By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Friday had finally arrived and we had a flat ride planned. I didn’t need many miles and the weather made the Reverse Nuevo ride seem like a good idea. I headed for the parking lot and noticed it was almost fall like outside and very overcast. It didn’t matter too much because I knew it would warm up a bit before we got home. I got to Burger King to see Digger inside having coffee so I joined him. Bugler drove up just before Earth Dog and started unloading his bike. Next Gambler and Minotaur arrived followed by Highlander and Tax Man. None of the Bling Team showed up so we headed down Gilmore and got the show on the road. A quick turn onto acacia and we were on our way.

It was the first ride since I have given up pulling the B group and I was determined to stay in the pack and take things as easy as I could. Digger was watching out for me as we came out onto Johnston and we caught the light at Sanderson. We must have gotten there just as it turned red because it seemed like a long time before we were able to cross the street and head for Industrial. Shooter met us there and joined us as we headed out onto Stetson and head west towards Warren. I did pull easily to Warren but that was about as far as I was willing to go. We crossed Warren and headed for California I was finally able to fall back into the pack and enjoy the draft.

It didn’t take long till we were on California and headed for Stowe. I felt unusually relaxed as we moved west towards Winchester Farms and was more than willing to let other pull away and get to Winchester Farms first. We made a quick regroup and Highlander took us south on Winchester towards Grand. It wasn’t the fastest run we have ever had but we had been moving at a steady pace and we headed to Leon with Highlander and Tax Man way out in front as we past the Wild West arena. They did wait for us at Leon and Minotaur pulled us to Simpson and then to Lindenburger where we turned and heading down Heritage to McCall. We stopped to regroup at the AM/PM and while we waited we were joined by MacGyver. He had started about 30 minutes after us so he had to beat feet to catch us when he did. He didn’t have long to rest because we were soon back on the bikes and headed north Towards Mapes.

Gambler and the A group were kind enough to keep the pace reasonable as we got to Mapes and crested the rise to pick up the pace as we rolled by the Nursery. Digger lost the draft just before we crested the rise and was losing ground as we pulled away from the Nursery. As we closed in on Central I pulled up next to Gambler and suggested that once we got to Nuevo and Lakeview we might want to stop and wait for Digger. So that is just what we did. As we pulled away from the regroup Tax Man flatted so we took another break while he changed it. I pulled to the Post Office and then turned things over to Digger and we got close to 11th street.

Earth Dog took off with Highlander in pursuit and soon Tax Man was with them. We turned onto Ramona and quickly rolled by Hansen and watched as Earth Dog, Highlander and Tax Man pulled away. They didn’t get that far before Gambler, Shooter and MacGyver joined them. Bugler was pulling Minotaur, digger and I when he started to ramp it up to close with the Earth dog group. The wind was slightly in our face so when I picked it up to stay on his wheel we dropped Minotaur who lost ground once we tagged up on the lead groups draft. Things stayed separated between the two groups till we got to Bridge and we lost sight of Minotaur and Digger. When MacGyver had to leave at Warren shooter, Tax Man and Highlander went with them. Bugler, Earth Dog and I followed Gambler to Sanderson. Gambler headed for home as Bugler took over the pull and pushed into the wind heading for Cottonwood. It seems like Tax Man and Highlander must have had the same head wind because we crossed Cottonwood before they came out off of Warren. We were about a half of a block in front as we rolled by Seventh when Highlander had to slow and released Tax Man to chase us. We caught the light at Esplanade and Tax Man caught us. The three of us rode together to Devonshire because Earth Dog had cut over to Lyon. I chased Tax Man to Kirby and then pulled by him to get to the parking lot first. By the time Highlander got there we discovered he was slowed down by a broken spoke. Minotaur and I left together and separated at Lyon and Florida were I rode home for lunch and a shower.