10/30/09
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

What do you get when you have low pressure moving over the desert and clear skies after the threat of rain? If you guessed cold, at least cold for Hemet you are correct. At the very least it was cold when I got up to take the dog out, it was below 40 degrees. If you like to pick nits it was 37 according to my indoor outdoor thermometer. Quickly it was decided that that layers would be necessary and long finger gloves. Once properly dressed it was time to go out the door and meet with the diehard friends ready for a ride.

It is just possible that standing in front of the widows at Burger King on Florida Avenue is the warmest place in Hemet. But it didn’t feel all that warm to Duramax, Rocket, Tool Man and me. In fact it was looking like the ride would consist of just three of us because Tool Man had to go to work. By 8:50 we began to discuss the route we wanted to take when the rest of the group started to show up and within 10 minutes we had ten riders ready to ride. Hit man, Quick Sticks, Bounty Hunter, Whippet, (whippet), Ruby Tuesday, T-3, and Raptor joined the three of us.


A route west was chosen and we headed out towards Acacia on our way over to Sanderson and finally Domenigoni.


Somewhere on Sanderson Raptor pulled ahead of the rest of us and opened up a lead of about 300 yards. It took us a while to catch him but after a while we were all in a group heading for Winchester Road. We stayed that way all the way to Domenigoni Hill and regrouped after the traditional sprint up the hill. The next turn was at Linderburger as we headed north. Raptor had to leave us at Simpson Road and the rest of us continued on to Macall and climbed the back side and regrouped again. However by this time people began to shed layers of clothes. Off came arm warmers and jersey vests and in some cases sweatshirts


We rode up to Valley Boulevard and over to Cherry Hill to work our way back to Bradley and then Macall again.


The plan was to turn at the third stop light after we passed the freeway and then climb over the hill through the housing tract and onto Antelope before stopping at the Jack in the Box on Newport. Didn’t quite work out as planned but we made it through the housing tract and over to Newport. Ruby Tuesday and T-3 had to get home so they didn’t stop but the rest of us took a quick break before starting a run down Newport and the Domenigoni.

Once back over Domenigoni hill the group spread out and stayed spread out till we all got back to our respective turns for home. Buy the time I got back to State Street the weather was about as nice as anyone could hope for. In My case it was 41.5 miles in 2.5 hours or riding time. As they say, “this is why we live in California."

10/28/09
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

There was a time when the weather man used a jar of bear grease and maybe a match box with a cricket in it to forecast the weather. The way things seem to be going these days I am not sure they didn’t have a better system than the one we get on TV. Monday they predicted rain for our area but there wasn’t a chance of rain by the time we got up this morning. It was cool by our standards, about 50 degrees and a bit windy. As we stood around commenting on the wind and cold it was soon decided a short ride east would be best. At least if the wind got worse we would be riding downhill coming home.
Raptor and the pack.

Once we decided to ride down Soboba Road we had to start out heading north right into the wind at the time. The wind was light but it seemed to be blowing right at us all the way up Lyon heading for Ramona. I lead the way followed at the time by Raptor, Hit man, Quick sticks, Duramax and Shadow. With the exception of Hit man we looked a bit like a pack of yellow jackets. By the time we turned back onto State Street the wind was in our face again.

Duramax, Quick Sticks and Shadow

At least when we turned onto Soboba the wind was at our side and even thought we had three little rollers to climb over it seemed easier than the ride to get there. It seemed as if most of us were saving our energy in case the wind picked before we got over to Florida and started up towards the ranger station.

Hit Man

Both Hit man and Raptor decide to leave us before we got back to Florida so it was down to four of us in a rather tight formation making to turn towards the Ranger Station. We pulled into the Station parking lot as a group and got a quick drink of water before heading back down Florida to meet up with Deacon at Carl’s. The wind seemed to be decreasing a bit but now it was blowing right at us as we traveled west. Still we were able to cruise at close to 20 MPH all the way to Carl’s. In fact we got there right after Deacon and went in to warm up and talk about the ride. It is always interesting to watch what Shadow gets compared to the rest of us when we stop for coffee.

Shadow and a Shake

Once we were warmed up we all went outside and started for home in two groups. Duramax and deacon heading one way and Shadow, Quick Sticks and I went another. I wish deacon hadn’t mentioned that the wind seemed to die down while we were having coffee because it returned in force as we rode home. Still it was a good 32 miles and it was much better than riding in the rain.

Deacon

New route with a Climb

10/26/09
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca


As the sun came over the mountains east of town Hemet was greeted with clear blue skies, very little wind and moderate temperatures. Just the kind of day one would wish for if they were planning on a group bicycle ride.

The mood at the meeting place was very upbeat as everyone arrived. Parky and Deacon were talking with Duramax and Tool Man as I pulled up. Just a few minutes later Rocket arrived followed shortly by Vadim,( Cossack) and Quicksticks. Tax man and Highlander were the next to arrive looking ready and energetic. To our surprise Red Rabbit showed up just before Raptor. Finally the question was asked about where we were going and after a pause I suggested our own local version of the little Pyrenees, Goetz road at the end of Newport. The plan was to ride west on Domenigoni till it turned into Newport and take that all the way to Goetz and then ride up to Ethinec and back over to Menifee. Once we got back to Newport we would stop and regroup at Jack in the Box in Sun City. With that in mind we all left the parking lot Heading for Domenigoni.

Someone must have something in Red Rabbits morning coffee because he took off like a cat with its tail on fire and left the rest of us in his dust. We didn’t panic because we knew we had a long way to go and it is very hard to out run a pace line against the wind on Domenigoni. So we were simply cruising down the side street off of Kirby as we watched Red Rabbit pull away.
Rocket + Quick Sticks + Tool Man
When we turned onto Domenigoni we were grouped up pretty well with Highlander, Cossack, Duramax and me making the turn ¼ mile behind Red Rabbit. We started a run at Red Rabbit and pulled in behind him when we reached to small overpass just passed Warren road. It was at that point that Highlander told me we were spread out and I backed off to see if anyone was having trouble. The Rabbit continued on and started pulling away again. Once it was decided that the stragglers we holding back because that is what they wanted to do Rocket took the lead and we quickly ran down the Rabbit. We caught the light at Winchester and I think Raptor may have left us there.

Shortly after Winchester Rocket started the pull and we followed him almost all the way to the Domenigoni Hill before Rabbit tried another break away for the traditional sprint up the hill. Cossack took up the chase and I went after him. It was a good run and we stopped at the top to regroup.

We rolled down Newport heading for Goetz when Highlander and Tax Man had to turn off for an early appointment. Quick Sticks and Tool Man turned off at La Landra and it was down to Rocket, Duramax, Cossack, Red Rabbit and me. When we turned onto Goetz I didn’t know what to expect but Rocket took off like his nickname heading for the top of the climb. Red Rabbit tried to follow Rocket leaving me to try and keep a relatively consistent pace with Duramax and Cossack following in my shadow. I expected them to pass me any moment only Cossack threw his chain and Rocket pulled over to see what happened to us. Soon Cossack was back on the road and we all topped the hill and raced down the back side.

Highlander + Tax Man

A quick turn on Ethinec and another on Murrieta and we were headed for a coffee break.

Cossack

We caught up with Quick Sticks and Tool Man at Jack’s but they were just leaving and Rocket couldn’t hit the afterburners long enough to make the turn into the parking lot so he continued on without us. Duramax and I had coffee with Parky and Deacon and took off for home by ourselves. Still I ended up with 47 Miles and a new ride I had never been on before.

Parky’s new ride

Happy Friday

10/23/09
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

It is my understanding that there some states where cyclists are putting their road bikes away for the winter. I have read in some bicycling forums whereIt is my opinion that it would be cruel to send them pictures of the ride the Hemet bike group took today.

As we assembled at the restaurant it was just starting to turn warm. It was warn enough that most people had removed arm and leg warmers because the simply weren’t needed.

It was decided to ride to the Marina soccer field then over to Cactus Valley and finally over to Fairview and stop at Carl’s on the east end of town. Right at 9:02 we started out of the parking lot only to be greeted by one last rider as we turned towards Florida. Vadim

While Deacon and Parky took their own route east the rest of us were going down Sanderson towards Domenigoni. Once we made the turn onto the parkway Rocket and Hit man quickly pulled to the front leading towards the turn into the Marina sports complex. To may surprise von Richthofen, Quick Sticks, our new rider Vadim, and Bounty Hunter all turned up the hill towards the marina following Rocket and Hit Man. At first it looked like only Duramax and I had decided to forgo the climb that at times reaches 13 percent. Soon von Richthofen and Raptor joined duramax and me and we watched as the rest of the group returned down the hill. Once regrouped, we stated off down Domenigoni heading for state street in a relatively tight pack.

We all got in line heading up state and stayed that way almost all the way to the first right hand incline when Rocket and Hit Man passed me and by the time we pulled next to the gold course I was trailing most of the group. Still we all managed to attack the hill at Cactus Valley at our own level and arrived at the end of the paved road with some smiles on our faces.

Once rested we all raced back down the hill towards State Street and the group started to break up. Hit Man had to leave and Quick Sticks and Bounty Hunter didn’t turn with us through one housing tract. Vadim had to leave early as did Rocket and von Richthofen turned for home on Stanford while we were on Stetson. Duramax and I finished the ride and joined Raptor and Parky who had already arrived at Carl’s. Not long after Quick Sticks and Bounty Hunter pulled up and we all had coffee or Soda and conversation. I rode home with Quick Sticks and Bounty Hunter and we all reflected on what a great day it had been for a 35 mile ride. If Monday’s weather is as nice as today’s I hope even more people decide to join us for a time with friends and cycling.

The Hill

10/21/09
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

The group gathering for the Wednesday bicycle ride couldn’t have asked for a much better day. The sky was a beautiful shade of blue and there was very little wind plus the temperature was close to ideal. About the only thing in question was how many would show up for a ride and where would we go.

We started out with just 3 or 4 riders abut we expected at least 6 when we had at least 10 minutes before we were scheduled to leave. By 9 am we had 13 cyclists assembled and ready for a ride. With such a nice day and everyone feeling good it was decided to for a half Century ride some of us call the Tour of Lake Parris. While some of the riders may not have expected one of our longer rides for today everyone agreed it seemed like a good idea so we had to stop the visiting and conversations and head out. Because Parky and Deacon don’t normally ride the longer rides that decided on a different route and the last we saw of them was as we were leaving the parking lot.

Most of us had agreed to make this a social ride and we held the group together at a reasonable pace heading south and west of town and out passed the Hemet Airport and towards Winchester. We did have one breakaway and that was the Red Rabbit. He took off on his own before we got to Winchester and we didn’t catch him again till we were on the old dump road and headed for the housing tract by the High School on Florida. Huntress moved towards the front of the Peloton along with Tool Man and Hit man and they re-passed the Red Rabbit putting him back in the pack. Just as we turned into the housing tract we could see Raptor and The Red Rabbit continue straight on the dirt road in front of the tract.

Most of us got caught at the light by the High School and Florida and we watched as Rabbit and Raptor faded into the distance and the turn on Mapes. By the time the rest of us got to Mapes we were split into three groups. The Rabbit and Raptor then Rocket, Whippet, Quicksticks, von Richthofen, Tool Man and Hit Man followed by Huntress, Highlander, Duramax and me. Somewhere Raptor left us but the Red Rabbit was caught by the next group and Tool Man turned off on Nuevo heading back home. Once on Evans our trailing group caught the rest of the pack and we all turned onto the Marina Road together.

Red Rabbit hooked onto Rocket’s rear wheel intending to follow him up the Marina hill only to be passed by Hit Man and von Richthofen followed closely by Huntress, Whippet, myself Quicksticks, Highlander. I managed to get passed Huntress, von Richthofen, and Highlander shortly after catching Red Rabbit. Whippet passed me only to pull off to the side when his bike refused to make a shift. Still I was too far back to close with Hit Man or Rocket but all in all I still made a decent climb.

We all had a good time at the marina talking, refueling and resting before starting out around the lake on the bike path.

Once again Red Rabbit took off like a scalded dog but we managed to run him down before he got to Nuevo and I pulled off to say good bye to Quick sticks as he waited for his wife to pick him up for an appointment.

The run down Ramona was once again split into groups and Rocket, Whippet, and Highlander were in the front one. I did manage to catch Red Rabbit again but was never able to close with the lead group. It was a great day for a half Century and a great day to ride with friends.

10/19/09
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

It is often said that for most people Monday is the worst day of the week but if you are a cyclist that has group rides on Monday, Wednesday and Friday that is rarely the case. If you happen to be an avid cyclist Monday is often a day you look forward to and this Monday was no different for some of us. The day started out with a slight marine layer and mild temperatures but nothing arm and leg warmers couldn’t take case of.

In other parts of the country the fall colors are displayed in colors of reds, yellows and orange but here in Southern California some of the most colorful things you see are the road cyclists in their red, blues, greens, while and of course blacks. That is pretty much what caught my eye as I pulled in to our meeting place this Monday morning. I could see Duramax with a red and white Hammer jersey jacket over his blue team Discovery short sleeve jersey and Deacon with his yellow long sleeve jersey talking to Wart in his red, black and white kit on. We talked for a while wondering if we were going to be all that showed up only to see Highlander dressed in black and blue followed by Taxman in Orange and Hit man in dark navy and black. The last to show up was raptor in Green, rust and black. It looked like the colors of fall to me.

We decided to make this a recovery ride and try to keep the pace down so we could enjoy the ride and get in a few miles without running the heart rate to the max. With that in mind we took off with the intention of heading west planning on two or three small climbs and a stop at Chris’s.

When we turned on to Domenigoni we got in line and Raptor pulled us most of the way to Warren road. The pace was a very comfortable 18 MPH and there was just a bit of a head wind but not enough to make the ride difficult. Raptor pulled most of the way till we got to Warren road then I took a turn only to surrender it to Duramax before we got to Winchester. It was a good pace and my heart rate was pretty steady at 120 to 125.Hit man had to cut the ride short so he turned off at Winchester road and Raptor took the lead again after Highlander and I decided to pull over and wait for Wart to catch up. It was surprising how well Taxman was doing knowing he had been off sick for several weeks but he stayed right with the group all the way down Domenigoni. Raptor took the lead after wart rejoined the group and surrendered it to Duramax somewhere before we got to Leon. We followed his lead all the way to the top of the hill on Domenigoni and Wart caught us again as we waited at the top of the hill.

Shortly after we turned onto Menifee Raptor had to leave and after we turned onto Scott road Wart left us. Four of us made the turn onto Haun with Highlander in the lead. Highlander and Taxman decided to take a short cut over to Newport so Duramax and I continued on to the last hill on Holland before turning on Murrieta and back to Newport. Highlander and Taxman decided to stop at Jack in the Box while Duramax and I continued to Chris’s to meet deacon and Wart. After coffee we decided to go back by the airport and believe it or not we had a tail wind all the way down Stowe. The day turned in 41 easy miles and we just might have been more relaxed than when we started.

10/17/09
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

Special Issue

What do you do is a cycling friend calls and asks if you would like to take a short easy ride on a Saturday afternoon? For many of us as long as we have the free time that answer we most often give is, “sure count us in.” That is what happened last Saturday and that is just what some of us said when Huntress suggested an afternoon ride to get in a few extra miles for the week.
We assembled under a tree at Burger King and waited to see just who would be joining us. Duramax, Ruby Tuesday, Shadow and I while we waited for Huntress to show us and lead us on a ride she described as short and easy even if it would be warmer on Saturday that it had been on Friday.

Huntress pulled into the parking lot and promptly pulled out her new Ruby Expert and looked like she was ready to rock and roll. Because it was her birthday it seemed only right that she could pick the route for the ride so it was a bit of a surprise when she looked us in the eye and said we should do Juniper flats. After Friday’s trip up Batista Juniper flats seemed a bit of overkill for a Saturday and finally she let a smile slip over her face and agreed we could save it for another day.

We started off heading north out of the parking lot and worked our way over to Warren road, through the housing track, and then up to Ramona expressway. We tried to keep it down a bit Running west on Ramona and it wasn’t long till Huntress was out front pulling the pace line along at a constant 17-18 mph. We had a slight head wind so it was a pretty good workout.

Once we turned south to go through Nuevo the wind dropped and we had a pretty easy ride all the way to the housing track passed the high school on Florida. By the time we turned east to head towards Winchester and Chris’s we had a tail wind so we made a quick dash there and had a coffee break.

We decided to ride passed the airport on the way home and not surprisingly we had a head wind again. It way it seems to work in Hemet is the wind will blow east when you go west and then blow west to greet you on the way home. Still it was a good 39 mile ride at a reasonable pace and a chance to spend some time with Huntress on her birthday.

10/16/09
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)
Hemet, Ca.

Leaving the house this morning almost felt like I had been transported back months in time from fall to summer. The sky was clear light blue and the weather was moderately warm. This was no day for arm warmers or leg warmers it was more of a day for sun screen and dark glasses. It looked like the perfect day for a ride.

It seemed like as soon as I pushed off from in front of the house it felt like it would be a good day to ride because even the bike seemed to roll easier and my legs seemed strong and balanced. I was in no hurry to get to the meeting spot because I had left early and wanted to enjoy the ride to the parking lot before traffic started and before we had a destination in mind. I could see plenty of flat bar bikes and mountain bikes on the road but at the time I was on the only road bike within my field of view. The cruise to the parking lot came to an end all too quickly and yet I was looking forward to the group ride just as much.

Just before I was able to see our traditional meeting place I saw Deacon shoot across an alleyway about 25 yards in front of me. As I rounded the corner I could see him pull up next to Parky and Duramax. Parky had a new “Bent Trike” that he called his Model T and he allowed me to give it a spin. The little thing was like driving a Go-cart and had it been set up for my shorter legs it would have made a great long distance touring bike/trike. Just as I brought Parky’s Trike back Sherpa pulled into the lot followed by Raptor, Hit Man and Von Richthofen. Next Surgeon joined us and lastly Huntress pulled up and unloaded her backup bike. Seems she had a flat on the new Specialized so she had to change her shoes and bring out the Jamis. We were ready to go and at least to me it seemed like a perfect day to climb Batista Canyon. No one seemed to object so we took off on the most direct route down Lyon to Thornton and headed east.

We rode easily up Thornton heading towards Lake Street. We talked and visited and caught up on each other’s lives. It is almost an unwritten law that the ride will not start in earnest till we get to Batista. Still Hit Man seemed to be feeling frisky and took the lead all the way down Stetson and up Fairview till we made the turn onto Batista Canyon.

Surgeon and Von Richthofen were leading the way up the canyon till we made the first left turn. I was feeling pretty strong so I decided to push myself a bit just to see if I could beat my best time. Batista is one of those rides that takes it out of you but at the same time lets you know how well you have improved. For me the improvement was 4 minutes better than my best time up and back.

Once everyone had made it to the top of the Canyon it was supposed to be a easy ride for the 8 miles back down to Fairview. I am sure it would have been except for the curse of Batista canyon that manages to give you a head wind somehow in both directions.

We only lost two riders this time. Hit Man had to rush home for a meeting and Von Richthofen had to get home to go to work. The rest of us managed to run the 8 miles up and back on Batista and get over to Carl’s by 11:00 to meet up with Parky and Deacon. It was simply another good day and another ride worth remembering. Not a bad way to get in a 39 mile ride in 80 degree weather and to have coffee with good friends.

Wednesday’s quiet ride.

10/14/09
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Listening to the weather man is just a bit like listening to a fortune teller in that sometimes they get it right but many times they don’t. Yesterday they got it right and when the sun came up the street was wet and we had experienced our first rain of the season. Today was supposed to be the bigger storm and when the sun came up we had plenty of clouds but the streets were dry. Somehow it didn’t look like or feel like it was going to rain even if the sky was almost a solid grey. In fact it was warmer because of the cloud cover. Still it seemed like a good idea to put multiple layers of cloths on.

Upon arriving at the meeting place I could only see Tool Man waiting by the windows of Burger King. It was still a bit early but we began to wonder if we would be the only riders for the day. I knew Huntress was supposed to show up and true to fashion she would be just in time. T-3 had promised to try and make the ride and true to her word she pulled in a bit after Hit Man. Right about 9am Raptor cruised in and we knew it must be time to go. I wanted to get in 35 to 40 miles if we could in case it decided to rain so we decided to head west and do the traditional La Ladera Loop stopping at Chris’s and then making a quick run home. With that in mind we started off towards Acacia with just the six of us.



Raptor had an appointment so when we reached Domenigoni he started to pull away from the group a bit and stayed ahead of us even as we reached a 20 MPH cruising speed. Tool Man was on his fixed gear, a bicycle designed to make you work for every foot of ground you cover without even the thrill of coasting downhill. Huntress had just taken the lead to pull us down the parkway when we noticed T-3 was falling back a bit. We made the assumption she was still a bit tired from the hike she had taken the Saturday before so we stopped to allow Tool Man to flip his rear sprocket to give him a better cruising speed. T-3 passed us and we followed her all the way to Warren road.

We regrouped at Winchester road and Raptor turned off to leave for his appointment. It was now just the five of us as we headed for the little hill on Domenigoni. Tool Man left us at Leon and we were down to four. Huntress was on her new Specialized and wanted to practice attacking a hill so we worked on getting her into the right gear and holding it till she couldn’t hold the spin before dropping into the next gear and holding the spin on that. It was her best hill to date and I believe soon we will be chasing her more than she will be chasing us.

It was discovered that Huntress had an appointment at noon so after we turned on La Ladera we had to pick it up a bit and by the time we got back to Winchester it was down to T-3 and me so we stopped for coffee at Chris’s where we met Red Rabbit and shared some time, conversation and Coffee with him. The ride back passed the airport was spent in conversation and drafting practice as T-3 and I talked and for one of those rare times enjoyed a tailwind almost all the way home. The day turned out to be dry, not too hot and not too cold but just right for 38 miles with friends.

Monday's Ride

By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


There was no doubt about it we did not slowly slide into the fall season from summer. Fall slammed into us like a tree falling on a house. The sky didn’t even have a hint of blue and in the early morning light it might have been described as confederate grey. It was also a lot cooler than we were used to so it was going to take extra layers for the ride to feel warm for most of us.

It was time for a long sleeve shirt under the jersey with leg warmers and a wind vest. Add long fingered gloves and I was about ready to go out and face the day. One last sip of hot tea and it was time to go meet the group at Burger King.

With the weather being a bit cold it seemed that the leg muscles were a bit tight and would take more warming up than normal so the pace going over to the parking lot was slower than normal. Still spinning seemed to work pretty well at getting the blood flowing and soon deacon could be seen parked up against the windows on the east side of Burger king. A few moments Rocket pulled up followed by Quick Sticks. We were still saying our hellos when Red Rabbit rolled up on his Lapierre followed by Tool Man on foot. Tool man had raced Sunday so he was walking to work where he had his other bike waiting. Shadow and Sherpa were the next to arrive and one quick look at the time told us we were about all that would be riding today. Quietly we decided on riding east after going through Cactus Valley.

The Red Rabbit wasn’t waiting for us and left a few moments before the rest of us leaving us in his dust. Just as we pulled out of the parking lot Raptor joined us and we started off to work our way over to Sanderson. Once headed South on Sanderson we could just make out a small dot than had to be Red Rabbit. We managed to run him down before we got to Domenigoni and we turned towards State Street and the Soccer field below the Marina. Once again Red Rabbit took off with a rather large lead followed by Raptor. The rest of us caught them by the time we got to State and we turned South towards Cactus Valley. Before we get to the turn Rocket turns on the after burners and makes the small hill at the left turn first followed closely by Shadow and I was a distant third.

We all had to stop for traffic at Sage and for a change I managed to get a pretty good jump on the first climb into Cactus Valley. At the top of that first hill Shadow caught me and a few bike lengths later he and Rocket passed me. Still it was one of my better runs at that little hill.

On the way back Sherpa gave in to the cold and decided to go home and maybe come out later. By the time we got most of the way back to Domenigoni Rocket tossed in the towel because he wasn’t dressed warm enough and we lost Quick Sticks on Santa Fe for the same reason. Four of us continued on to the east and ended up at Carl’s to have coffee with Deacon. For a change coffee was the drink of the day even if the ride home seemed a bit colder after the warm restaurant.