By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Finally the weather was cool and I was rested. I couldn’t do a long ride because I was having banking problems and needed to be home right after the bank opened so I posted Soboba to Cranston and headed for the bike shop. I happened to get there first and waited till Digger and Earth dog arrived. It was looking like it was just the three of us till Centaur and Highlander arrived and we headed out onto Lyon to make our way north and get the show on the road. I was out onto the road first and managed to make the light at Florida first while everyone else got caught. Once the managed to join me we headed past Devonshire. I took the lead and pulled us towards Esplanade marveling at how different it was from last week when it was pushing 100 almost every day.

I didn’t know how many pictures I would get today because I knew I might have to leave early so I was happy to keep the pace reasonable and I got a lot of help from Earth Dog and Centaur. We made it past Esplanade and then Seventh street and Earth Dog took over and got us most of the way to Ramona Boulevard. I took over and got us headed east towards State Street on once again Earth Dog took a turn at the front and pulled us east. We kept it going all the way to State and got the light red. Once the light changed we headed north and made our way to the Expressway and headed for the College.

We had a way to go once we crossed over the Expressway and I was more than happy to follow Earth Dog in the draft. He pulled us past the college and got us pointed at the tress before the bridge. Once you get through the trees all you need to do is cross over the bridge and make the turn onto Soboba. Because we were all still together I could see no reason to stop and regroup so we let Earth Dog lead us towards the rollers and the golf course. I think I might have followed Earth Dog all the way over the rollers and maybe even to the driving range if Highlander hadn’t rolled by us on the second roller heading for the top. I got on his wheel and just before cresting the roller I took off and headed for the driving range. I got a pretty good jump and managed to back off before the beta blockers kicked in. I saw that Centaur had picked up the chase and was pulling Highlander up to me before we would get to the driving range.

When the pulled up to me Centaur took over the pull and got us to the driving rance and the slight rise. Once again I pushed it and headed for the last hill. This time I made the mistake of bumping into the beta blocker and had to shut down before cresting and stopping at the last hole where we were going to regroup. It didn’t matter all that much because we didn’t have another ten miles to go before getting to Cranston so I could afford to cut back on the expended energy and more or less cruise over to Ramona and east to Cedar to continue the ride. Earth Dog and I missed the light at Ramona and had to chase Highlander, Centaur and Digger towards Florida and Fairview. I finally caught Digger as Earth Dog headed after Highlander and Centaur. Earth Dog slowed and I caught him at the fire station and we rode together to Florida and caught the light. Digger joined us as we turned towards Cranston and for a while jockeyed for the lead till I started to feel the beta blocker releasing me. I headed for the trees and the last climb to Cranston. Highlander and Centaur were waiting and the we were joined first by Earth Dog and then Digger. I got a text message about my banking problem and head to head for home rather than stop for coffee at Carl’s. Earth Dog chased me out of the parking lot and we took turns heading back to the trees and then west to Fairview. We were still working together at Carl’s where I left and he waited for the rest of the group. I got home with just over 32 miles on the clock and after a quick shower headed down town. All in all it felt pretty good to push myself even if my energy level is still a bit off.