By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I had missed getting to ride Monday so I wanted to make the ride a bit longer today. I am still not comfortable with longer rides but I keep working on them none the less. So I posted a 43 mile little jaunt and headed for the bike shop expecting maybe four other riders. Digger was already there followed shortly by Earth Dog. We visited briefly before Minotaur arrived with some last minute repairs to be made on his bike. Then it was good to see Dragon Slayer was back from his vacation bringing his friend Steve with him. Lastly Tax Man and Highlander arrived. Not bad for a Wednesday ride lately. We headed out right at 8am with Minotaur following a few minutes later while waiting to get dressed. We headed north on Lyon and crossed Florida heading for Latham. I pulled at first and was able to stay in front even with my right foot complaining all the way. I more or less set an easy pace so Minotaur would have an easy time catching up but the rest of the group seemed eager to pick up the pace early.

Shortly after we crossed Devonshire Dragon Slayer and Highlander got to the front and picked things up a bit. They were setting the pace as we got to Esplanade and while most of us got caught by the red light Highlander and Dragon Slayer didn’t. They didn’t wait for us either and soon I found Tax Man, Earth Dog and Steve picking up the pace trying to close with the fleeing twosome. It took us well past Cottonwood to finally get everyone back together and the group made the turn left onto Ramona Boulevard and headed west. The pace didn’t slow at all with Dragon Slayer, Highlander and now Earth Dog in the front. We quickly made our way to Sanderson and turned to the light at the Expressway.

We sat through a red light and realized we couldn’t trip the green so we would have to take our chances without a green left turn arrow. That is not my favorite move on the Expressway Sanderson intersection but it was the only way we were getting across. What I didn’t see was Minotaur pushing hard to catch us before we made the turn. He didn’t make it and everyone fell in line behind heading west towards Warren. Soon Dragon Slayer pulled up to take the lead with Highlander glued onto his back wheel. He said Minotaur was just coming onto the Expressway and was sure to catch us by the time we got to the Market on Hansen. I fell back to take my place at the back of the group except Digger insisted on holding the rear wheel. He did pretty well until the slight grade at Warren when he fell off and we slowly pulled away. Shortly after Bridge street Dragon Slayer gave to lead to Highlander and we had reorganized by then with Steve riding in third and I was back in forth. Highlander pulled for a while and then signaled to get off of the front. It looked like Steve missed the signal or wasn’t ready to take the pull so I had to come around and take my turn. Dragon Slayer came back a little while later with Tax man on his wheel and I rotated back to the back once more. Tax man took over next and picked us up a bit to about 22 or 23 making Minotaur’s task even harder as he chased on the Expressway. He was only a few minutes behind us as we pulled into the market parking lot and regrouped.

Steve left us at the market and I expected to lose Dragon Slayer as well. As we got ready to leave I discovered Highlander and Tax man would be cutting the ride short and leave us on Menifee while Dragon Slayer would stay with us as we headed to Nuevo and Redlands Boulevard. I pulled south towards Nuevo and Highlander followed me all the way. When I turned west on Nuevo I led the group to Menifee where Highlander and Tax Man did leave us and I continued on towards Evans. Dragon Slayer and Minotaur took over pulling duties and Earth Dog joined them. I fell back to get Digger and tried to pull him up as we closed in on Evans. It looked like we might make it till we hit some traffic before the turn on Redlands. But once we made the turn we found the group waiting for us. We rode on to the Chevron station on Redlands and fourth street and took a short break so Dragon Slayer could pick up some food to finish the rest of the ride. Earth Dog and Digger left first and we were assigned the task of chasing them down. We made our way to Gage and then Goetz before turning south and spotting Digger and Earth Dog in the distance.

My right foot was hurting a bit and so Dragon Slayer passed some Ibuprofen as we closed in on Digger and Earth Dog and we finally caught them just before Ethernac. Dragon Slayer led us east towards Murrieta and I fell in towards the back and just cruised as we headed for the corner. I moved onto Dragon Slayer’s back wheel and we turned back south and headed for Rouse with Digger in tow. By the time we turned east on Rouse it seemed like a good time to regroup and visit with the Emus and Llamas before heading to Bradley.

As we made our way to Bradley and then to McCall I could see Digger was fading a bit so I did my best to stay close so he could follow me to hospital hill. As we started up the hill we were well behind the rest of the group and planned on regrouping after Menifee. Dragon Slayer was going to head for home on Menifee so I was expecting to see him at the light on the back side of the hill. Just before the hill kicked up a bit I tossed a chain shifting into the small ring bit fixed it quickly and led Digger to the top and down the back side to the light on Menifee. Dragon Slayer was just leaving as I rejoined the group and we headed for Briggs and the turn north to the dirt section just before Grand and 9th, better known to us as the dump road. Things got just a bit hectic as we headed east with Earth Dog pushing the pace early and quickly dropping Digger. As we closed in on Leon Minotaur took the lead and kept the pace going. Earth Dog waited till just before the crest before the group sprint and took off on us. Minotaur responded rather quickly and pulled back put front with Earth Dog on his wheel. I followed at an easy draft pace till Minotaur kick it up a bit and Earth Dog failed to hold on and I slipped by to gain Minotaur’s wheel as we pulled away and headed for Winchester. Minotaur pulled me to Winchester and then north to Stowe. We got to Winchester Farms and waited for another regroup. After something cold to drink and some world class problem solving we headed back out onto Stowe and headed east towards California.

It had been a rather good day for a ride and at this point most of tend to wind down. We stayed together till we headed north on California and turned onto Stetson. Digger is always slow after a turn so we lost the wheel of Earth Dog and Minotaur and we headed to Warren by ourselves. We had some traffic after Warren but once in cleared we easily made our way to Cawston and then over to Sanderson. I headed for home on Johnston while Digger turned on Sanderson. I was looking forward to lunch and a hot shower, maybe even a nap to finish off a perfect morning.