By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) To be honest I wanted to stay in bed under to covers where it was warm and toasty. I knew it was going to be cool and I thought it might be windy. With that in mind bed seemed like a much better place than out on the bike. But I had planned a ride and I got up for breakfast to I did get dressed and went to the bike shop to see who else might show up. Digger and Earth Dog seemed willing to ride and Minotaur arrived right after me. Highlander and Centaur showed up as well and seemed ready for whatever the weather tossed at us. We left right at 9am and went north on Lyon to get things on the way. Earth Dog got us started and pushed us all rather early in the ride. I noticed Minotaur warming up slowly so I went back to get him. We made our way to Esplanade and waited at the light till it turned green. Once headed for Seventh we were cruising at close to 20 when Digger started to struggle. Minotaur had told me they would be heading all the way to the expressway rather than the Boulevard so I dropped back to pull Digger and then headed for the Expressway. Digger and I made the light on Ramona and headed west into a light head wind. Digger was on my wheel and stayed there most of the way to Sanderson but before the light he fell off a bit. I noticed the rest of the group waiting at Sanderson and Ramona but I made the light and headed for Warren at a reasonable clip. As I got close to Warren the wind picked up a bit and I started to feel like the ride had become work rather than enjoyment. Minotaur had pulled Highlander and Centaur up to me and headed for Bridge. I looked back and didn’t see either Digger or Earth Dog so I took a break at Bridge and then rode to the store on Hansen where the other three were waiting. Earth Dog finally showed up but Digger had cut it short and headed for home. It was just the five of us heading to Lakeview and south from there.

We took turns pulling to Nuevo and then to Central before dropping down to Menifee and south once again, this time with a tail wind. It was still cold but we were enjoying the pace as we came to a stop sign on Menifee and San Jacinto ave. I stopped for a car turning left in front of us but on one else did so I got dropped and a very long chase started. I managed to gain on Earth Dog but I couldn’t see anyone else in front of him so I had to assume they were headed for Briggs and Florida. I saw Earth Dog turn on Mapes but he was at least 150 yards in front of me so I stayed on Menifee to keep up my speed before turning east on Watson and pushing things all the way to Briggs coming out in front of Earth Dog. As I got to Florida I could see Highlander was already on the other side of the road waiting till we crossed the light. I figured that Minotaur and centaur were in front of us so once the light changed I put my head down and made a run for the Dump road looking well in front of me for any sign of the other two. Highlander and Earth Dog had pushed it to the dump road as we turned east and I took off on another run to see if I could catch a glimpse of Minotaur in the distance. I put some distance between Highlander and Earth Dog as I crossed Leon and started down the Wild West Arena flag sprint. The wind was in our face again and it looked like Highlander was gaining on me. As we rounded the turn at the end of the sprint a rider pulled up on me and I noticed it was Minotaur. I ended up following him to Winchester and then to Winchester Farms for a break. Once we decided to start for home I turned it back into cruise mode and followed Minotaur first to California and then to Stetson as we worked our way back to Sanderson. I left Minotaur at Sanderson and headed for home. I was cold, tired and wanted a hot shower. I took the dog for a walk after lunch and settled back into my chair to rest before going to a memorial for one of the men we knew from the bike shop. All in all it was a good ride. But I have to say I didn’t have much fun today, it was a lot like work.