1/15/10
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

To be honest I was a bit sore this morning, or at least my legs were but still I wanted to get out for a ride so I got up, had breakfast and started getting ready for a ride. The weather was supposed to warm up to 72 today so picking out my kit took a bit longer than usual but at last I settled on a long sleeve jersey and a cycling vest and tights and considered myself ready. As I left the house I kept saying to myself that at least it was a Friday ride so it should be easy. I left with that thought in mind.

Things started out pretty normal for a Friday. Duramax, Parky and Deacon were already at the parking lot when I pulled up. Rick,Power surge and Hit Man arrived followed by Bounty Hunter and Rocket. I was surprised to see Steve show up, the racers don’t often ride with us and we had a new rider, Scott show up. Turns out he is a friend of Highlander and Highlander couldn’t ride with us because of a mechanical problem. Huntress arrived before we were ready to go which is a surprise in itself. Beowulf and Raptor were there as well. We decided on a relatively flat ride and I was relieved thinking it was going to be a typically easy Friday ride.
As we turned onto Cypress heading for Johnson I looked back to see everyone talking and just cruising along at an easy pace. I almost always enjoy the quiet neighborhoods we pass through on our way to the big roads like Sanderson, Domenigoni or Ramona Expressway. A car does come by now and then but for the most part you almost get the feeling like the roads are almost set aside for bicycles, skate boards and joggers. Now and then we will take the time to wave to someone walking their dog. Today we were the only ones on Cypress and it looked like a good day to be riding. We made the quick turn onto Sanderson and the turn onto Wentworth and finally onto Walden/Weaver by the airport. Once out onto Stetson the easy pace started to change. We did hold together pretty well west to California Ave. But we started to spread out once we made it onto Stowe. We did regroup at Winchester but Duramax and I got caught at the stop sign and watched the group disappear into the south. We did manage to catch the pack at Domenigoni and started back east towards Warren Road. Rocket got to the front and slowly but surely picked the pace up till there was a separation with him and Hit man from the rest of the group. Next thing I knew Steve, The Barracuda, Started to pull part of the group to close the gap. At about 26 or 27 MPH I watched as people started falling out of the lead pack and soon Barracuda had closed on Rocket and Hit man.

Soon I found myself riding between the two groups and finally I caught up to Power Surge and we rode together talking till we got to Warren where I saw someone closing on me. I thought it was Duramax and Bounty Hunter but when the rider pulled up next to me I saw we had been joined by The Mounty, Dudley. He had been out training and watched us turn onto Domenigoni. Soon I lost both Power Surge and Dudley and tried to close on the leading group. I didn’t catch Huntress till I got onto State Street and finally we stopped to find Beowulf waiting for us. Somehow we had lost Duramax who it turns out had followed Dudley onto Sanderson. I called him on the cell and he said he would see us at Carl’s so we regrouped once again at Thornton and Buena Vista and headed for Columbia Street. We turned to ride through the older neighborhoods next to the hills and continued East. The group had shrunk somehow but we were all still in a good mood.

I heard Rocket say something about being cold and the next thing I knew he was gone and Bounty Hunter must have gone with him. The group had shrunk by about half but we were still together and still riding strong all the way to Fairview. Once on Fairview I could smell the finish of the ride and my legs stopped complaining all the way to Florida and back to Carl’s at New Chicago. We stopped for coffee and got a chance to talk with Scott before heading home. A quick jaunt over to Park and finally back down Latham and by the time I got home I had about 34 miles on the clock. Not a bad day for a ride.