12/28/09
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca


There are some days when it just looks like it will be a great day for a ride and there are some days that will surprise you. Today was a surprising day for a good ride. It was over cast and cold when I got up and it didn’t look like it was going to warm up. I got a call early from Metric Man saying the wind was blowing north of me pretty bad and he wanted t make sure we were still riding. I told him it was dead calm and we had every intention of riding. Shortly after than I got dressed and headed for the meeting place.

It turned out that is wasn’t as cold as I had thought and there were small patches of blue trying to peek through the overcast. Rich,(Duramax), Jim, (Parky), Forrest, (Deacon) were already waiting when I pulled up and Bob, (Rocket) was just getting off of his bike. Soon we were joined by Ivan, (Highlander), Curt,(Bounty Hunter) and Russ, Raptor. The last two to arrive were Vadim, (Cossack) and Metric Man, (Mark).


Because we had an extra day to rest it seemed like a good idea to head west passed Lake Parris and make the big loop over to Chris’s in Winchester. We planned to get in about 45 good miles in to work off some of the Christmas goodies we had eaten over the weekend. 9 am rolled around and we were took off heading north on Kirby. The group looked like they were more than ready for this ride and I expected to get rolled over.

Once we got out to Cottonwood we could just make out Raptor in front of us. When we told him where we were going he said he would be breaking off at Bridge Street so he left a few minutes before the rest of us. As we traveled along in a rather loose pace line we slowly closed the distance on him until we watched him disappear into the housing tract on the other side of Warren road and Cottonwood. We caught the light red at Warren Road but were back in pursuit in less than a minute. As we got ready to exit the housing tract I looked behind me to see Duramax and Bounty Hunter and I began to get the feeling a seal must get when they see sharks swimming around.

When we turned onto Warren the pursuit of Raptor was taken over by Rocket, Highlander, Metric Man, Bounty Hunter and Cossack. They reeled him in just before we got to Ramona. At the light we all regrouped and got ready for the run east on Ramona. We started out in a simple pace line that slowly crept up as Rocket started to feel the need to try out his new Christmas Compact Crankset. Cossack took off with him and Metric Man followed. The rest of us kept it at just over 20 MPH and watched them pull away. Everyone regrouped before the Nuevo turn off at Lakeview and Highlander took the lead pulling us to the bottom of the first hill in front of Lake Parris before Rocket pulled out and took off. Next Cossack gave chase and I considered doing the same but I thought it was a bit early for me so I waited and checked my dashboard. My heart rate looked pretty good and my speed wasn’t bad so I decided to pull in front of Highlander and give chase myself.

Soon I was in a pretty good sprint and coming up on the back of Cossack. I didn’t want to pass him too early because he had come back on me before and I knew he was in pretty good shape. Still I got a lead on him and it even looked like I was gaining on Rocket. As I rode towards the top of the first hill I could hear the theme song from Rocky playing in my head. I had to check to make sure my MP-3 player was still in my back pocket with the ear buds so I know it was my imagination. At the top of the hill I tried to increase my speed and close the distance even more when I noticed he was starting up the second hill. I knew I would never catch him and the Rocky song left me. I settled into a reasonable spin as I hit the bottom of the second hill but when I looked behind me I could see Cossack gaining and the music from Jaws started running through my head. It wasn’t the MP-3 player.


I managed to crest the second Hill in front of Cossack and found Rocket waiting for us at the bottom of the hill. We regrouped once again and headed off towards Evans and Nuevo Road. We formed another pace line and held together pretty well all the way to Mapes Road. Highlander and Cossack went straight on Menifee while the rest of us turned on Mapes. The rest of us stayed together as we turned passed the High School and I talked a bit with Metric Man. Duramax and Metric Man were running along at a pretty good clip but Rocket had started to pull away.

I informed him of a trend that most often happened as we rode down Grand or the old dump road. Rocket would run along at a pretty good pace just passed Leon and then there would be a slight rise for the next ½ mile. Once over the rise if Rocket was in the lead the pace would increase and it could turn into an all out sprint. If he wanted to join in he needed to fall in line by Leon. About that time Bounty Hunter pulled up to get behind Rocket.

I fell in line behind Bounty Hunter and Rocket took the lead. I didn’t know if Rocket was planning on making a run after the rise or not but I wanted to see if I could go with him if he did. As we approached the top of the rise I once more started hearing music but this time it was from Top Gun and the Song was “Highway to the Danger zone”. But my Heart Rate was down to 140 and my legs felt good. I knew if he went I was going to give chase.

After about 50 yards Bounty Hunter pulled out of line and told me to give it a shot and I took a run at Rocket. We were building speed rather quickly and were soon pulling away from the rest of the group. I pulled out and tried to pass and managed to get out in front but could only stay there a few seconds before Rocket started back around. I decided if he got passed me I was going to fall in on his back wheel and chase him all the way to Chris’s if I had to but it turned out he must have read my mind so he simply sat up and we rode side by side all the way to Chris’s. Once at Chris’s we split up and Highlander and I stayed for coffee while everyone else continued back home.

It was a great day for a ride and I managed to get in 45 miles with a few good friends.