3/19/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

Several year ago there was a movie Groundhog Day. The basic concept was that the main character was trapped in a loop that made him relive the same day over and over. In the movie this was a bad thing even if it was done in humor. When I looked out at the sky while drinking my coffee this morning it looked pretty much as it did Wednesday, perfect and that wasn’t a bad thing. Even if I had planned a easy ride for Friday I couldn’t have asked for better weather.

Once everyone was assembled and a head count was taken we told the C group that we would meet them at Carl’s on the east end of town and eleven of us started off down Gilmore towards Acacia on a ride I had named Flat Friday 38 because it was supposed to describe and easy ride with no noticeable hills of about 38 miles. The only caveat I would add to the easy ride idea was that sometimes these flat rides can be a bit faster than some would like but if people didn’t want to ride a fast pace they could stay back with the B group. The only problem I could see with my plan was that the whole group looked like they were ready to run with the A group and I was still tired from riding Thursday. Still we were riding a relaxed pace as we turned off of Kirby onto Cypress I looked to Rocket to lead the A group and I would stay with the B group if and when we started to split up.



Today we were joined by two strong female riders with T-3 who has been improving every week and Aldona who was visiting us from Back east, Massachusetts I believe, on her beautiful Trek TT bike. I was constantly looking over my shoulder to see if they were gaining on me. This was the second time Aldona had joined us and we always enjoy having her visit when she is in the area. It was nice it was such a beautiful day for her to be out here because I know it is hard to get much riding in when winter hits in her home area. T-3 has been training between group rides to get both stronger and to improve her riding technique. Whenever I looked to see where these two riders were I almost always found them right in the middle of the pack.

We turned onto Stetson heading west after the airport and the pace started to pick up. But no sooner had we passed Warren Road when Quicksticks got a flat. We decided to wait for him at the corner of Stetson and California. Highlander took the time to explain to another new rider named Jake, now called Sidewinder, who we considered the A group riders. Sidewinder wanted to know because he had every intention of chasing the A group if and when they split off. With his energy and natural ability he should have no problem becoming a pledge for the A group anytime he wants. Once the group was all together we took off again and turned on Stowe where Rocket and Beowulf stretched his their legs and pulled away from us until Hit man passed hoping to make a stop at Chris’s before trying to catch us after we returned from Domenigoni and Leon. But just as we made the U turn at Leon Quicksticks had a second flat. Fortunately Aldona had a tube with a 60MM stem that would work with his wheels. The whole group stopped to watch Quicksticks fix his tire and kibitz as best we could. Highlander took the time to instruct Sidewinder on drafting.


Hit man had caught us when we stopped for the flat and seemed to be a bit antsy so he took Attack cat and T-3 and headed down Domenigoni while the rest of us waited for Quicksticks. Once everything was back together we started back east on Domenigoni with Rocket leading the way at what seemed like an ever increasing pace all the way to Winchester Road. By the time we got to Winchester only Beowulf and I were hanging on. Everyone caught us at the light and we took off all together again. Soon Beowulf pulled in front and set a pretty fast pace all the way to just before we got to the overpass at Patton just before Warren. I pulled out of the draft and made a run for t over pass but Rocket must have fired his retrorockets and the caught me before I could crest the rise. Sidewinder wasn’t far behind and shortly after I sat up Beowulf pulled the rest of the group up to and passed me.


The group reassembled at Sanderson but we got split up again before we got to State. Somehow Beowulf disappeared and we lost Highlander. Turns out they had turned towards the marina and didn’t rejoin us till we got to Thornton. We lost Quicksticks at Thornton and Buena Vista to another flat so Rocket flew wingman and escorted him the two blocks to his house.

We started running out of time so we headed straight down Stetson and made the turn on Lake rather than going all the way to Fairview. That decision caused us to lose Duramax who ended up going to the Ranger Station without us and finally we were joined by Highlander after we got to Carl’s.

Hit man took Beowulf, Aldona, and Attack Cat to ride back down Soboba while the rest of us stopped for coffee to finally be joined by Casey Jones who had left us earlier to repair a broken saddle rail. Finally several of us rode back to Park and back towards Burger King to complete a good ride even if it didn’t go just like a planned. Maybe I should rethink the name “Flat Friday” we had more flats in our 34 miles than anyone wanted.