By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) It was surprisingly cool as I got to the parking lot today. It was also surprisingly empty until I saw Digger. We waited for quite a while before Bugler pulled up followed by Highlander. Gambler rode up with Minotaur and they were followed by Bulldozer. Huntress showed up as Anaconda and Tax Man. Not a big group but bigger than I expected. We got ready and left the parking lot at 8am heading south on Gilmore headed for Acacia and Kirby. We stopped briefly at the light and headed south towards Cypress.

Digger came up to make sure I didn’t pull this morning so I was glad to let him lead the way to Cypress and make the turn west. Everyone seemed perfectly happy with a rather moderate pace and I suppose with Bandits accident we had a lot on our minds and we needed a relaxing ride. Whatever the case we made our way to Johnston behind Digger and stopped at the light. Once the light changed we headed towards Stetson.

Once we made it by Stetson Digger took over and pulled us towards Mustang. Some of us got stuck at the light after Wally World but we caught back up at Mustang and all turned on Domenigoni together and headed west. It wasn’t long before Bulldozer started the pull and made a gap the Minotaur closed. Gambler stayed with the rest of us and slowly dragged us up to Bulldozer after he backed down. Everything was good till we got to the dry wash and Digger fell off the back. Highlander tucked up between Gambler and Bulldozer while the rest of us rode single file most of the way to Winchester. We finally formed into a double line after Highlander as we got close to Leon. Minotaur pulled up on the right as we got to the bottom of the saddle while the rest of us tried to stay in twos behind Gambler and Bulldozer. When Highlander broke I slipped by and Anaconda followed me. Bugler chased both of us to the top of the saddle and we chased Gambler and Bulldozer over the top and down to Lindenburger where we caught Minotaur and headed to the gas station for a regroup. Once we had rested a minute we got back out onto Menifee and headed north over Newport and headed for Holland and Revival hill.

When we got to Holland Highlander and Tax Man decided to leave us and take a short cut back to Newport before heading to Murrieta. We had picked up Prosecutor at the gas station and I followed him to the top of Revival and was caught after the stop sign by Gambler and Bulldozer. The climb felt pretty good and my breathing felt close to normal so I was happy with it. Minotaur passed me as I soft pedaled by the turn out and he chased Gambler, Bulldozer and Prosecutor towards Garbani. I collected Bugler, Huntress and Anaconda and we headed for Garbani ourselves. We didn’t close on the lead group at all but they did get caught and Antelope we closed a lot before the light turned green. We made it through the light as well and could see Minotaur fall off the back of the A train as it turned onto Haun. We rounded the corner and I decided to give chase to the fleeing group so after assessing my pulse rate and breathing I slowly picked up the pace and started to close on Minotaur.

We were half way to Holland when Huntress rolled by me and kept the pace fast enough to close onto Minotaur’s back wheel. I pulled around her and was going to pull her by him but she was tapped out so I continued on to Holland first just in time to see Huntress and Bugler pull around him as well. Prosecutor was heading back for home as we turned the corner and discovered Gambler and Bulldozer waiting. We were all back together except Digger who fell off the back and Highlander and Tax Man who took a short cut. As we headed for the Holland climb to Murrieta I pushed it again and run my heart rate up to zone 5 and still felt pretty good as Gambler and Bulldozer caught me at the top of the hill and they made the turn onto Murrieta first. We followed them to the Gas station for another regroup and to wait for Digger. Once he joined us we got back out onto Murrieta and headed north towards McCall.

We more or less stayed together all the way to Cherry Hill and then McCall. I took us east towards Bradley. We were still pretty mellow as we got to Bradley and I knew that once over McCall we would lose at least Bulldozer and Gambler and maybe Minotaur. I shifted into the small ring and followed the group over the freeway and past the Valero station and watched as Bugler chased the big dogs towards Hospital hill. Once over the hill Gambler and Bulldozer dropped like a rock towards Menifee and we lost them. I can only assume Minotaur followed them because I didn’t see them when I crested and started down the hill myself. Bugler was waiting for us as we crossed Menifee and the four of us headed to Heritage and worked our way to Lindenburger and Simpson. I started us east on Simpson and Bugler took over at Briggs. He pulled us to Leon and over to the dump road where we turned east again. Huntress and Anaconda pulled us to the rise and the start of the Flag Sprint. I was going to start a pull on the sprint but no one was hooking up till I sat up and Huntress got on my wheel. I took us to an easy 23 or 24 when to my surprise Bugler started to attack. I wasn’t close to cooked however and dropped onto his wheel till he started to slow and pulled back in front. After the flag we slowed to regroup and Huntress took us to Winchester. After Winchester Huntress pulled all the way to Stowe and started us east.

Bugler pulled up next to me and asked where the next segment was so I knew he wanted to try for a PR. That of course incited Anaconda to make a run on California as well so I knew the ride to Stetson was going to be a drag race. I had already burned a few matches so I wasn’t sure how hard I could push the segment but I was going to try and stay in front of the group if I could. I started to pick up the pace as we closed in on the end of Stowe. The bad luck part was there was a car turning just as we got to the corner. The good part was a got a great jump on the two chaser as I headed for Stetson. In fact it was big enough that even with Anaconda earning a QOM on the segment I got to Stetson first. Once on Stetson I took the group to Warren before Huntress took us to Cawston. We headed east on Industrial and made our way back to Sanderson for the ride north to Acacia. We made our way to Kirby and then to Gilmore and back to Burger King to find Tax Man and Highlander still there. Digger rode by on his way home and a few minutes later I started for home myself. All in all it was a great day for a ride.