By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I may normally look forward to Monday and a bike ride but today the fight just to get out of bed was epic. I took my time getting up and getting dressed before having breakfast and scanning the ride I had posted for the day. It was supposed to be laid back and easy and that is just what I had wished for as I headed to the bike shop to meet u with the other riders. Digger and Earth Dog were there and we talked till Bruin joined us. Tax Man and Highlander drove up as well and we had a group of 7 ready to head for Cactus valley. We pulled out onto Lyon and turned onto Acacia. It was a quick trip to Kirby and we headed south towards Cypress.

Up to this point I was able to lead the group in the small ring and a slow cruise and planned on keeping that pace as long as possible. Highlander and I talked as we headed west through the houses towards Johnston and the little jog over to Sanderson where we caught the light. As I sat there I noticed my legs were already getting tired. This was not a good sign this early on the ride but one I can easily attribute to the fight to stay in bed this morning. As we turned south on Sanderson I did my best to keep the pace down as we headed past Wally World and towards Mustang.

I was able to pull to Domenigoni and head east towards Searl when Bruin pulled by and picked up the pace. I pulled up to him and indicated that we would be turning onto Searl to go by the Museum to see the canvas work Digger’s brother had installed. It was a good job and we headed back out onto Domenigoni and headed towards State Street. Once we turned towards Cactus Valley road Bruin once again took the lead and pulled us towards the turn. We followed him to the slight climb where Earth Dog slipped by me into the second slot and I tried to keep Highlander, Tax Man and digger in tow. Highlander decided to abandon the climb to Cactus Valley and told me to go up and catch Bruin and Earth Dog. I increased my pace and caught Earth Dog just before Sage Road and Tax Man was on Bruins wheel as the climb started. I caught Earth Dog and then caught Tax Man who turned around and followed Highlander back towards McSweeney. I got onto the wheel of Bruin but we had already crested the hill so I backed down and let both Bruin and Earth Dog go to the end of the road. We regrouped with Digger at the end of the road and headed back towards McSweeney ourselves. We didn’t meet up with Highlander and Tax man because theyn had already headed for Stetson and east to Fairview. We got back to Stetson and headed towards Fairview and at no time noticed Highlander or Tax Man in the distance. We headed to the high school and speed bump with no real expectation of closing on the two that had such a big head start.

Bruin and Earth Dog got to Fairview first and Bruin headed for Wilson Mesa. I took a look in that direction and figured that there was no way either Highlander nor Tax Man would have tackled the climb to Wilson Mesa after passing on Cactus Valley. So I took us north on Fairview and towards Carl’s for coffee. Digger, Earth Dog and I turned at Florida and found Highlander and Tax Man waiting at Carl’s. Bruin Joined us and as we sat down for Coffee and conversation Highlander and Tax Man headed for home. We followed about 15 minutes later. I took us up to Lincoln and we headed to Park and back towards Devonshire.

At the jog to Devonshire Digger headed for Menlo and the remaining three of us headed back towards Santa Fe and down to Latham. We all got back to Lyon together and while Bruin and Earth Dog headed to the bike shop I headed for the dentist to have a crown replaced. Darn it I could have a new set of wheels for the price of a crown.