By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) After a hard Monday with the wind I do not know why I thought I could tackle a harder longer ride with the wind on Wednesday. As I said by Wednesday I could feel all of the energy I had expended Monday only it was a bit better than it had been a few weeks ago. Still the posted ride looked interesting and doable so I headed for the Bike Shop on a rather cool, clear, calm morning. Digger and Dragon Slayer were already there. Earth Dog and Tax Man arrived next followed by Abacus. Hermes sent a text that he was five minutes out and we waited till he got there to go outside and get ready to start our ride.

Once he arrived we set out onto Lyon and quickly dropped down to Acacia to begin our move west into a light wind to get as fast as we could before the predicted winds hit us. I took us to Kirby and we caught the light red but were still smiling because it felt calm. Wind is a fighter and often we feel like it is beating us up well before we ever get started fighting back. We turned south on Kirby and felt the south runs was going to be the hardest for the day even if this early in the morning it wasn’t bad. We quickly made our way to Cypress and then out onto Johnston before making the light on Sanderson and our longer ride south towards first Stetson and then Domenigoni.

Dragon Slayer started to pick it up as we moved past Mustang and Hermes wanted to know if the race was on already. I said no they were just setting themselves up for Domenigoni run and we should be in line before the crest of the first rise. Sure enough we were in a pace line and heading for Warren by the top of the rise and we were all together at the Warren light. The bump at the dry wash dislodged Digger and the lead changed a few times before we got to Winchester where we picked up Hacker and Dragon Slayer did a great job of pulling us to the saddle where I chased Hacker to the top and down the back side to Lindenburger and then to the gas station on Menifee for a regroup.

Digger decided not to do the whole ride and was only going to McCall before heading for home. Dragon Slayer led the rest of us north on Menifee looking for a predicted tailwind that never seemed to arrive. We split into two groups at McCall when Hermes, Tax Man and I caught the light red and were stuck as Dragon Slayer took Abacus and Earth Dog to Case Street for a detour that Give Dragon Slayer the effective lead of the group. He took us down some side streets and worked us north and west towards Antelope to get our group to Dunlop so we could get to Evans and north again.

So far I was holding us pretty well for this ride and managed to hold onto Hackers wheel all the way to Evans where we had a short regroup before taking off again towards the Ramona Expressway. I will admit I was surprised that I was still feeling as energetic as I was so after a small bite of energy bar and some water I was ready to head north with the rest of the group and hope for that predicted tailwind at least when we were headed west.

Hacker and Dragon Slayer were setting a pretty good pace heading north and we decided to bypass Rider and go all the way to Ramona before turning west. As we rounded the corner Hacker took the early lead and pulled the group to the light across from the Motocross track entrance where we caught the light red and cross traffic was ready to exit. Most of us stopped but Earth Dog and Abacus ran the light and took a big lead heading to the hill at Rider. We caught them before rider and started up the hill. I stayed with hacker till my Beta Blockers decided to wake up and I had to gear down to make it to the top after Tax Man. I had to chase Dragon Slayer, Abacus, Hacker and Tax Man all the way to Bernasconi for a regroup and then we made to run to the Nuevo Market on Hansen. Once we were back on the way east I took the lead and pulled as long as I could till Dragon Slayer took over and we headed for Warren. Hermes went rolling by and took Dragon Slayer with him so that Tax Man and I were left drafting Hacker. I stayed with them till we got to Bridge and then looked back to see Earth Dog and Abacus were way behind. I was running out of gas anyway so I dropped back to about 20 mph so they could close by the time we got to Warren where Hacker left us. WE rode together to Sanderson where Earth Dog turned south and Abacus and I followed. Earth Dog rode by Ramona Boulevard and we couldn’t catch his attention as we turned to join Dragon Slayer, Hermes and Tax man waiting at the trees on Ramona.

We made it to Lyon and headed south again and this time directly into a head wind. I stayed with the group till we got to Seventh and then ran out of gas and slipped into the small ring to cruise back to the bike shop with Hermes for a rest before heading home. A few of us stayed and talked for a while and then I headed for home, lunch, a shower and a walk to work the lactic acid out of my legs. It was a good ride for me even if it was exhausting one. I get a bit better each time I stretch out a little bit. I am a very long way off from getting back to normal but I hope to get there.