By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) It has been said that it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks and I guess I am proof of the idea. My recovery from Bypass surgery has taken longer than I expected but I keep trying to push it. I seem to have a pretty good ride on Monday and sometimes I still have something left for Wednesday but to ride on Friday I have to be sure to give my legs plenty of rest. The trouble is I have been riding my Peugeot on Tuesdays and Thursdays and sometimes that wears me out for Friday. Still I planned a 41 mile jaunt west on the Expressway and headed for the bike shop to see who would be joining me. Digger was there and Tax Man arrived a few minutes after me. Highlander got there just before 8am and we headed out onto Lyon and north towards Esplanade. We picked up Ferret on Latham and rolled on to Devonshire and beyond. For some reason Digger was feeling his oats and he decided to pull us to Esplanade where we caught the light. Digger was soon out front again and got us to Seventh Street and then Cottonwood before heading for the last stretch to Ramona Boulevard.

We were still following Digger as we headed west towards Sanderson. We managed to get to Sanderson during a split in traffic and cruised into the turn lane to make ourselves ready for the Expressway. Once we were headed west Ferret took the lead and pulled us to Warren. We managed to drop Digger at the slight ramp leading to Warren and headed for Bridge. I looked back and noticed Tax Man was off of the back as well so I was prepared to let Ferret go and fall back for them. Highlander assured me that Tax Man had Digger in tow and we rejoined Ferret. By the time we got to Bridge Tax Man had caught us but Digger was nowhere in sight. I pulled over and waited for Digger while Ferret took Highlander and Tax Man to the Expressway market. Digger and I joined them there for a regroup and we discovered Highlander and Tax Man were leaving us at Lakeview. We pulled back out onto the road and headed for Lakeview.

When we got to the light at the Expressway and Lakeview we could see Highlander and Tax Man heading south towards Nuevo. I told Ferret to go at his own pace and I would stay with Digger. At this point I was still feeling pretty good and I pulled Digger after Ferret towards the bottom of the first roller. Ferret left us pretty quickly and I simply geared over the first roller and headed for the second. It seemed as if the wind was increasing as we rolled by Bernasconi and I felt it as I got close to the second roller. We crested the roller and headed for Rider. It was at this point my legs started to let me know I had spent too many days on the bike this week and I had to drop at least one geat to keep my pace up as we headed for Evans. I didn’t get a break as we turned onto Orange and the wind seemed to change to hit us in the face again. I was running out of steam a lot faster than I wanted to as I pulled us to Menifee and started south. There was no break for us heading south on Menifee as the wind was still more or less in out face. It stayed that way all the way to the Am/Pm. We decided to head east on Florida to Briggs and cut down to the dump road thinking east would give is a tail wind. It didn’t help much and we were soon headed east again on the dump road towards Winchester. I kept the spin going as we got to Winchester and headed for Stowe and Winchester Farms for a break and snack. By the time we got back on Stowe and we headed for California and then Stetson. Digger pulled us to Cawston and then over to Sanderson where I took over and pulled us to Lowes and Acacia. I was still pulling after Kirby and we stayed together till we got back to the bike shop and took a short rest before heading for home.

I headed for home looking forward to lunch, a hot shower and maybe even a short nap before having to take the dog for a walk and finish some chores before getting to rest. And yes my legs are killing me as I sit here typing.