By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) It was supposed to be warm today and it was. Not a scorcher but warmer than we have had in weeks. I posted an easy ride and headed for the bike shop to see who would be riding today. Digger and Earth Dog were already there and soon Huntress, Dragon Slayer and Magic Man arrived. Tax Man was there as well making a small group for a Friday. We left at 8am and headed for Acacia. Dragon Slayer took us to Kirby and then up to Cypress while it was still pretty cool.

As we traveled through the housing tract I felt pretty good and had determined to keep a relatively sedate pace for myself but I also realized that my plans aren’t always followed. So I chased Dragon Slayer and Digger to Johnston and stopped at the light on Sanderson. Once through the light we worked our way over to Cawston and somehow ended up leading the group out onto Stetson and headed west towards Warren. I got past the airport at a reasonable pace and got us to Warren before Dragon Slayer and Huntress passed me as we headed for California. For reasons only known to my ego and maybe the warm weather I fell in on their wheel and followed them through the turn onto California. Earth Dog slipped by me as we turned south towards Stowe and I ended up forth as we turned onto Stowe and headed for Winchester. Once Dragon Slayer had the lead I fell into line and waited till we were about 200 yards from the parking lot before heading for the front and pulling the group towards the Metal barn. Dragon Slayer attacked me before the parking lot and I tried to respond. I didn’t have the juice but we did gap the rest of the group and pulled into the parking lot. Once there we were joined by Ferret who had chased us all the way from the bike shop after getting a late start.

Dragon Slayer started us out again as we headed south on Winchester. With some luck it seems as if the wind wasn’t against us today so we made good time heading to the dump road. Once we turned west again we formed a pace line and headed for the Wild West Arena and once again I was in fourth place. I was satisfied to let them pull me towards the rise before Leon or at least I thought I was till we got there. Then as we started up the ramp I jumped out and made a dash for the top. I got a good jump and it looked like I would crest before Dragon Slayer could run me down, no one else was even close, but just before the top I ran out of steam, or the beta blockers had their way and I was caught. The effort was the second of two sprints I tried today and both felt pretty good. However I had pushed just a bit too hard and my system was on guard to make sure no more sprint efforts took place. I fell to the back and followed the group over to Simpson and a regroup at Briggs.

We headed for the climb to Menifee and the turn north to McCall. Tax Man would be leaving us at the climb and Dragon Slayer would be taking Magic Man to Murrieta and home for an appointment. As we headed for the hill on McCall I thought about attacking it but then thought better of the idea because the beta blockers had turned loose and I was comfortable. So I cruised over the hill and planned on joining the group at Bradley at the bottom of the hill. As I got to the last light Siren and one of her friends caught me while out on another ride and we all stopped at the gas station. When we left to head west to the end of McCall it was just Huntress, Digger, Ferret, Earth Dog and me. We made it up the hill and over to Cherry Hill before heading back east towards Murrieta.

We rode together back to Bradley and headed back to McCall to avoid the construction on Domenigoni. Once on McCall the group split in two and I rode with Digger as the other three climbed hospital hill. We lost them after they crested the hill and so we dropped down the back side and headed for the dump road to make our way to Winchester Farms and a break. I had one of their special custom root beer drinks and digger got some cookies before we headed for home on Stowe. We took it easy and rode side by side first to California and then to Stetson. We took Stetson all the way to Cawston and worked our way back to Sanderson where we parted our ways and I headed for home. I had lunch and decided a nap was in order to finish off a ride on a warm day. All in all it was a good day.