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.