By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) There is a universal truth. If you fight a cold and take stuff for it the cold will last one to two weeks. If you do nothing but rest and drink fluids it will last one to two weeks, so take your choice. Taking something may make it so you can function but it doesn’t make it go away. Today was day five and I wanted it to be an easy ride and get a weekend to rest. I went to the bike shop expecting a small group and found Digger, Earth Dog and Dragon Slayer already there. They were followed by a new rider, Dalmatian and Highlander and Tax Man. When and old rider, Hornet arrived it was a bigger group than I thought and with the addition of Centaur we were ready to go. My guess was we would be fighting a light wind all day but nothing we couldn’t manage. It was the reason I rode the Klein however because I had wanted to get low if the wind did hit us in the face. As I pulled us to Kirby it was mild and easy going. We turned towards Cypress to get on our way.

I led the way to Cypress and turned west towards Johnston and Sanderson. I was surprised to see the new rider on his mountain bike still with us but he was trailing as we rode through the housing tract. Highlander pulled up next to me to ask what we were going to do with the trailing rider and I only said we would try to keep him in site and let him decided if he wanted to try and stay with us for the whole ride. We got to the light on Sanderson and made the turn south towards Stetson and making our way towards Mustang. I looked back and everyone was in line and our new rider was still trailing.

I got us to Mustang and pushed us towards Domenigoni with Highlander, Dragon Slayer and Centaur right on my wheel. We had lost the new rider so I pulled over and waited. Digger pulled up and offered to escort the new rider to the gas station on Menifee. Earth Dog started us west towards Warren and I fell in line as we pulled away from Sanderson and started a nice pace line. Soon we left Digger and the new guy far behind. By the time we got to Warren and headed for the dry wash I was in the back of the group with Dalmatian and Hornet falling back behind me. They fell back more as we moved over the dry wash and started down towards Winchester. Soon we started to rotate in a pace line and Earth Dog took over and kept the pace going all the way to Winchester. As we came off the light at Winchester I took my turn at the front and got us about half way to Leon. Dragon Slayer pulled through followed by Centaur and pulling Earth Dog in front again. At the bottom of the saddle Earth Dog started the climb and I was content to stay on his wheel till Centaur and Dragon Slayer went by on the right and Earth Dog stood up and headed for the crest. I jumped on it and chased Dragon Slayer and Centaur to the crest and then down towards Lindenburger. I caught them at the stop light and managed to get to the gas station first. I surprised myself that I didn’t have a coughing fit as we regrouped. By the time we were all back together Digger let me know the new guy had called it a day and headed for home. Digger left us at the gas station. We pointed ourselves south on Menifee and headed for Holland and the little climb we call Revival. Earth Dog led the first half of the climb till Centaur jumped on it taking Dragon Slayer with him. The Klein isn’t my favorite climber but I gave chase and tried to catch Centaur. I did get by Dragon Slayer but couldn’t hold on long enough to catch Centaur. After we crested Dragon Slayer moved by me and caught up to Centaur with Earth Dog pulling in behind me. I started to pick up speed and ran down Dragon Slayer and Centaur without realizing I was in the small ring. I rolled by and pulled the other three to the rise just as the beta blocker kicked in and had to follow the group to Scott and another regroup.

Once we had everyone together we started east on Scott back towards Leon. I was about in the middle of the group as we rolled by Briggs and had the slight downhill heading towards Leon. I spun it up and headed for the front only to spin out before the stop sign. It was only them I realized, after being informed by Dragon Slayer, that I was still in the small ring. I gave up the lead about halfway to the climb to Winchester when I realized we had left Dalmatian behind so I dropped back to get him and lead him to Winchester for one of our last regroups. Once we were on our way I think we expected Dragon Slayer or Centaur to pull but Earth Dog loves this part of the ride and he started to pull us towards Holland. The problem was today the wind was not in our favor and Earth Dog got pretty tired pulling. I took over about halfway to Holland and Centaur took over after Holland. Before we got to the rise by the Diamond Valley lake access road Dragon Slayer took over and pulled us over the rise. We had separated from some of the riders so we waited at the light till they joined us and headed for Winchester Farms where we were going to take a break. Once we had rested we headed back out onto Stowe with a slight tailwind towards California.

I was still feeling pretty good even if I was still breathing through my mouth and had a slight cough. I turned onto California with just enough juice to pull everyone to Stetson and start us east towards Warren. I thought I saw some of the group way behind us as we turned east but it turned out to be just Centaur so I slowed to see if he wanted to be pulled up to Dragon Slayer and Highlander. He caught up at Warren and we all headed for Cawston together. We worked our way over to Sanderson and started for Lowes. Highlander and Dragon Slayer led us to Lowes and Dragon Slayer and I took us to Acacia and I led us from Kirby to the bike shop. After a short break I headed for home and was looking forward to a hot shower and lunch.