By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Another Monday had arrived and we had changing weather once again. This time it was a warm Santa Ana wind that created the most problems. Designing a ride where we don’t spend the whole day fighting gusting winds can be hard when the longest run tend to be east or west. Today we were supposed to get winds out of the north east so I posted a ride that mostly headed west and south intending to get as much push as we could. When I left the house it was calmer than I expected as I rode to the Bike Shop and Joined Digger and Earth Dog. Dragon Slayer had dropped by but forgot his Helmet and shoes so he drove home and said he would meet us in Nuevo. As we were getting ready to leave Highlander and Tax Man showed up and we headed Lyon and north towards Devonshire. As we moved north I started a pull that would last for almost 10 miles.

Soon we were stopped at Esplanade and looking forward to the ride to Ramona Boulevard. As we headed north I took the lead again and thought about my choice of bikes for today. Knowing we would be heading back into the wind on the way home I picked the Klein with Aero Bars thinking I might get to drop down and miss some of the wind. Once we turned west I picked up the pace a bit feeling just a bit of a tail wind heading towards Sanderson. In fact I had us rolling along at 22 to 23 by the time we turned towards the expressway. We got stopped at the light there and got ready to head west towards Warren. As we started west I once again stayed out front and pulled at a steadier pace. Shortly after passing Warren Earth Dog came around and kicked it up a bit and I closed in on his wheel and let him pull into the cross wind. Our tail wind never really developed so there was some resistance being in front. Finally as we got to Bridge Earth dog gave up the lead and then fell off to go back and ride with Digger. I pulled for a while but was relieved by Tax Man as we headed for Hansen and the Nuevo Market. When we got there we did find Dragon Slayer waiting and we took a break while we regrouped before heading out again. Once we were rested Dragon Slayer took us out towards Lakeview for the ride south.

It didn’t take long before Dragon Slayer had us up to speed and slowly picking up the pace to what it was when we were on Ramona. I was surprised that I was still spinning easily and looking forward to getting to Menifee and the straight run south. It was another chance to stay in a pace line and somehow we had dropped Digger before we got to Nuevo and turned west to the first street and a left turn. We stopped on the corner and waited but Earth Dog said he would wait while we followed Dragon Slayer to Central to make the run south. We were all together as we turned off of Central and onto Menifee. I started us out as we rode to the first stop sign and shortly after we rode by that sign Dragon Slayer took over and pulled us to the Nursery and over the rise. Dragon Slayer was going to leave us at Mapes and I was going to lead us to the AM/PM before heading to McCall. We waited for a while but Digger and Earth Dog had decided to turn on Mapes and bypassed the AM/PM. Once we headed south again I led up to McCall with Highlander and Tax Man on my wheel.

Once we were on McCall we knew we were behind Digger and Earth Dog and would get to Winchester Farms after them. As we decided to ride to Briggs and head over to Simpson and then to Leon I followed Tax Man. I stayed on his wheel till we got to the Dump road and then took over the pull and led us to the DVV flag sprint. Even in the wind I got us up to about 30 mph and rode to Winchester with Tax Man and Highlander. We turned north and met Digger and Earth Dog for a break and a rest. Once we were ready to head out again Digger and Earth Dog took off first and I pulled Highlander and Tax Man up to them to catch them before California and the turn north.

As we started towards Stetson I got a text on my Garmin telling me of a family problem and a call from my uncle. I started to pull away and rounded onto Stetson first and headed for Cawston. I was still ahead at Sanderson and decided to cross the light and head for home. When I got home my uncle did call and it turned out we lost a member of our family un-expectantly. Life is full of these times