By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I cannot say I was eager to get out of bed this morning nor that I was looking forward to a hot ride. But I had posted an easy short ride so I drug myself out of bed and got ready to head to the bike shop and lead a ride. Like many mornings it was just Digger, Earth Dog and me waiting at 7:45 to start the ride. Before 8am we were joined by Tax Man and Highlander and a surprise rider Akira making six. I took us out onto Lyon and got the ride under way. It was a quick trip to Acacia and then to Kirby and south towards the railroad tracks.

I pulled all the way through the Housing tract with Digger and Akira right behind me. We talked easily as we headed for Johnston and Akira complained about how long it had been since he had been on his bike. We moved onto Johnston and made our way to Sanderson where the light was green. I took us south over Stetson and headed for Mustang.

The group allowed me to lead themall the way to Domenigoni and west towards Warren. I pulled to the rise and turned over the lead to Highlander so he could take us to Warren. We had tax man out front after Warren and he pulled us most of the way to Winchester where once again I took over and gave him a break. Highlander got out front after we caught the light green and headed for Leon. Digger ended up leading all the way to Leon and headed for the saddle. Digger couldn’t hold the lead at the beginning of the saddle nor could Highlander or Akira so I pulled to the top with Tax Man on my wheel. I started down the back side of the saddle and Tax Man slid by at Lindenburger heading to the gas station where we had planned a regroup. Tax Man and I waited till everyone else had arrived before we got back out onto Menifee and headed south again. Highlander, Digger and Tax Man made the light at Domenigoni green while Akira, Earth Dog and I got stopped. We had a long wait but then we also knew that all three of the other riders hate the hill we call Revive and wanted as much of a head start as they could get. As we made our way to Holland and Akira took a look at Revival he started talking about turning back. The hill is only slightly intimidating but when you have been off of the bike for more than a year it can be a challenge. We all made it over the hill and headed for Scott together.

Once we were headed east on Scott Highlander and Tax Man took the lead and moved us towards Leon. Looking back I could see Earth Dog was leading Akira and Digger as I followed Tax Man and Highlander. In effect we had two groups of three each. I had promised Akira that I would stay with him if he decided to finish the whole ride and so I dropped off of Highlander’s wheel and went back to make sure the other three made it to Winchester and that we would all be together heading north in case it got hot sooner than I expected. The goal today was to keep the pace between 16 and 18 mph and keep the group together. We had a pretty flat run towards Leon and the group was back together as we headed down the grade to Leop and on the flat towards Winchester. We broke up again as the climb started and I went back to Help Earth Dog with the other two.

We managed to get back together once we made the turn north on Winchester and once again Highlander and Tax man led us as we went. I rode close to Akira to make sure he had a draft and Earth Dog pulled Digger and what turned into a double pace line as we headed for the slight crest before the long downhill heading to Holland. I pulled up next to Tax Man and took my turn at the front before giving it back at Holland. Highlander pulled for a while before Tax man got the lead back. Earth Dog then pulled by on the right side as we got close to the Swap meet parking lot and I fell into forth spot. As we started up the hill before Domenigoni I took the opportunity to push myself a bit and headed for Domenigoni by myself. I was joined at the light on Domenigoni and then Tax Man took us to Stowe and Winchester farms where Earth Dog left us to get home for an appointment. We took a short break and Winchester Farms before heading for home on Stowe. Akira was out chasing Digger who had taken a head start and it took me almost all the way to California to catch him. As Highlander and Tax Man headed for Stetson and chased down Digger. I ended up pulling Akira to Stetson and then east to Cawston to show him how to get onto Johnston at Sanderson. We rode together till we got to my street and he continued on towards his house. I got home to have lunch, a shower and a quick nap. Yes I am at the age a quick nap seems like a good idea.