By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Here we were at another Friday and I was looking forward to an easy cruise of about 40 miles. It was supposed to be warm but looking outside when I got up it looked to be rather cool. It didn’t matter because I had set my Garmin for zone 3 and headed for the parking lot. Digger and Highlander were already there when I rode up and Earth Dog wasn’t far behind. It was a bit of a surprise to see Centaur after so long. Gambler arrived with Ferret just before Huntress drove up. Tax Man showed up last and we were ready to leave. I fell into the group and followed them to Acacia and then onto Kirby to head south.

I fell back again but ended up riding with Digger as he led us to Cypress and west through the housing tract. Traffic was light and it had turned out to be rather cool after such a hot week. Looking back it felt good to be riding with such good friends on such a almost perfect day. The pace was moderate but sun we had rounded the corner onto Johnston and pulled up to the light on Sanderson. Once headed south towards Stetson I managed to get in the lead and take us past Wally World and towards Mustang.

I wasn’t interested in taking the lead once we got to Domenigoni so I fell to the back of the pack and followed the whole group onto Domenigoni and west towards Warren. It didn’t take long before Gambler took the lead and set an easy pace for most of us to follow. Tax Man and I were trailing in the back as Gambler and Ferret took us past Warren and over the dry wash. Unfortunately the little climb taxed some of the rides more than others and soon some of the riders started to fade. We were not far from Winchester when Digger left a gap that Tax Man and I had to close. Shortly after Digger fell off we had to come around Earth Dog leaving only Centaur, Huntress, Highlander, Gambler and Ferret in front of Tax Man and I. but the time we got to Leon the group started to string out a bit and Gambler tried to keep them together on the saddle climb. His efforts didn’t work and so he took off after Ferret and I chased both of them with Huntress chasing me. Crossing the Saddle split the group apart and we didn’t start getting back together till we rolled by Lindenburger. We all regrouped at the gas station on Menifee where we picked up MacGyver.

As we got ready to head back out onto Menifee and south towards Scott Highlander told me that he and Tax Man would be leaving us at Leon and Scott. While we would turn south on Leon they would continue east on Scott to Winchester. As we started south Highlander and Tax Man led us to Holland where Ferret broke free and I followed him over Revival and headed for Garbani. Ferret slowed down a bit before we got to the stop sign letting most of the rider catch up.

We were strung out a bit but I didn’t notice that Digger wasn’t with us as we turned east on Scott. Ferret led us to Leon and there the group split almost for the last time. Highlander, Centaur and Tax Man stayed on Scott while I chased Ferret and Gambler over the rise and towards Max Gillis. The pace was a bit out of zone 3 so I dropped back and ended up drafting Huntress most of the way to Max Gillis. As we rode towards Winchester Earth Dog Dropped back to see if he could see Digger but he was nowhere in sight. This turned out to be another bad sign. I rode with Huntress and Stopped at Pourroy to replace a bolt on her shoe. Earth Dog caught us and reported on the missing Digger but we headed to Benton and then the gas station to regroup with the A riders. I got a call from Digger and he had taken the wrong turn and ended up on Los Alamos. He was half way to Whitewood already so I had he continue on as we got back on the road and headed north on Winchester. Huntress fell in on Ferret’s wheel and we headed for Thompson/Max Gillis and towards Scott. Gambler rolled to the front and dropped everyone but Ferret. MacGyver took over the job of pulling the rest of us and did a great job of getting us to Scott. As we sat at the light waiting for a green Earth dog came flying by just as the light turned. Because MacGyver had done so much of the work getting Huntress and I to Scott I decided to ignore the zone 3 setting on my Garmin and pull the three of us back up to the fleeing Earth Dog. It took me close to Holland to close the gap but as I did I gave things back to MacGyver. When MacGyver got us to the last little rise before Domenigoni I gave it one more try and pulled him over the rise and down to Domenigoni and the light. He left us there and followed Gambler and Ferret east on Domenigoni just as Huntress blew by me when the light turned green and I had to Chase her first to Simpson and then to the dump road before drafting her to Stowe. She didn’t stop at Winchester Farms and so we headed east on Stowe and to California. Huntress pulled to Stetson and I pulled to Cawston. Earth Dog finally caught us as we turned on Industrial and got back to Sanderson. Earth Dog pulled away from us as we headed for Lowes and Acacia. Huntress and I caught him at Kirby but he turned onto Gilmore first getting back to the parking lot where Highlander, Tax Man and Centaur were still talking. We finally separated and headed for home with a bit over 40 miles on the computer and a perfect day under our belt. Well perfect except for losing Digger.