By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I have been riding one extra ride a week for the last four weeks and my legs are letting me know about it. I feel pretty good Monday, not bad Monday night and it goes down from there Wednesday and Friday. Today I was going to test myself today to see if I was recovering any better by going up Lambs Canyon to Beaumont and back. It has been hot and muggy for the last few days and it was predicted to be the same today. When I looked outside today there were no clouds to speak of and I thought it just might get hot rather than muggy. I dressed light, had breakfast and headed to the parking lot to see who would be climbing with me. Digger and Earth Dog were there as I rode up and we talked till others started to show up. Gambler, Bulldozer, CJ and Minotaur arrived just before Anaconda and Huntress. Joshua drove up followed by RCMP and Barracuda. Bloodhound showed up as did Luis and Julio and his friend. Quicksilver joined us along with MacGyver and we were ready to go. We pulled out onto Latham and headed to Lyon and North. We were separated by a block or two in the beginning but by Esplanade we were more or less all back together and heading north.

Well before we got to Esplanade Bloodhound took off on us and Julio took off to chase him down. We rather wide group as we headed for Seventh but had to turn it into a pace line as we rolled by Cottonwood. As we continued north my legs began to tighten up and I fell back into the pack thinking I could conserve some energy for the climb to come. It worked to a degree and I was feeling pretty good as we turned onto Ramona Boulevard and found Bloodhound and Julio waiting for us. Bloodhound left us again but this time Julio stayed with us as we moved towards Sanderson.

We turned onto Sanderson and headed for the Canyon only to get divided at the light on Ramona. While some of us waited on the other side of the light some continued on. Once everyone was through the light we started off again with Digger well out front followed by Earth Dog and then the rest of the group. As we got to Gilman Springs we had caught Digger and Earth Dog and I shifted into a comfortable gear to start up the first climb. As we gained on Earth Dog Gambler, CJ, and a few other pulled up on my left and started to pull away. I stayed in my gear as Minotaur went by and looked back to see where the Bling Team was and some of the new riders. Joshua, Quicksilver, Huntress, Anaconda and a few others were behind me so I stayed in an easy gear and headed up the climb. Next thing I knew Quicksilver was on my right and moving by. She asked if I was going to wait for Huntress so I looked up to see how far back she was and said I would. I was passed by MacGyver and Luis and the young rider he had brought and soon they were up to Minotaur and Quicksilver as they passed Earth Dog. I realized Huntress wasn’t going to need me to wait for her so I thought about what Barracuda had told me about not trying to close the distance on a rider all in one bite so I picked up a gear and started to close on Minotaur and Quicksilver. She beat us to the top of the climb but I was on their wheel as we crested and gaining as we started towards the dump. At that point I felt all I could do was push through the pain of sore legs and wait till the next climb to make my final push with Minotaur, Quicksilver and Earth Dog on my wheel. Minotaur wanted to make a run at the last hill and he pulled to the front and pulled us to the last grade where I stood on it and jumped out front by 20 or 30 yards before settling into the same pace I had used to catch them in the first place. I was pulling away till I was almost to the top of the climb when I flatted. At least it was the front tire. As Minotaur and Quicksilver pulled up on me I told them to go on but they insisted on waiting and helping and that is what they did till Huntress joined us and Earth Dog rode by. Once the tire was fixed we took off again just before digger caught us and followed us to the regroup at the last crest before the light on First Street. We all rode together to Oak Valley Parkway and headed to Highland Springs before heading back to Second Street and heading to Starbucks for coffee.

As we had coffee and did some visiting we got a chance to know each other better and to discuss the ride and tell tall tales. It is always good when you are a social group like we are to tell tall tales. We also discussed future rides and even the ride to Big Bear on August 29th. I may still do that ride if the fire is out and the weather co-operates. Once we had finished visiting we got back on the bikes and got ready to head back to Sanderson. Bloodhound and Luis had already left so we were down to sixteen riders. We pulled out onto Second Street and cut over to First to head west.

As we turned onto Sanderson off of First Street we saw Quicksticks driving his truck towards Beaumont. Digger led us to the top of the rise and started us down the Canyon. That started a drag race down to the dump where we had to slow for a red light. We split up a bit and I ended up off the back of the pack. It was all I could do to catch Minotaur and I would never had caught the lead group if Julio hadn’t flatted and we were all back together while he changed the tire.

Just before Julio finished with the tire Huntress and Quicksilver took off down Sanderson to get back to the parking lot. Earth Dog went with them and we followed a few minutes later. I led us part of the way to the water department and tried to turn it over to Barracuda. It turned out the group was too spread out so I had to fall back behind Anaconda and the group split up. I pulled Anaconda and the new rider back to Devonshire and then the parking lot. I thought I had lost Joshua but he got there a minute after us so my record of not losing anyone is still intact.