By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I thought I would be looking forward to a Friday ride. The weather looked like it would be nice, cool and calm. I wanted to test myself a bit even if Wednesday had been a bit disappointing. Not the ride or the friends mind you but my energy level was just not there. Today I posted some small climbs and a short ride and hoped for the best. I headed for the bike shop looking to see who would join me. Digger was there as was Dragon Slayer. Ferret and ME-109 showed up as well as did Highlander. It didn’t look like anyone else was going to show up so we headed out onto Lyon and towards Kirby. It was a bit cooler than I expected and I hadn’t worn a base layer under my jersey so I was just a bit cold and my chest let me know it. Still I was pulling well and headed us south on Kirby towards Cypress. As I pulled west towards Johnston Highlander pulled up next to me and we talked.

I took us out onto Johnston and stopped at the light on Sanderson. I pulled us west on Industrial and to Cawston before taking the group out onto Stetson and west again towards Warren. As we rolled by the airport I was still feeling pretty good except my sternum was sore. Those stainless steel wires hold the cold a lot better than my insulated water bottles ever do. I managed to pull to Warren before giving up the lead and Dragon Slayer took over with Highlander, ME-109 and Ferret right on his wheel. I decided not to chase because I wanted to save every bit of my energy for the Back Side of McCall and the double climb over Sumner to Antelope. So I pulled digger to California and then to Stowe to follow the group to Winchester and a quick regroup and break. When we got back on the road I pulled once again having rested a bit and took us all the way to the Dump road and headed west.

As we headed to the Wild West Arena I gave the lead back to Ferret and he took the group away again as had happened on Stetson. And again I didn’t try and chase but fell back to pull Digger. We were about 100 yards behind the group at the rise and I could see them turning on Leon well before I got there. I knew I couldn’t catch them so I decided to stay on the dump road and head all the way to Briggs before turning towards McCall. Digger caught up to me at McCall and we headed for Heritage together. At Heritage Digger decided he was done for the day. I headed for Menifee and the back side of Hospital hill by myself. As I rode through the intersection I could see Ferret and ME-109 coming down Menifee heading in my direction. Ferret caught me halfway up the hill and ME-109 was a few yards behind. As I crested the hill I could see Dragon Slayer and Highlander at the bottom of the hill and I dropped down to Highpoint and waited for them. Ferret and ME-109 waited just up the road for all of us. Once we were back together we headed for Sumner and over the hill to Antelope and down towards Newport and the Jack In the Box. We regrouped there and took a short break before heading back out onto Antelope and south to Garbani. Ferret, Dragon Slayer and ME-109 took off first and I rode with Highlander towards the college. Dragon Slayer fell back and waited for us at the light on top of the rise and we dropped down to Garbani together. As we headed east towards Briggs Highlander said he would be leaving at Menifee and heading to Domenigoni while Dragon Slayer and I headed for Briggs.

Dragon Slayer had me working my legs off as we turned off of Garbani onto Briggs and we quickly made our way down to Newport and out onto Domenigoni to head east. We could just see Highlander going up the saddle. I told Dragon Slayer to go after Highlander and I would head for Winchester Farms to see if Digger had stopped there. When I had made my way to Winchester and up to Stowe I could see no one was waiting at Winchester farms so I turns d on Stowe and headed for the bike shop myself. It seemed like I fought a head wind on Stowe, California and Stetson before coming out onto Sanderson and heading for Lowes. Things let up a bit as I turned onto Acacia and I got back to the Bike Shop just before Dragon Slayer was ready to leave. We went to the Healthy Pub for a quick lunch before he dropped me off at home in time for a hot shower. I was tired but it was a good ride. I got my heart rate up a bit even if I still feel like I am not running on all cylinders.