ride up that we almost missed Gambler riding up. We were talking as Minotaur arrived followed by Huntress driving up followed by Quicksilver. At first I thought we had a small group going till MacGyver and Bulldozer got there followed by Dragon Slayer. Susan, (Anaconda) and News Boy were the last to arrive before we took off on Latham and headed for Lyon and North.

The new chain rings felt strange but not uncomfortable as I led us north past Devonshire and then Menlo. Sasquatch and Minotaur joined me and soon took the lead pulling the rest of us to Esplanade and the red light there. Once it turned green we followed Sasquatch and Minotaur to Cottonwood where I resumed the lead and pulled us towards Ramona Boulevard. We weren’t exactly burning up the road with a slight wind in our face but we were moving well together. I got us to the corner on Lyon and Ramona and pointed west before Sasquatch once again took over and pulled us towards Sanderson.

Once we got around the corner and stopped at the Expressway everyone regrouped and we prepared to head west on a long run to Hansen. As we started west Gambler, News Boy and Sasquatch started a pace line and I thought I might just let them go. However I was in line with Quicksilver, Minotaur and Dragon Slayer right behind me. I couldn’t see any further back so I tucked in as best as I could and tried to stay on Sasquatch’s wheel and keep pace as we headed for Warren. Shortly after we past Warren I looked back and Bulldozer and MacGyver were with us but everyone else had fallen off. Before Bridge we started to rotate to the front and I took my turn into a confusing wind. We only made two passes to the front before we reached Hansen and stopped on the corner to wait for the rest of the group to arrive.

It only took a few moments before Dragon Slayer. Quicksilver and Huntress joined us and just a moment more for Anaconda to roll around the corner. Digger pulled around the same corner a minute later and after a brief stop continued on towards Contour. We let him have a pretty good head start before we started to head towards Contour our selves but this time News Boy, Dragon Slayer and Quicksilver lead the way and started a pace line up the hill.

Digger got onto Contour just before we caught him and by the time we reached the stop sign by the school most of the group were passing him with Quicksilver, Sasquatch and Dragon Slayer running behind MacGyver, Gambler, News Boy and Bulldozer. I started to move up to Sasquatch and was still in my big ring as we rounded the big left hand turn and started the climb. I am not so sure I picked the right gear because though I was with Sasquatch my heart rate was getting to 150 a lot faster than I expected. Sasquatch shifted into his 34 and I still held my big ring but by now I knew it was the wrong ring and dropped into the small ring just as my heart rate hit 167. I put on a spin till I recovered and then started to chase Sasquatch again. I closed some but I knew I would never catch him before the stop sign. Still I looked back and saw Quicksilver and Dragon Slayer closing on me. They weren’t going to catch me any sooner than I would Sasquatch so I stayed in my chosen gear and pulled around the corner to stop with the A riders. Once everyone but Digger joined us we started for the top of Juniper and the downhill run to Florida. That was the last time the whole group was together. I ended up with Huntress, Quicksilver, Anaconda and Minotaur as we dropped down the hill and headed west on Florida. Minotaur pulled away from us and made it to Briggs first and headed south towards the dump road.

Quicksilver pulled us after him on Briggs and I took over on the Dump road. I got the Bling team up to his wheel before we got to Leon. Minotaur came back at me as we started the DVV flag sprint but ran out of steam before the flag. I slowed after the flag and waited for Quicksilver and Minotaur came back by me again. Quicksilver and I took over before the Pentecostal Church and got us to Winchester. Minotaur took us all the way to Stowe and Winchester Farms for a short regroup before heading for home. We had Sasquatch and News Boy heading back towards California and I pulled the bling team to California and then to Stetson. Quicksilver jumped out to go after Minotaur and Sasquatch while News Boy and I detached from Anaconda and Huntress and caught up to her. We all got separated at the airport due to construction and we lost Sasquatch and Minotaur. I took my group past the airport and then up to the industrial park before cutting over to Sanderson and down to Lowes.

Quicksilver ended up pulling us home to Burger King and Digger got there right after us. We only had a little time to talk before everyone had to head for home and I headed back to Lyon and south myself. I got home with just over 40 miles on the computer and a feeling that we had a good ride.