11/30/09
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

The weekend clouds were gone and looking out of my front window all I could see were clear blue skies. It was a bit cool as I left the house but it seemed warmer than last Friday so I didn’t bother putting on my Balaclava or long gloves. As the group assembled in front of the Burger King everyone seemed like they were in a good mood and ready for a good ride.

Once we were ready to go it was time to count heads and a quick check showed we had Raptor, Rocket, Highlander, Tax Man, Hit Man, Duramax and me. It should be easy to keep track of seven riders so we were off heading south to work our way over to Sanderson and Domenigoni.

Once we were heading east on Domenigoni we settled into an easy pace of 19-21 MPH. I knew we would lose Raptor to a previous engagement somewhere along the way and he may have left us at Warren Road. The rest of us stayed in a tight pack all the way to Leon Road. It was turning into a quiet ride that was just a bit cooler than I expected. We spread out a bit by the time we got to Domenigoni Hill so we stopped to regroup and catch our breath.

Once over the hill we turned on Linderburger and headed for Macall. There was a slight debate between Tax Man and Highlander about climbing the back side of Macall but once they decided to make it Tax Man took off and lead me, Duramax and Highlander to the top. We picked up speed heading towards Murrieta but Rocket broke off and headed for home because he was running out of time.
The rest of us made the loop back to Cherry Hill and then took Murietta to Newport and the Jack in the Box in Sun City. We enjoyed the fellowship and conversation for about 20 minutes and the left for the ride home.

It occurred to me that Highlander must be a bit like a horse heading back for the barn once we are heading home. He set a pace and pulled away from the rest of us with Tax Man on his back wheel all the way back to Domenigoni Hill. Hit Man took up the chase at the bottom of the hill and once over the top decided to take off on his own for the ride back home.

Duramax got his legs working at that point and pulled me all the way back to Winchester at a rather brisk pace.

Once we crossed Winchester I was planning on taking a turn in the front when an old folk song came to mind.

“Away out here they have a name for rain and wind and fire.
The rain is Tess, the fire's Joe and they call the wind Mariah.

Mariah blows the stars around and sets the clouds a-flyin'.
Mariah makes the mountains sound like folks was out there dyin'.”

Mariah decided to join us by blowing right in our face. She was supposed to be blowing out of the North but for reasons only known to her she turned west just as we passed Winchester. Our speed dropped dramatically and about half way back to Sanderson Duramax and I stopped to allow Tax Man and Highlander to catch up. It seemed to me that Mariah was hitting us in the face at about 12 to 20 MPH and she didn’t let up one bit when Highlander and Tax Man turned on Sanderson. Duramax and I continued on to state Street and Mariah warned us she was coming out of the north by the time we reached the Marina access road. Once we turned north on State Street we knew just where Mariah was coming from and she fought us every inch of the way till Duramax turned for home just before Thornton.

I managed to make a left turn on Johnson and it seemed as if the wind was blocked for the rest of my ride. At the end I had 40 miles on the clock and a very good workout. While it is satisfying to overcome a challenging ride the best part is spending time with friends, and I am not including Mariah.