By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) When Friday finally gets here I look forward to a relaxing ride. Today was no different and I had the extra pleasure of looking forward to seeing Centaurs new classic Ciocc steel bike, pronounced Chee-Oh-ch. So I planned a ride of relative flatness, just over 900 feet of elevation over 36 miles, and posted it. I headed to the Bike shop with both bike and Peugeot jersey. Digger got to the shop right after me followed by Minotaur. Centaur did show up with a great looking Ciocc and Highlander was right behind him. Ferret rolled up with Dragon Slayer and it looked like a pretty good group for a Friday. We headed out onto Lyon right at 8am. We got down to Acacia and over to Kirby with very little trouble and made the turn onto Cypress to get to Johnston.

As we pulled out onto Johnston and up to the light at Sanderson I realized I had completely forgotten what route I had posted. When I look for a ride I bring up several of them and look at them side by side to see what one might best fit the weather and wind conditions predicted. I wavered between a west to east ride and Cactus Valley. At the last minute I picked Cactus Valley because they both had only about 900 feet of elevation gain. The Cactus Valley ride was about two miles shorter. So Digger reminded me of my post and we turned south on Sanderson and headed for Domenigoni. Digger led us to the light and we turned east towards Searl together.

As we neared Searl I noticed that Digger and Centaur had fallen off a bit and Digger fell off even more. So I dropped off of the lead group and came back to ride with Centaur. Dragon Slayer, Ferret, Minotaur and Highlander pulled away from us and Digger never closed at all. Centaur and I took time to talk about steel bikes and how they ride. As we came up on State Street we found Highlander waiting for us and he fell in line as first Centaur and then I led us past Newport and to the rise at Cactus Valley to head due east. I managed to pull away on the rise with the Peugeot and thought to myself that the gear I had on the back was just about perfect on this kind of ride. At least that is what I thought till I got to the climb into Cactus Valley at Sage. When you only have one gear that gear will have to be enough no matter how hard the climb might be. This was no different and I was rather tired after cresting the hill. I do manage to join the group waiting at the end of Cactus Valley and waited to head back west towards State.

As we started back I followed Dragon Slayer towards Sage and wondered how I would do following the group to State Street on what always seems like a fast run west. As we started down the hill I was able to stay with Dragon Slayer because the Peugeot descends like a rocket. But once we flattened out I knew things would change because we were doing 28 mph and my fastest spin to 23 takes 120 rpm so 28 was out of the question. As I slowed to pedaling speed the rest of the group rolled by except for Centaur and he joined me as we followed well behind the leaders. Centaur pulled by me on the second downhill and pulled me to McSweeney where we waited for the group to ride through the housing tract. When Dragon Slayer and Highlander came out onto State they just kept going and the rest of us had to chase them towards Domenigoni. Centaur and I only caught up when the group stopped at the golf course for a nature break. Once everyone was ready we headed towards Santa Fe and the turn to Stetson.

Centaur and I ended up riding side by side and talked a bit more about riding classic steel bikes till we got to Columbia and turned towards Thornton. Highlander didn’t turn with us so we caught up to the others and rode to Crest and all the way to Lake before coming back out onto Stetson and headed east. I fell in on Minotaur’s back wheel and followed him all the way to Fairview where Highlander was waiting. As we turned south towards Wilson Mesa Highlander left and headed for Florida and home. About halfway to Wilson Mesa we saw Digger, who had turned around at Sage, coming back north in Fairview. He yelled he would meet us at Carl’s and we continued on through the housing tract on Wilson Mesa and the run back north in Fairview. Centaur and I got to Carl’s last and we settled in for coffee and conversation before heading back on New Chicago to Lincoln and west towards Park.

We were following Digger who had left as we were still mounting up on the bikes and never quite caught him before we had to cut over to Devonshire and head for Santa Fe. We cut over to Latham and headed west once again towards Lyon and the Bike Shop. Considering how nice the weather had been and the group we were with I was surprised I didn’t feel more tired than I did. But soon I headed for home and lunch before a hot shower and taking the dog for a walk. Yes I look forward to Friday.