1/06/10
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

There was just a touch of tension in the air when I woke up this morning. I got up early for some reason and was ready to go way before it was time to leave the house. I decided it was warmer than it had been for a few days so I didn’t put on quite as many layers as I had been using and sat watching the news in full kit with the exception of my helmet and gloves. When the wall clock chimed for 8:30 I was up and out of the door in a flash.

I turned on my MP-3 player and rode over to the Burger King feeling pretty good. As I pulled up both Duramax and Parky were waiting for me. A few minutes later Rocket rode up and I could still feel that everyone was feeling eager for today’s ride. Highlander and Hit Man arrived just before Raptor and I thought we were about ready to go. Just then we noticed two new riders pulling up and were introduced to some friends of Hit Man, Greg and Gary. We quickly decided on Juniper Flats and we were off down Lyon to Ramona. Highlander would have agreed to just about anything as long as it was west.


We do most of our socializing on the first few miles of our rides and today wasn’t any different. We had discovered that Ramona Road was now open to Sanderson and it was much to our relief that we would be able to avoid the bumpy Cottonwood and Warren. Some of us slowed down to allow Hitman’s friend Greg, now called Beowulf, the opportunity to catch up. He had to make some minor adjustment to his computer and had some distance to make up. Parky and Raptor passed us as we were waiting and it took quite a while for us to gain on them. I didn’t catch them till we got to Ramona Road.

At the time Raptor thought Parky was going to cut the ride a bit short and split off from us at Sanderson but by the time we got to the expressway Parky decided to stay with us all the way. In fact he stayed with us pretty well until we got into the normal pace line heading passed Warren road and the group started to pull away. We were moving along at about 19 or 20 MPH when one of the riders got a flat. As we waited for it to be repaired Parky passed us and continued on towards Lakeview. We didn’t see him again till we made the turn at the Lakeview light.

I pulled over to have a quick conversation with Parky after the light and he told me he planned to ride up the flats and he would see us at Chris’s. Rocket and I rode off to try and catch Highlander who was several hundred yards up the road. We pulled up behind him with Duramax just before the stop sign where we turned left to get on Juniper flats road. Rocket passed me at the first big turn and I followed him to the first grade increase then he started pulling away. I got into a spin and was able to hold a steady pace and a heart rate of just over 150 almost all the way to the top. Duramax wasn’t far behind me as I got to the top.

Hitman, Beowulf and Gary had stopped to take off some layers so we were pretty far ahead of them by the time we started the climb. As we waited at the top of Juniper flats we talked about what a good day this was for a ride and how cold it is for some of our friends and family living to the east of us. We were considering riding back down to the stop sign to see if Hitman and his friends were on their way when they rounded the corner and started up the last hill to where we were standing.

Once we were all together at the top of the climb we started the best part of a hill climb, the ride down the back side. Highlander took off and stayed in from most of the way until the last turn when Rocket caught him. Once Rocket got passed him I used my superior weight to catch and pass him. One of the very few places I can stay ahead of the group is on a long downhill. Rocket took the lead back when we turned onto Florida and we regrouped again at the High School. Once through the housing tract the tension built once again as we turned towards Grand and the run towards Chris’s. Once on Grand we all got in a pace line and headed towards Leon. The two new riders were right with us and Beowulf was showing a lot of strength for this late in the ride.

I found myself in the front of the group about a mile before we reached the typical sprint point but I was feeling pretty strong so I stayed out front and pulled all the way to the top of the rise when Rocket pulled up next to me and started the sprint. He managed to accelerate a bit quicker than me so I fell in on his wheel not realizing that Highlander and Beowulf were right behind me. I tried to go to the left and pass Rocket only to hit something and start a bit of a wobble. I pulled back in line and decided to pass on the right only to run completely out of gas twenty yards after gaining the lead. Rocket started to pull away and Beowulf went with him. Highlander pulled up on my left and we rode the rest of the way to Chris’s together. Once there we took a quick break and then headed for home by the airport. When all was said and done I had 39 miles on the computer and a nice ride. You know it is a nice ride when you not only had fun but are tired to boot.