By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I know I missed Monday and at first I was glad because it was so cold. However Highlander is on vacation for a week or two and I am back to try and recover from Last Wednesday. I have almost no real stamina and after two hours I am about through. Wednesday I had pushed it and the group has insisted I cut back and build up more slowly. So I headed to Burger King determined to just ride as much as was comfortable and let someone else lead if I broke off and headed for home. When I got to Burger King Dragon Slayer and Digger were already there. Earth Dog was held up with car trouble but ME-109 joined us just before 9am as we headed out onto Gilmore and headed south.

I wanted to see how far I could go and if possible I would make the decision to finish the ride or not once we got to Fairview and Florida. I knew I could count on Dragon Slayer to lead those that wanted to side Soboba to State and I could wait for them at Carl’s. I followed Dragon Slayer and ME-109 to Acacia and over to Kirby thinking that this was the first ride on my Tarmac in almost three months. The drop was a bit more than the Klein but I felt pretty good as we turned onto Kirby and worked our way down to Cypress to start west towards Johnston.

We made it to Johnston and got caught at the light on Sanderson for just a moment before turning south towards Stetson. Dragon Slayer led us to Wally World and headed for Mustang where spotted Earth Dog driving north. He flipped a turn and pulled us over so we made arrangements to meet him at Searl and he would ride with us east. Dragon Slayer took us to Domenigoni and started us east till we got to the light at Searl where ME-109 took off for the marina climb and Dragon Slayer went to pick up Earth Dog. We left and headed for State Street before ME-109 got back but we figured he would catch us before we got to McSweeney. Only problem was he didn’t realize we were headed for McSweeney. Dragon Slayer and Earth Dog took us to State and then to McSweeney, through the housing tract and back to State to head north.

Dragon slayer thought he could see ME-109 about a mile in front of us but we were in no condition to give chase, at least I wasn’t so were cruised over Domenigoni and headed for Chambers to start the move east again. I hooked onto Dragon Slayer’s back wheel and he pulled me to Chamber then Buena Vista before turning on Thornton and heading to Santa Fe. I was still hanging on as we got to Columbia and headed for Thornton again and finally Crest to ride past the old neighborhood there. We ended up Chasing Earth Dog to Lake before heading north again towards Stetson once more.

We were getting close to decision time by the time we were headed east on Stetson. I was coming up on 20 miles and over an hour so I started thinking about how much I had left in the tank. This time I remember to eat and drink so my energy level seemed up but I was still concerned with stamina as we turned on Fairview and headed for Florida. I decided to forget Soboba and head for Cranston and the group decided to stay with me. Dragon Slayer and Earth Dog pulled us east towards the trees and the fruit stand and once again I did the best I could to stick on Dragon Slayer’s wheel. He had to slow a bit when bee got in his helmet through an air hole but he stayed in front and got us to the Cranston parking lot and a short break.

Once we were ready we headed back west towards Fairview and Carl’s. Dragon slayer pulled most of the way with Earth Dog taking a turn till we got down to Casino where Dragon Slayer saw ME-109 standing on the parking lot. He stopped while the rest of us headed for Carl’s and a coffee break. Dragon Slayer joined us a few minutes later while we enjoyed coffee and conversation. Once we were refreshed we headed back to Lincoln but we stopped to see Huntress on our way back home. After a quick stop and a few hugs we headed for Park and home. Digger left us at Devonshire and Dragon slayer had to pull me up to the fleeing Earth Dog and we caught him at San Jacinto. We stayed with him to State where he left us to go pick up his car at the Museum. I left Dragon Slayer at Lyon and headed for home and lunch. Yes I was tired and a bit sore but I had made it over 2 hours and could still walk pretty well, which I had to do once I got home and was greeted by my little dog. So far 30 miles and two hours and fifteen minutes seem to be my limit for a group ride but I will have to do better than that if I plan on doing the fifty at the TDPS.