By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I was still a bit stiff from Monday when I got up this morning but in a way I was looking forward to riding Bautista today. Climbing hasn’t been good to me for a while now. I haven’t had the stamina to push for very long and it is hard to judge my conditioning because I can vividly remember where I was the Wednesday before surgery and I know I am nowhere close to that today. So I was determined to gage myself on Bautista to see just how far off I am. I got to the bike shop to find only Digger. I knew Huntress was going top meet us on the road but I wasn’t sure we would have any other riders. With luck Papillion arrived with Anaconda and at least we would have four. Ranger came down from Beaumont and we were ready to go. I took us out onto Lyn and down to Johnston to head east to Gilbert.

What I didn’t know at the time was that Huntress was at that very moment heading for the Marina after misreading the route for the day just as we turned onto Gilbert and headed for Thornton. We were headed east on Thornton and crossing State Street about the time Huntress was heading south on State Street and west towards Searl and the Marina. I was doing a lot of pulling during the first part of the ride and got us to Santa Fe and started us east on Stetson till Ranger pulled up to give me a break.

He pulled to Columbia where I took over again and got us to Crest Street and headed for Lake thinking Huntress was in front of us. Once we got to Lake I took us back north to Stetson again and pointed us towards Fairview. Once again Ranger took over and pulled me to Fairview where I expected to see Huntress. She wasn’t there so Ranger and I headed south towards Bautista where we waited for Anaconda, Papillion and Digger. Once we were all together I sent a text to Huntress to see where she was and discovered she was well behind us and had just turned off of State and was heading east. Anaconda, Ranger and Papillion decided to ride up Bautista and come back down to make two trips once Huntress got there. At first I was going to let them go but changed my mind and headed up Bautista myself. I managed to hold a relatively good spin most of the way up the hill and stayed in the 12 to 13 MPH range most of the time. So I realized I am at least 2 maybe 3 MPH slower than I was last October but I am faster than I was in 2013 and at least the first half of 2014. I got to the top just as the other three were heading down and started down after them. They turned around as Digger got there and rode back to the top so I followed them once more. Once we got back to the top we headed back down to see if we could find Huntress. We found her about ¾ of the way up the canyon and then she turned around and we headed back towards Fairview with Ranger leading the way.

I was a pretty wild ride back down the hill because the wind was right in our face. I pulled at first but Ranger took over early and we separated ourselves from the other four slowly but surely created a gap. Ranger was able to pull against the wind at about 23 mph and sometimes a bit more as we got closer and closer to the white picket fence. Here is another place where I could test my recovery because I often make an attack sprint at the dam on the way downhill. Ranger was leading as we crossed the river bed and headed for the dam. I had no intention of pulling at that point but I had every intention of drafting right on Rangers back wheel till we got to the bottom of the dam and the bump over it. I jumped out just as we started the little climb and was able to hold the sprint over the top and part way down the other side heading for the big right hand turn. Once again I felt like I was about two years back from where I used to be and I can only hope I can get some of that back by the end of this year. But I am discovering that what I now lack in stamina I am learning to compensate with technique. Ranger caught me at the turn and we rode together to Fairview for a regroup with Huntress getting there just after we stopped.

Once we were all ready we headed north on Fairview to make our way to Florida and for some of us coffee at Carl’s. Ranger had to get back as did Anaconda. Huntress stopped by to let us know she would be gone next week while Papillion, Digger and I had coffee and then headed back to the Bike shop on Lincoln. Digger left us at the Devonshire jog and Papillion and I made our way back to Latham and then to Lyon to stop by the Bike Shop before going home. I was pretty tired and need a hot shower and lunch but a bit more positive about my cycling than I had been over last week. I look forward to talking with my GP to see about modifying my medications so maybe they won’t affect me as much when I am riding.