No Tripple crown for Digger

By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Today was the last day of the three stage Hemet Classic D V V bicycle race. Each race is a one day classic and on the first two days Digger had managed to pull off a stunning upset victory. So today we could expect Team Bling would be hunting for his head. Some of the independents, like myself, would be watching him closely and some new one day riders should be with us as well. The head had been stifling so we moved the start time up to 8am thinking we could get beck before we melted today. I got to the Start finish line and found Digger waiting and fueling up for the ride and talking to Dragon Slayer and Magic Man. I talked to him for a while before Earth Dog arrived followed by Minotaur, Anaconda, and Huntress. Bulldozer rode up just as Ferret arrived and we had a pause in riders. Quicksilver, Hacker and MacGyver rounded out the group right at 8am so we could head out to Latham and head over to Lyon.

I took us over to Lyon and started us north towards Devonshire. I know it was early on in the ride but Digger was staying near the front as we moved north and rolled by one block after the other. I wasn’t feeling much like racing today because for some reason my legs felt pretty dead. They were alive and well Wednesday but they didn’t seem to recover for Friday. I still wanted to ride and I knew if I played my cards right I could stay in the mix of things and maybe have a shot of a top three finish for today’s race. I was the first to Esplanade and we even got a green light.

I was thinking of falling back in the peloton and saving my energy as we continued north towards Ramona. Digger and Earth Dog moved forward to ride with me and I simply put it in cruise as we rolled by Seventh and then came to the stop sign at Cottonwood with no problems Digger was to my left as we got to Ramona Boulevard and turned west towards Sanderson.

At this point I let Dragon Slayer move up and set the pace with Quicksilver following him. We weren’t moving all that fast but we had a good average speed going. We turned onto Sanderson and lined up at the red light on the Expressway. Once the light changed Digger and Earth Dog took the lead and started the pace line west. They had gapped the rest of the group till Ferret pulled up front and got the group up to and in front of Digger. We then started to pull away and made our own gap heading to Bridge. Bulldozer flew by and got to Bridge well before we did. He joined us as we rolled by and we were on our way to Hansen. But was didn’t get that far before Magic Man flatted and the group stopped to wait for him. Bulldozer moved up to where some of us were waiting and said we show move on because dragon Slayer and Magic Man were leaving the group at Hansen anyway. So I took us to the light and stopped to wait for everyone.

As we waited for Digger and Earth Dog Team Bling took advantage of our inattention and headed to Juniper Flats road. I thought Digger was closer because I didn’t realize that Earth dog had flatted as well so we had a longer wait than expected. Bulldozer had to abandon because of other commitments and we were down Dragon Slayer and Magic man so the group was down to ten. Once we saw Digger headed to the light we headed south to give chase to team Bling. I got us to the turn and pushed us east when Ferret took off on a solo break. I started out well and was with Hacker and MacGyver over the first part of the climb when my legs just felt like dead weight and I fell off of the pace. It wasn’t a bad climb but I wasn’t satisfied as I pulled into the shade where Team Bling, Ferret, MacGyver and Hacker were waiting. We raced down off of Juniper Flats and headed for Florida and pretty good clip considering we had the wind in our face. I stopped to pickup Quicksilver, Huntress and Digger as Earth Dog and Minotaur continued on. I then worked with two of Team Bling getting to the dump road and over to Winchester to stop at Tech inspection at Winchester Farms before heading on the last leg of this one day race. I had two of the Team Bling riders pacing me and the ever dangerous Ferret and MacGyver behind them.

We more or less co-operated as we worked our way to California and down towards Stetson. When Ferret made the turn north I paced him all the way to Stetson and then we were joined by MacGyver. I felt if I stayed with MacGyver and Ferret I had a good chance of making the podium at least third place if I could just keep Digger and Team Bling behind me. Things were looking up when MacGyver abandoned at Warren and ferret fell off as I headed for the airport. However Ferret brought team Bling and Digger up to me at Cawston and I had them with me as we turned on Industrial and headed for Sanderson.

It was time to start thinking of the finish and to see if I had enough left in my legs to make sure Digger didn’t get through another light that I missed. As we made the turn onto Industrial where it turns into Sanderson I got to the turn light just as it was turning but Digger made it through right on my wheel. However he didn’t expect me to hit it so hard and he let me gap him heading to Lowes. I got there first and made my way to Acacia. Ferret must have abandoned as well because I lost sight of him well before I rolled by Kirby. I got back to the Start finish first denying Digger the triple crown for the Hemet classic races. Now we only have the Tour de Hemet to look forward to.