12/25/09
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

While many of us had family obligations Friday and many of us were enjoying Christmas day we didn’t realize that it was the beginning of the training year for someone that hard worked very hard last night. Yes our good friend Santa was getting ready for the 2010 cycling year. Work had kept him and his friends secluded for much of the year but now that work was over and he had several months to train for several centuries and maybe a race or two before heading back for the North Pole at the end of the riding season to start getting ready for the next big night.
Things started out pretty much as expected as Santa and his group left the East end of town and headed west towards Ramona Expressway. Frosty took the early lead and set a pretty good pace as everyone drafted him down Soboba and up Gilman to Sanderson.


Once on Sanderson Frosty started to feel a bit winded so he pulled over to let one of the Reindeer take a turn at pulling. The Reindeer proved to have some strong legs and soon they were turning onto Ramona and setting a 24 MPH pace. Santa looked to be holding on but he just might be getting a bit tired of the pace

The Reindeer got a bit distracted by watching all the contented California cows eating breakfast as they passed several dairies along the way but he held on till he ran into a bit of gravel just before Bridge Street. That little bobble cause the Elf to take the lead and he decided to see just how much everyone had left so he held the pace at 24 and at times pushed it to 25 MPH. Things started to get a bit ragged and they approached Lakeview and the Elf started to fade just a bit.

Santa wasn’t quite as spent as he had let on and he decided to attack just as the Elf was getting ready to pull to the right. The move caught the rest of the group a bit off balance and allowed Santa to pull out a 100 yard lead till he hit the climb just before Lake Parris. He pushed on as hard as he could but all of the extra cookies and milk made him a poor climber at best and soon the Reindeer caught him and not long after the Elf was breathing down his neck.

As they rode over the two big rollers Santa watched as the Reindeer pulled everyone passed the park entrance. However with the long second downhill Santa was able to close and get behind Frosty and catch his breath and rest his legs. Everyone was in a pace line behind Reindeer as they turned onto Evans and headed south towards Nuevo Road.

After the turn on Nuevo heading towards Menifee Frosty got a second wind and came out of the draft to take the lead and kick things back up again to 24 or 25 MPH. Reindeer fell to the back of the pack but was enjoying the draft created by Santa almost as much as Elf was happy to be drafting Frosty. Frosty even open up a bit of a gap as everyone headed passed Mapes towards Florida Avenue. As they came up on Macall and made the turn west Elf had closed on Frosty and began to notice a few cold drops of water were hitting him in the arms. The sun was getting a bit higher and as they climbed the back side of Macall Frosty seemed to be getting weaker. It wasn’t long till Elf took the lead and Frosty just got slower and slower till the top of the hill. At the hospital road Frosty turned off and headed for some much needed shade and the industrial freezer they had at food services

Elf, Reindeer and Santa continued on to Murrieta Road and turned right towards Ethinec so they could make the turn to Goetz and back to Newport. Elf made the pace as punishing as he could and was feeling pretty good all the way back over to Goetz. Try as he might he just couldn’t hold off Reindeer on the big climb but he did manage to stay ahead of Santa all the way to the top.

Reindeer wasn’t wasting any time and soon pulled out quite a lead going over the crest of the hill. By the time Elf crested the hill Reindeer was hardly in view. Santa was at least 50 yards behind Elf. Santa must have been thinking that is simply wasn’t fair that people gave him so many goodies while he worked and Reindeer was in much better shape than he was. Elf simply didn’t weigh much and climbing was much easier or the smaller rider. But once over the hill Santa started to gain on both of them.

Once Reindeer made the turn onto Newport he must have felt as if he could outrun both Santa and Elf all the way back down Domenigoni to Sanderson and he just might have if Santa and Elf hadn’t started working together. Santa had the greater downhill speed to he pulled Elf down to Newport at speeds in excess of 34 MPH. Once they turned onto Newport they took turns pulling till they could see Reindeer passing over the freeway and heading passed Jack in the Box. Elf pulled them to within 200 yards and Santa covered the rest of the distance till they caught Reindeer just before Menifee. Elf took the lead with Reindeer falling to the back.

Once again they came to a small hill where Newport turns into Domenigoni. Reindeer sprinted ahead and Elf followed expecting to drop Santa once again because of the climb but this time Santa stayed with them and crested the hill only a few yards behind making up any lost distance on the downhill heading towards Leon. Elf held off Reindeer all the way to Winchester where finally he had to surrender once again to Reindeer.

Reindeer and Elf must have thought Santa was cooked because he never once contested for the lead running down Domenigoni and he did look a bit tired. He even fell back a bit after they all turned down Sanderson. While he seemed to be running out of energy Reindeer and Elf knew they were out of Gel Packs and water and would have to finish the ride to Burger King on what energy they had left. It was at Sanderson and Stetson that Santa reached into his back jersey pocket and pulled out something and put it in his mouth. Once they made the turn back on Florida Santa sprinted around both of the other riders and jumped out to a 30 foot lead in a blink of an eye. Reindeer tried to respond but he had very little left and Elf didn’t create enough of a draft for him to rest much. As they raced by Kirby Santa was still pulling away and he made the turn into the Parking lot almost 50 feet in first place. Once they all stopped both Elf and Reindeer asked him what gave him the extra energy to sprint home like that. Santa simply said, I found some Sugar Cookies someone left me Christmas Eve and it gave me such a rush I just knew I would finish the race I started in first place. Never count out an old fat man.