By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) This hasn’t been one of my best weeks on my road to getting back in cycling shape. I got tired towards the end of Monday’s ride. Wednesday was a rather long haul and the wind pushed me bit and I had a blood sugar drop on the way past Esplanade. So today I decided to post an easy ride and try riding the Peugeot just to see how I would like it. So I tossed on a water back pack and headed to the Bike shop to get ready for about 40 miles of flat ride. Digger was already there and Tax Man showed up right after me. Minotaur was there and Earth Dog joined us while we waited for more riders. Barracuda and Bruin were next to show up followed by Huntress and Anaconda. Ferret and Bulldozer rounded out our group by 9am.

I was about to see how riding a single speed with the group would work out and it would also be my longest ride on an old steel bike. We made our way to Lyon and south to Acacia and I led us to Kirby. I was able to stay out front once on Kirby and took the group to Cypress and headed west. I was able to stay up with Huntress and we talked all the way to Johnston before heading to Sanderson and catching the light red. I knew that once I got over Sanderson and over to Industrial I would have to make a choice of giving up the lead or trying to see if I could pull the group to Warren once we got onto Stetson. So when we turned on Cawston and headed west on Stetson I was in the lead and pushing my spin up to 20 MPH as we got past the airport. The gearing I had picked made me spin more than 100 rpm. If I were drafting someone I could get to maybe 22 or 23 but it would take a spin of close to 110 rpm to get there and I didn’t know how long I could spin that fast.

I did hold 20 all the way to Warren and was able to stay with the group as we headed towards California. The question was going to be what would happen when they headed south on California and west on Stowe. Ferret and Minotaur took the lead with Huntress and Anaconda right behind them. Bulldozer moved up front as well and soon it looked like they would all pull away from me. I managed to catch Anaconda’s back wheel as she rode with Huntress and Bruin rolled by us. I saw no reason to try and spin up to go with Bruin but when Barracuda rolled by as well I jumped on his wheel and we started to chase down Bruin. We caught him and went around and I followed Barracuda to Winchester Farms and a regroup. So far into the wind I was doing pretty well staying with the group but I knew once we turned onto Domenigoni it might be problematic to hold the wheel of so many power riders and if we were running downwind I would spin out pretty quickly. Stayed close to the front of the group as we headed south on Winchester and looked back to see how Digger and Tax Man were doing. We all made it to Domenigoni behind Ferret and got ready to turn east and like I thought the wind would be at our back. I gave up the chase rather early and planned on rejoining the group at State Street. Tax Man stayed with me and Digger followed about 200 yards behind us. Tax Man and I stayed together to Searl and then joined the waiting group at State. We had to wait for Digger and we had to wait for Bruin, Huntress and Barracuda because they had done the Marina climb while waiting for us. Once we were all together we headed north on State Street and Minotaur took the lead heading for the little hump just before the speed sign and Chambers. Huntress caught me spun out on the hill and attacked out of the saddle smiling from ear to ear. She laughed and we rode to Buena Vista and then to Santa Fe before heading east on Stetson.

As we got to the Ramona Bowl turn off Minotaur, Bulldozer and Ferret head for the Ramona climb. The rest of us headed for Columbia where Tax Man and Digger stayed on Stetson and we turned for Crest. The whole group did well heading on Crest all the way to Lake where Earth Dog took off a bit and I followed him to Lake and then to Stetson. We fell in about 100 yards behind Digger and ended up chasing him down just before Fairview. We regrouped till we saw Bulldozer heading in our direction so we took off north on Fairview and I made the group chase me to Mayberry.

Bulldozer caught me and told me that Ferret had laid it down coming off of the hill from the Bowl and had decided to head for home. Bulldozer left us and Minotaur took over and pulled us towards Cranston Station. I stayed with him till the statue and yard ornament yard before falling off and letting Huntress pull me through the trees. I got my spin back and headed for Cranston. I didn’t have quite enough spin to catch the leaders but I wasn’t far behind. We didn’t stay at Cranston long before I felt the need for coffee and we headed back out onto 74 and west towards Fairview again. Tax Man started us out and I fell in behind him till we got to the rise leading into the trees where I got the lead and took us closer to the Baptist Church.

Minotaur took over again and waited till the rest of the group had hooked on before leading us west again. He held it to about 21 and with the ever so slight downhill I was able to stay with him all the way to Fairview and then on to Carl’s. We regrouped there where Anaconda refilled her water bottle before leaving with Huntress while the rest of us went on for a break. Tax Man, Digger and Earth Dog left early leaving only four of us to head back to Lincoln and west towards Park to get back to the Bike Shop.

Minotaur was the first to leave us because he lived on the east side of town. Bruin, Barracuda and I rode the jog onto Devonshire and then followed Bruin to San Jacinto before heading past the Hospital and to Santa Fe before dropping down to Latham and headed for State. We rolled by State and then Palm with Bruin leading till we got back to Lyon. I turned and got back to the shop while Bruin and Barracuda rode back towards Starbucks and joined me at the shop while I stopped to talk with Robert and explain how well the gear worked on the Peugeot. After about ten minutes of conversation I headed for home. Considering the limitations of a single speed I was more than happy with the ride today