2/05/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

Special report, Racing the rain.

Looking out on the street first thing in the morning I was surprised to see the streets were dry even if it was a bit overcast. I had breakfast and got dressed and I could see a few sucker holes in the clouds so I figured we should give it a try. I headed out with mid weight base layers, balaclava and full fingered gloves. To tell the truth I had no idea if anyone would be at the meeting place when I got there but I was prepared to get in at least a short ride before the weekend


Duramax and Deacon were waiting for me as usual and I was very glad to see them. Accack cat was unloading his Cannondale and Raptor pulled in just a bit early. Beowulf pulled up just before I saw Highlander and T-3 coming across the parking lot. It was so good to see her back with us. It looked like a pretty good showing for a day that promised rain. But this was a group that seemed to want to get in one last ride before the week was over and we were willing to race the clouds to get it in.

The plan was to run out passed the airport and onto Stetson then west to Winchester. Everyone seemed to be riding easy and it was good to see T-3 staying with the group as we closed in on Johnson. The ride was cool but not too cold and we all stayed in line pretty much till we turned onto California where Beowulf and Attack cat pulled away only to have to wait for us to get to Winchester road and regroup.

Once we got to Winchester it was time to turn towards Domenigoni and head back towards State Street. Beowulf and Attack took turns pulling the group as we kept a pretty steady pace line. Just before Warren Road Beowulf took off on a sprint and I attempted to go with him. I still am getting used to the difference in how my Jamis responds to a sprint so I was glad I could at least stay close as he pulled up over the hill. Attack cat pulled passed us and we followed him all the way to Warren road where we turned to ride by some of the horse ranches. As we came back onto Domenigoni we once again regrouped.

We ended up following Attack cat most of the way back to State Street and we made the turn towards McSweeney. Once around the housing track and we were heading back towards Domenigoni where Highlander left us. As we headed for Stetson T-3 and I fell back but we managed to find the rest of the group waiting for us as we turned on Thornton. T-3 tried to lull me into a false sense of security by telling me I could go on ahead of her because she didn’t want to slow me down. I knew the truth however that she simply wanted me to go out and run myself into the ground trying to catch Attack cat, Beowulf and Dyramax. I wasn’t falling for it because I saw the sly smile on her face.

We seemed to be beating the rain as we turned back onto Stetson at Lake and Attack cat decided to stretch his legs and pull away from us. Thank goodness he had to make an unscheduled stop before we got to Fairview. We were all running together behind Attack cat when once again Beowulf went into a sprint. This time I went with him and was surprised what a good person he was to draft. As we crossed over the culvert before Mayberry we were hitting 30 MPH. Yes I am as surprised as you are but maybe I am getting used to the Jamis?

Anyway we got back to Carl’s just before it started to rain a bit. Some of us stopped for coffee while others made a run for home. But the time we finished our coffee the rain had stopped and Duramax, T-3 and I rode home. In our case we just beat the rain. It turned out to be a pretty good ride for a day we didn’t think we would even get out on. My bike computer had 37 miles on it by the time I got home.