East to the mountains.

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

Hemet, Ca


It is hard to believe it is fall and we still have such nice weather for cycling. It was a bit cool the night before but this morning it was fairly warm and just a touch overcast. By the time we all gathered for the ride it must have been close to 70 degrees and that maybe is why the ride was so well attended. Before we started off there were 16 riders assembled in front of Burger King.

Once we got started Tool man broke off to take another route. Snow Goose and Parky left as the cruiser group while 13 of us joined up to head down Lyon on our way to the Small rollers on Soboba.


Not long afterward we turned off of State and onto Soboba the group split into two as Rocket and Hit Man started to pull away. I got a good picture of Quicksticks and T-3 pulling the rest of the pack and decided to give chase to see if I could keep up.

I did manage to close with the two leaders and caught them by the second roller with Cossack nipping at my rear wheel. That was a great move considering he was at the back of the second group when I took off to chase Rocket and Hit Man. About half way up the second roller it was my turn to take the lead and pull the leading group and I did so until just before we reached the edge of the golf course just before I pulled out of the lead I got a picture of Rocket as he took the lead.
As we got to the top of the last roller by the entrance to the golf course I pulled over to get a shot of the rest of our group climbing the rise. First Whippet and Red Rabbit rode past.

Then came Duramax and Von Richthofen and Highlander up the hill.

Then Quicksticks, T-3 and Shadow and Raptor topped the rise just before we regrouped and headed on towards the Ranger Station on Florida.

When we made the turn to ride over the Soboba Bridge Cossack took off and three of us gave chase but he made it to the top of the bridge before we could catch him. Still it was a good run and got our heart rate up. The rest of the ride to the Ranger Station was rather leisurely, at least for me and the group I was with. T-3 even told me she felt the ride up Florida was one of the best she has had. We did see Rocket heading back before we got to the turnaround point and we lost Highlander and Raptor to other commitments.
We did catch up with Rocket when one of his retro rockets went flat and he had to do a space walk to fix the malfunction. Still he was smiling as I took photographic proof for the masses.
But after we all regrouped I took another picture and we headed towards Carl’s. T-3, Cossack, Red Rabbit and Whippet continued on and the rest of us stopped to talk about the ride and refuel. But the time I got home it was a bit over 80 degrees and I had 34 miles on my odometer. A good time was had by all as they say.