By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I was looking forward to a relatively easy ride for Friday. After all it was supposed to rain so there was no need to put up a hard ride. I headed to the bike shop not really expecting anyone else to show up. Shortly after I got there Dragon Slayer arrived and not long after that we were joined by Highlander. Just before we were ready to start the ride Barracuda rode up and we hit the ride four riders strong. I took us south on Lyon heading for Johnston so we could slowly work out way over to State Street. I stayed out front to Johnston and then took us to Gilbert and south again towards Stetson.

After we left Stetson we made our way south to Thornton and I pointed us to State Street. Dragon Slayer took the lead and pulled us to State Street and headed towards Domenigoni. Dragon Slayer started us west on Domenigoni and we picked up speed heading for Sanderson. At this early stage I wasn’t convinced I was going to enjoy this ride. My legs were still a bit heavy from Wednesday and I was not impressed with even 20 mph. By the rise after Sanderson I was smoothing out a bit as Barracuda pulled to the front and headed for Warren and the dry wash. Barracuda can pull like a diesel locomotive and he didn’t even break stride as we rolled over the dry wash at 21 and picked up the pace on the down side heading towards Winchester. Dragon Slayer pulled up next to Barracuda and we ran hard towards Winchester making the light and headed for Leon. It had been a pretty constant 22 or23all the way to Leon and Highlander had been right with us all the way to the base of the Saddle. As we started the climb I held onto Dragon Slayers wheel till I noticed Highlander had fallen off the pace so I slowed at the topof the saddle and pulled him to Linderburger and then joined Dragon Slayer and Barracuda on Laguna Vista only to cut over to Newport and head back to Briggs.

At this point I felt like I was hitting my stride and was looking forward to the ride south on Briggs so I was still pushing a bit. Dragon Slayer moved forwards to take the lead and we followed him east.

As we made the turn on Briggs Barracuda took over and kicked up the pace again and we rolled past Holland and headed for the rise at Garbani. Highlander fell back on the climb as I did about half way to the top. Barracuda made the turn first then Dragon Slayer and I followed till we got to Menifee and regrouped. Highlander was a little surprised at our average speed to this point and I think he considered bailing out rather than staying with us. But he stayed and we headed for Antelope. Barracuda took us north on Antelope and we made the slight climb to the stop light and headed back down towards Holland again. Once through the light on Holland we headed for the college and the run to Newport/Domenigoni.

The plan was to head east on Domanigoni and stop at the gas Station on Menifee. That is pretty much what we did as I followed Barracuda back to the light on Menifee. We stopped to a brief time at the Gas Station before heading back out onto Menifee and headed for Simpson. Highlander decided to head through the housing tract while Dragon slayer and I chased Barracuda up the grade to Simpson watching Barracuda fade into the distance. Barracuda was waiting at the light on Lindenburger when we got there and Highlander rounded the corner just as we came up on the light. We stayed in a pace line all the way back to Leon and picked our average back up. Dragon Slayer got us all the way to Winchester and Barracuda took us north towards Winchester Farms. We took a break there before heading east on Stowe to head home.

Normally the ride back home is pretty kicked back but not today. It wasn’t much like I had planned and it was close to the pace we had set at the Patriot ride the week before. Barracuda was showing no sign of slowing as we turned onto California and then Stetson and headed for Warren. I had tried to stay in zone four as much as possible and up to this point it seemed I was pretty successful. Still by the time we got to the airport I was starting to fade a bit so I knew I wasn’t going to ride all the way back to the Bike Shop. We turned onto Cawston and then worked our way over to Sanderson and the light on Johnston. I stayed on Johnston and headed for home while Dragon Slayer, Barracuda and Highlander headed back to the parking lot. I slowed to about 15 as I headed back to Kirby and stayed on Johnston. I made it back to my street and got home early for a Friday. I was tired and hungry but satisfied that the ride went well.