2/26/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca


Hearing that there would be no rain Friday was a bit like hearing the first call to races at Santa Anita. I have been looking forward to getting in a few more miles this month and they have been predicting rain all week but today was pretty clear even if it was a bit cool. I decided I didn’t need leg warmers or arm warmers so I dressed quickly, had breakfast, and walked out of my front door right at 8:30 am.

Once I got to the parking lot it became quickly apparent I wasn’t the only one ready for today’s ride. One after another riders pulled into the parking lot looking eager for a ride. We had 12 riders as we pulled out of the parking lot with Parky and Deacon splitting off to head south as the rest of us headed north. I pulled out onto Lyon and started a casual conversation with Highlander and I could hear conversations going on behind me as we rode along but that seems perfectly normal for a group that gets along as well as we seem to. Huntress and T-3 were close behind me with the rest of the group following for the first few miles as we sort out the kinks and get the legs warmed up.



Slowly but surely we compressed into a tighter group as we got towards the end of Lyon. It wasn’t long before Attack cat passed me and took the lead and the rest of the group started pushing a bit more as the speed picked up a bit and got smoother. I found myself between Attack cat, Brian, (Starbuck) Highlander in front and Huntress, T-3, Beowulf, Duramax, Barracuda and Rocket behind me. Everyone was looking fresh and they all looked ready for the ride towards Nuevo.


Once we turned onto Ramona Boulevard we started to string out into a line as if we were in a Peloton. We were about to start the best part of the run to Nuevo. Once you get to Sanderson and make the quick right follower by the quick left you are on Ramona expressway and have at least 10 miles of flat straight wide shoulders all the way to Lakeview. The ride itself has a bit of a rural feeling to it as we pass some nice looking dairies and some planted fields. We also have a view of some small hills surrounding Lake Paris in front of us and some snow covered mountains on our right. On our right is a section of rock covered hills that separate the Expressway from Florida Avenue. For those of us on this ride we know those hills will have to be crossed or gone around before we can get back over to Winchester. To the new riders it will be a surprise when we finally turn south.

The whole group stayed together at a comfortable 20 to 23 Mph run to the stop light just before Lakeview. It was about here that things would get interesting. The designated A group was told that if they felt energetic they could ride over Juniper flats while the B group circled around on Nuevo and Menifee. Rocket, Barracuda, Starbuck, Attack cat and Beowulf took off towards Juniper flats and after a quick stop at the service station Duramax, Huntress, T-3, Highlander and I went through Nuevo and over to Menifee. Everyone ran strong all the way to Mapes where we made a turn east heading toward Briggs Road where we spotted the A group pulling up to the stop light at Florida. We got the light green and were soon Rocket and the A group melded in with T-3 and the rest of us.


Things seemed to be going smoothly as we rode through the housing track on Briggs before we got to Grand when I got a call from Attack cat that he had a flat and was fixing it. He said he had a new pump and would be joining us at Chris’s. As we turned onto Grand T-3 decided to lead the pull and took us all the way to Leon giving some of us a chance to recover before the 9th street sprint that takes place after the first rise after Leon. I got one of the best jumps off of the rise I have had in a long time and for a very short while even lead the sprint till Rocket and Beowulf ran me down and not long after Barracuda, Starbuck and Huntress passed me. I had to grab Barracuda’s wheel so as not be completely dropped and we made the turn towards Chris’s together.

I called Attack cat from Chris’s and he said he had the tire fixed and was on his way but after having coffee and an energy bar he still hadn’t arrived. The group started to filter out and head home so I joined Duramax, Highlander, Beowulf and Huntress as they headed for the airport and home. I just made the turn on Stowe when I got a call from Attack cat that he was on Grand/9th Street and he needed to use a CO-2 because his pump didn’t seem to be working as expected. I turned around and met him on 9th as we filled his tire and rode home together. I ended up with 45 miles and finished my last water just as we got onto Stetson. As I said to a good friend earlier, it was a good ride on a good day with good friends. What more can a person ask for?

2/24/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

Whenever you find yourself into outdoor activities on a regular basis the weather becomes an important factor. I am sure the rest of the club I ride with are as interested in the weather reports as I am. I am also sure they were glad when they discovered that the rain that was supposed to get to our area today has been put off till Thursday night and Friday morning. When I got my kit on this morning I will admit I was looking forward to the ride and wondered how many would be joining me. Duramax, Parky and deacon were waiting for me when I pulled up to the Burger King. We made small talk till Power Surge arrived followed by Highlander, T-3, Attack cat, Casey Jones, and Cossack. Things were shaping up into a good sized group.


Not long after the others arrived a new rider joined us for the first time, Ian. He quickly assembled his bike and got ready to join Parky, Rick and Deacon as they headed east today. Hit man and Beowulf arrived next and we all got ready to head for Batista Canyon. We talked on the way down Lyon and made a turn on Thornton as we moved toward the little golf course and Santa Fe. With Cossack and Hit man with us I knew we would split up into two groups sooner or later so asked Beowulf to lead part of the group at the turn on Columbia and I went with the other part going straight on Stetson.


T-3 had taken off with the lead group and when the rest of them made the turn she was far enough ahead of the rest of us that I wasn’t sure we would catch her before we got to Fairview. I had to expend energy I didn’t want to spend to catch her before we got to lake. Soon Power Surge, Highlander, Duramax, T-3 and I were cruising along smoothly as a group as we turned onto Fairview and could see Batista coming up in front of us. All of us worked together till just as we made the turn onto Batista the A group of Cossack, Hit Man, and Beowulf caught us and headed up the canyon as I went back to look for Casey Jones and Attack cat. It was a great day for a ride up the canyon and it stayed that way for the entire 8 miles to the turn around. Cossack had to leave a bit early but the rest of us waited till everyone regrouped for the ride back down the canyon. Once we started down it turned into a Hare and Hound chase almost all the way down the canyon. I got a quick picture of Highlander and Attack cat before we started a series of sprints that lasted for the next seven miles.

The ride down the canyon turned into a three way drafting party between Casey Jones, Beowulf and I. Casey Jones had his 53x11 cranked into over drive as he passed me within the first half mile and it wasn’t long before I found myself drafting off of his back wheel. Beowulf passed on an inside turn and we fell in behind him only to have Casey pull back ahead after going wide on an off camber turn. I got the lead back just before the white wooden fence where it is relatively flat and kept it till the water gully where first Beowulf and then Casey Jones traded leads till we hit the one little hill right were the orange trees start. I caught Casey in the wrong gear and sprinted to the top of the rise and pulled out a bit of a lead but Beowulf was still with me before we got to the hard right turn before the last left and the straight away before Fairview. I sat up to put it in cruise while everyone else caught up only to watch Beowulf and Casey Jones ride by still trading places. In the distance I could see Hit Man and Attack Cat gaining on me but they weren’t close enough to get there before I stopped on Fairview.


The rest of the ride to Carl’s was more or less uneventful. We met up with the C group and some of our club riders coming back from Mountain Center. After some coffee and conversation we all headed home for a restful afternoon. After today’s 38mile ride a restful afternoon was just what I needed.

2/22/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

We weren’t supposed to get a ride in today at all. We were expecting rain and Sunday evening that is just what we got. When I got up this morning you could tell it had rained but the streets were starting to dry up and the temperature was sitting on close to 50 degrees. I decided I should get dressed and fill my water bottle in case it cleared up any before 9am. Fortunately I was ready when Attack cat and Highlander called to conform they would be there for a ride. By 9am I could see some blue sky so I pushed the bike to the street and took off for Burger King.

It was a small group today so I expected it to be an easy ride. Highlander, Tax man, attack cat, John (Casey Jones) left the parking lot heading for Domenigoni at a rather easy pace. Once out onto the expressway we settled into a steady pace line and managed to stay together more or less all the way to Winchester Road. Each person took their turn at the front and I found myself in the pull position right after we passed Leon. I had Hoghlander and Tax man in tow when Attack cat and Casey Jones started the run at Domenigoni saddle. I looked down and noticed my heart rate was well below 75-80 percent and my legs felt good so I took off with them. I may have made the run a bit early because I had maxed out my heart rate about 100 yards from the top of the saddle. Still I managed to get to the top in pretty good time and get a few pictures of the group.


Once everyone was collected at the top of the hill we decided to change the route a bit and make a turn when we got to Bradley before going over to Macall. Due to traffic lights we spread out a bit and I ended up following Attack and then Casey Jones most of the way to Bradley where we made the turn north heading towards Macall. While the weather seemed to be clearing up and getting warmer the wind decided to hit us directly out of the North and it was just our luck we had to ride right into the teeth of that wind. Still it was relatively flat so we made good time all the way to Macall as we headed back east. Once we passed the Freeway Casey Jones took off after a young commuter rider to burn off some excess energy and then slowed down so the rest of us could catch up. Once we did I managed to get to the top of Macall to get some pictures of everyone ascending the hill.


Casey Jones decided to ride on when we got to the top of the hill and ended up waiting till all of us were on our way down before heading across Menifee and turning on Heritage and finally over to Simpson. I took the pull all the way to Leon and we turned North to 9th before making a fast turn onto 9th and finally a sprint towards Winchester Road. It was a bit of a mixed relief turning towards Chris’s. It was nice to stop and get some coffee and visit with each other but it seems like we were all eager to get on with the ride. The wind had come up so we decided to go home down Stow, California and Stetson. For me it was a great 37 mile ride even if I had the new rider, Casey Jones, in front or right behind me for most of the whole ride. If the new riders keep getting stronger like this one I may have to move to the C group.

2/19/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca


What a different day today was from Wednesday. Wednesday we had clear skies and fairly warm weather and today it was cold, gray and overcast. Still it was dry and we were going to get in a ride as long as the weather held up. As we conversed at the parking lot the group got bigger and we even had a new rider, John, join us. Once everyone had arrived I told them the route and we were off.

Everything was pretty normal as we reached Sanderson and headed for Domenigoni until I stopped at the light on Stetson and John pulled up next to me. Maybe I forgot to mention that John was on a Mountain bike with road tires on it. We talked a bit and I warned him that once on Domenigoni the A team might pick it up a bit so I explained how to get to Jack In the box just in case he got dropped. Once we made the turn I wasn’t surprised to see Rocket, Attack cat, Huntress and Cossack pull away in a pace line but I was surprised to see John take off after them. Duramax, Highlander, T-3 and I followed as the B group at maybe 18 to 20 MPH and watched as the rest of the group pulled out of sight.


When we got to the top of Domenigoni saddle John was already there with the waiting A riders. Once he had gone that far he decided to give it a shot and stay with us down to Menifee and over to Scott road. So down the hill we went picking up speed till we came to Menifee and got caught at the stop light. Everyone seemed t be enjoying the ride but I knew Rocket and Cossack had to leave early so I was pretty sure they weren’t going to stop at Jack in the Box. As we approached the little hill on Menifee Rocket and Cossack pulled ahead as the rest of us were left to give chase.

My plan was to turn on Scott road and ride all the way to Murrieta before turning north towards Newport. However we got separated a bit after we left the top of the short hill on Menifee and I fell back to make sure T-3 and Duramax were still behind us. Attack was leading the group as we turned onto Scott and I thought everyone was going to stay on Scott but as I topped the overpass on the freeway I noticed everyone had made a right turn on Haun. I didn’t want to get any further separated from Duramax and T-3 so I stopped at the corner and waited for them. We ended up turning on Haun as well and lost sight of the rest of the group till we reached Holland Road.

We were rejoined by Huntress and Attack cat at the corner and made quick work of the hill on Holland and zoomed around the corner at Murrieta heading for Newport. A short trip back to the freeway and over and we pulled into Jack in the Box where we ne\met up with Deacon, Rick, Highlander, John and Parky.

After we had some coffee and food we all left for the ride home. Once back over the Domenigoni saddle it was a steady pace for Sanderson and home. I ended up with 39.7 miles with good friends and no rain.

2/17/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca


No matter what I was determined that today would be a recovery day. I wanted to get the legs warmed up and ride to get the blood flowing and purge some of the Latic Acid built up from two days of hard riding. I got plenty of sleep had a good breakfast and headed for the group ride.

As I pulled up to Burger King I was greeted by Duramax and Deacon and soon we were joined by Rocket, Rick, Connie, Parky, Attack Cat and Hit man. This would be the last day that Connie would be with us so the C group would be down one rider as she returned to Michigan.


Red Rabbit pulled up to say hello but he was on his 29er so we knew he wasn’t planning in a group ride. T-3 rolled in and surprised me because I didn’t see her coming. One of the last to arrive was Cossack on a brand new Trek Madone 6.9. We all paid our respects to this new steed and were almost blinded by the bike and Cossack’s smile. We decided to ride east towards Carl’s today but first we would head out to the Marina and then over to Cactus Valley. Before we could get out of the parking lot Duramax discovered he had a flat we all watched as he changed it.


We pulled out of the parking lot with all three groups and I am sure everyone noticed it was about as beautiful of a day as we have had all year. Some of us were heading for Sanderson and up to Domenigoni while others were headed for Thornton and then east to Fairview. We split up at Acacia and Rocket lead us to Kirby and worked our way over towards Sanderson. As we turned off of Kirby T-3 and Hit man pulled ahead while Rocket stopped with Cossack to adjust his saddle bag.

As soon as we were on Domenigoni Rocket, Cossack, Hit man and Attack Cat split off and took the lead to the entrance to the marina. Duramax, T-3 and I followed until we made the turn off of Domenigoni. Everyone decided to ride up the hill to the Marina and then back out on the road and over to State Street before heading up to Cactus Valley. Hit man had to leave us so Attack cat took off in the lead and soon Cossack and Rocket gave chase. When T-3, Duramax and I turned onto State we could just see the three other riders in the distance. We all regrouped at the end of the road before starting back to head over to Stetson. It turns out I still had a problem with my Left Crank arm and it started to come loose.

Once we discovered I needed to make repairs I called Quicksticks to see if he was home and had the tool I needed to fix my crank arm and once again we split up as Rocket, Cossack and Attack Cat left us. A quick repair and we were back on the road and headed for Carl’s. The three of us pulled into Carl’s just before Parky, Deacon and Rick had to leave for home. Still we had a good ride and it turned out to be a recovery ride pretty much like I had planned. 32.2 miles with a heart rate under 120is just what I needed to recover.

2/15/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca


When the alarm went off this morning I literally had to roll out of bed. My legs felt tight and I was still tired but I wanted to get in a ride with my friends and I knew I would feel better after breakfast. As I staggered into the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee I looked out of the front window at a beautiful day. I thought it would be a perfect day for a recovery ride.

It was a warm morning and the sun felt good on my legs as I rode over to Burger King. I was running a few minutes late for me so by the time I got there most or the riders were already there. Connie, Rick, Deacon, and Parky were there for group C and Rocket and Hit man and Attack Cat would make a good A group. That left Duramax, Von Richthofen, Tax man and me to make up a B group. That was the plan anyway but plans don’t always work out.


As we moved onto Sanderson true to form Rocket blasted off to a lead followed by Attack Cat with me a few yards behind and Tax man on my back wheel. Much to my surprise I still had some energy left after the Century I did Saturday. While Rocket, Tax Man, Attack cat and Von Richthofen were making all the lights green Duramax and Hit man were catching them red. Once we made the turn onto Domenigoni Rocket, Tax Man, Von Richthofen and Attack started to pull away and I decided to wait for Duramax and Hit man. It wasn’t long before Von Richthofen decided to wait for us as well and soon we were following the lead guys. Tax Man was cruising along pretty well considering he has just returned to the group after being sick for a few weeks. He stayed with the lead guys almost all the way to Winchester.

After we passed Winchester Road the pace picked up a bit as we took turns pulling. Duramax pulled strong till we got passed Leon and we were rolling along at a pretty good clip as we approached the Domenigoni Saddle. When Rocket and Hit man made the charge up the hill I stayed with them and was very surprised at how well my legs were holding up. I was watching my heart rate monitor and once again was surprised that it was doing pretty well also. As we reached the top of the saddle we were all together separated by not more than one bike length.

As we regrouped on top of the saddle Tax Man decided to turn back at Lindenburger and the rest of us headed off towards Newport and the Freeway. I realized that this simply wasn’t going to be a recovery ride as the pace was one of the best ones I have done in a very long time. Shortly after we crossed over the freeway Rocket and Hit man started to pull away again leaving Duramax, Von Richthofen, Attack cat and I to catch up. Rocket slowed down a bit and we more or less regrouped at Murrieta and headed on to LaLandra. As we turned towards the park Hit man decided to leave us because he had an appointment. That left Rocket, Von Richthofen, Duramax , Attack and I to head for Macall

The run up Macall isn’t one of Von Richthofen’s favorite runs and he almost always lets us know it. Still he tends to do just fine on the climb. Once we got started up the hill Rocket took the lead followed by Von Richthofen, Attack Cat, Duramax and me. Von Richthofen made the last light before the Hospital and Attack cat slipped by it when it was pink while Duramax and I got caught at the light. Duramax and I had to work to catch Attack and Von Richthofen before they got to the top of Macall. We all made it down the hill together and worked over to Simpson and the pace was kicked up again. Once Rocket started down Simpson I clued myself to his back wheel like I had a tractor beam and stayed with him all the way back to Leon. We regrouped on Grand/9th street and discovered Parky and Rick heading for Chris’s. We caught Parky at the top of the rise on 9th just as Rocket opened it up a bit to stretch his legs. I went with him as best as I could only notice that Parky wasn’t falling behind nearly as quickly as I had expected. Still we all pulled into Chris’s about the same time. A quick cup of coffee and some toast for me and we were on our way home. I ended up with a quick 39 miles on a beautiful morning with good friends. Rides don’t get much better than this.

2/13/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca
Special edition:


Two years ago if someone would have said I would ride a bicycle for regular exercise I would have said they were silly. If the same people would have suggested that I would be ready or even willing to ride a Century I would have upgraded their position to crazy. But in both cases I would have been wrong and they would have been right. February 13, 2010 would be my third Century and I was looking forwards to it. This year I would be looking forward to riding with about eight or ten friends and hopefully even better weather than we had the year before. I knew I was ready and wanted to beat my riding time from the year before. Some things went according to plan and some things didn’t.

Shortly before the ride was supposed to take place and even before I registered for it my Lapierre had to go back to the manufacturer for what seems to be a small crack in the frame. I was a bit disappointed and considered not riding but I had rebuilt my Jamis and had ridden the Tour De Palm Springs on it the year before. So I signed up and starting adjusting my Jamis for comfort. I just got it dialed in on Friday the 12th. So I felt I was as ready as I was going to be.

Saturday morning some of us carpooled to Palm Springs were we attempted to meet up with everyone at post office just before the start time. That worked pretty well except not everyone knew where the post office was. We were all in contact by phone so our hope was to meet along the road or at one of the SAG stops. What I hadn’t counted on was that they changed the starting procedure of the ride to a staggered start from the main parking lot rather than closing the street and having a mass start. In my opinion that method simply didn’t work. With 9500 registered riders letting one or two hundred riders out onto the street every five to ten minutes was going to take a lot longer than planned

Still once we finally got started we did get most of the people together and headed for White Water. I felt we were making better this year than I had the year before and even on my backup bike I was passing people. I can tell you I passed very few people on my first century the year before. Shortly after we passed over the freeway we had our first flat and Tim was the unlucky rider.

We were still about 9 miles from the first SAG stop and I was mentally reviewing my plan for the ride. I knew I had to drink before I was thirsty and eat before I became hungry. I had both bottles full of energy drink and a back pocket with some energy bars and fruit and nuts. I also knew they would have food and water at each stop so I figured I had everything covered. I soon discovered I still had some things to learn. One was that the next eight miles was a constant and steady grade and two was that I should have eaten a bigger breakfast. I learned the first lesson I learned right away the second came later.

I was moving at a pretty good pace and noticed my heart rate was a bit higher than I wanted for such a long ride so I down shifted in an attempt to bring it back down into the 120 to 130s. It took a long time and soon we were passing the turn that the people doing the half century were taking. Forest fell back a bit to check on me and we rode together till we caught Ginny and Jill just before the Sag Stop. We rested there for a few moments while Forest and Jill got something to eat. We managed to find one of the riders we lost earlier but we got separated from Mark and Scott. Still Grieg and Ginny had a big smile on their faces.


The ride to the next Sag area started out well with a long downhill and those always make Ginny smile. We were moving along at a real good pace by then and I knew I was well ahead of my time from the year before. Then as we started up our next slight grade I noticed my right pedal felt like it was falling off. I checked it and it seemed to be fine but it was hard to apply any power on the right side. When I pulled into the next SAG area I discovered that my right crank arm was loose and I had to find someone with a wrench that would fit it before I could continue on. Once back on the road I spotted Dave coming to our rescue. Once he discovered I was already back on the road he drove back towards the Truck stop and the halfway mark SAG. I rode most of the way to the truck stop with Jill and Forest.


At the Truck stop we were greeted by our number one supporting family when Nicole showed up with her car all decorated with “Go team BSC”. We unloaded anything we didn’t want to carry to the end of the ride and refueled and refreshed ourselves as best we could. As soon as we were all refreshed and had our water bottles filled Nicole took a group picture and we headed out for the next leg of the ride.

The ride to the next SAG stop was one of the easier ones and a quick look at my bike computer told me that while we had stopped a bit longer at each stop my ride time was a bit better than the year before. I was glad I was still with the group on this section because I had missed the next SAG last year and the ride to the last SAG stop had been the hardest part of the ride for me. I had been out of water and food and I was just plain tired so I wanted to be sure to get more fuel before heading out towards the last stop. Here I learned lesson two. Somehow I had lost my small bag of energy bars and fruit and nuts. I didn’t notice it at the stop but I did shortly after we got ready to leave.

Once back on the road we had a pretty easy time riding over to our next turn and heading down Eisenhower. Jill and Ginny took the lead and Dave and I followed a bit behind. I reached back for some snack food only to discover I had misplaced or lost my goody bag and I could feel my energy leaving me. I didn’t help when I discovered I had a slow leak in the front tire. Another unscheduled stop but with the help of my friends and a Palm Springs SAG wagon I was back on the road in just a few minutes. I was still pretty tired but with a tire full of air it was a bit easier to ride and I continued on to the last SAG stop.

At the last SAG stop I ate a Banana, Orange and some trail mix that give me a bit more energy and we took off for the last ten mile stretch to the finish. Once we crossed the finish line I felt relieved to realize that I finished my third century and I did it with an average ride time of 16 MPH. Last year my average was 13.5 so I can say I must have improved.

We all got together and shook hands and hugged each and congratulated each other on a great ride. A bit later on several of us met for dinner in Palm Springs and I can’t remember ever being more relieved to get food and something to drink in me. It was a good ride, with good friends and just about perfect weather. And after dined we noticed that people were still finishing as we drove by the start finish. I can only hope they rethink the staggered start idea for next year.

The people in the group picture from Left to right are Forest, Jill, Tim, Ginny, Me, Ben, Grieg, Sigried, and Dave. Thanks to Nicole and the kids for the cheering and support.

2/12/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

Sometimes we have plans for a ride and sometimes we even follow those plans. Today I had a plan for the ride. My plan was for us to take an easy ride west, grab some coffee at Chris’s. The group was a bit smaller than usual when we all got started. Parky had Rick and Connie with him and my group included Rocket, Hit man, Beowulf and Powersurge.

We started off down Kirby and made it to Cottonwood according to plan. It looked like Rocket would pull us along at a recovery ride pace that I thought would be perfect before the big ride we had planned for Saturday in Palm Springs.


As we rode through the housing track just west of Warren road it started to warm up and that always feels better. Beowulf and Powersurge were just cruising along as we got ready to head out onto Warren Road and I still had enough energy to get in front and take a few pictures. These kinds of rides are always interesting for me because all of the riders I was with seem stronger than I am and that makes me try harder. The bad part of riding with riders stronger than you is that a relaxing ride for them is a workout for me.

The real test of how recovery this ride was going to be would come as we started down Ramona Expressway towards Lakeview and Nuevo. Just as I expected we started to pick up the pace a bit and fortunately for me we accelerated at a slow pace so I was able to hang on and even pull for a while. I did make a mistake as I dropped off of the pull and fell back into line because I fell into line in front of Powersurge rather than fall all the way to the pack. Once I realized my error I pulled back out of line and let Powersurge back in front of me but by then I lost the draft and fell behind just before Lakeview.

I tried to redeem myself on the pull to Nuevo road and made a pretty good effort almost all the way up the road. Once we turned on Nuevo is is pretty much downhill towards Menifee. We made the turn onto Menifee Rocker, Beuwulf and Hit man started a run right after the stop sign. For some reason Powersurge fell off of the back. I discovered he had been riding for at least an hour before he stopped by to ride with us so I will chalk it up to him being a bit tired. I got in front of him and pulled him back up to Mapes as we made the turn east. Before we made the right turn towards the High School Powersurge left us for home and now I was left with three of our stronger riders. I knew there was only one big challenge left and that would be the sprint on Grand/9th Street. True to form Rocket took off on the sprint and I tried to hold on. All in all I had to be happy with my ride. We got in about 37 miles and at a bit faster pace than I had planned but all in all it was a good ride. I was worried that I would be a bit sore for Saturday but I still had a smile on my face at Chris’s.

2/10/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

To be honest I went to bed last night thinking that there wouldn’t be a ride today. The weather man said we were in for rain and Tuesday it rained pretty hard. When I got up to look outside this morning the sky looked pretty good and the road seemed to be drying up. I made some coffee and watched a little news and decided to get dressed and head out for a ride. I was sure Huntress would be up for a ride but I wasn’t sure about anyone else. It ended up being Huntress, Bounty Hunter, T-3, Rocket and I in one group and Parky and Connie in the other. It was cold and the streets were still a bit damp so it seemed like a good day for a short ride east.


A quick jump down Latham to Lyon and we were on our way to Ramona. I talked casually with Huntress as we tried to warm up in the cool morning air. The plan for the day was to make a easy run up to Ramona and then over to State and back up again to Soboba. As we rode we speculated that Soboba might not even be open with the amount of rain we had the night before. Some of us even discussed the century ride in Palm Springs this coming weekend. One obvious thing I have noticed about those of us that have been riding so much in the last year or so is how well we know our machines. Bounty Hunter had to make a head set adjustment first thing this morning. Rocket had to stop and check his front wheel because it didn’t feel just right. I had to move my saddle about a ½ inch forward to get my position just right. We may be a group of social riders but we are cyclists at heart.

After turning onto State Street Rocket started to pick up the pace a bit and Bounty Hunter went with him. Huntress, T-3 and I followed about 50 yards behind and stayed that way as we turned onto Soboba road. As we topped the first two little hills Huntress zeroed in on Bounty Hunter and I fell in on her back wheel at let her pull me up. We tagged on to Bounty Hunter and Huntress, T-3 and I stayed with him till I managed to pull out and head for the last little hill at Golf course. I thought I had made a clean break putting myself about halfway between the group and Rocket.

I was running along at a pretty good pace and my legs were just starting to warm up. It seems like the cold weather takes its toll on me because I can’t seem to get my legs loose until I have in about 10 miles in the winter. As I was thinking about these things to myself I noticed Rocket was starting up the last little hill at the golf course. I decided to pick up my pace a bit and planned on hitting the hill a bit harder than normal. I made good run on the hill and didn’t slow down till I reached the last sign just before you crest the hill. When I sat up I saw a rider closing on me. It turned out to be Huntress living up to her name. I was just lucky she didn’t have another 200 yards or she might have run me down.

Rocket and Bounty Hunter left us when we made the turn off of Ramona towards Fairview leaving me with T-3 and Huntress. Even though we had been told that the road to the Ranger station might be closed we decided to give it a try and when we got to the road closed sign they allowed us through telling us that we would not be allowed passed the big sink hole, road washout about two miles from the sign. Once we got passed the Pepper trees Huntress chased me all the way to the Ranger Station driveway where we regrouped and turned back towards Carl’s. After some coffee and conversation T-3 and I headed back towards the western side of town and home. I had just over 30 miles on the computer by the time I got home. But I can assure the hot shower felt very good after the chill of the morning.