3/31/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

As the old saying goes, “what a difference a day makes.” I got up this morning and it was warmer than Monday morning but when I opened the blinds it was overcast with very little blue sky. It reminded me of the commercial where the sun gets to work late because it didn’t have a good breakfast. At least my base layers were clean as were most of my jerseys and bibs. I managed to have breakfast and get my things together and head out of the door pretty close to 8:30. But I went right back in and got my riding vest before heading over to the meeting place.

As usual Duramax was waiting for me and we had a few minutes to discuss the weather that seemed to be warming up and the planned ride for the day. Soon everyone else started to arrive and I was very pleased to see some of our new and returning riders would be with us. I was also pleased to see our A group was getting bigger in preparation for the warmer weather. As we left the parking lot there was 10 of us heading for the Hemet Airport. We should have had 11 riders but Red Rabbit decided to get a head start on us and more than likely was on Kirby before we even got to Acacia. When we turned off of Kirby we were still pretty well all in one group. Bounty Hunter was cruising along beside Cossack and Highlander was talking to Huntress, T-3 and one of our new riders Darin, (P-38) followed by Duramax.

It just may be that our ride over to Johnson is most often our most relaxed time of the ride. Because it seems that once we get to Sanderson heading west things start to sort themselves out. Slowly but surely the group moves into a line and slowly but surely the pace starts to pick up. There was a small difference this time however because we didn’t even get over to Sanderson when the wind started to pick up. I got a strange and creepy feeling that some of the riders were looking at me as if I had something to do with the wind. In fact I almost thought I heard some grumbling.

By the time we got to the airport we knew we would be fighting the wind most of the day. Once out on Stetson we had to get back in single file until we passed Warren where we spread out again until we got to California where we turned south and directly into the wind. Now the group started to splinter and Rocket, Cossack, Attack cat, Full throttle, GT-40 and P-38 saw Red Rabbit in the distance and decided to give chase. The rest of our group closed with Red Rabbit shortly after the first group passed him and we all regrouped at Stowe and Winchester road. Once we were all back together we rapidly headed down Winchester to 9th and then west again. When we get spread out as much as we did on 9th there is always a chance that some of the group will make a wrong turn and that is just what happened with the lead group as they made a wrong turn on Leon and had to back track to catch the rest of us on Briggs. Two riders that look like they will be part of the Summer A group are GT-40 and Full Throttle. Both of them chased Rocket and Cossack every where they went.


By the time we all made it to Mapes and then back down Menifee to Florida we regrouped once more to discuss the route. The wind had been taking its toll and we still had to climb the back side of Macall into the wind before working our way to Jack in the Box. Taking a head count I seemed to be missing two riders but I was pretty sure everyone knew where we were stopping for coffee so we took off heading for Macall and the short climb to the top.

Once over the top of Macall I got a pretty good run down to the freeway and caught all the light just right so I was at Bradley first where I caught the light and everyone pulled up next to me. I realized at that point I was missing Attack cat and P-38 but I was told they had gone ahead when the rest of the group had waited for T-3, Duramax and me at Florida. So we continued on to Newport and then over to the Jack in the box. After a short wait Attack cat and P-38 showed up and before long a few of the group headed for home with Rocket while some of us finished our coffee.

I ended up riding home with Highlander, Duramax, T-3, Huntress and Bounty Hunter. We didn’t have to fight a direct head wind but it seems like whenever you ride passed Diamond Valley Lake on Domenigoni the wind at least hits you in the front quarter. We got back to Sanderson and split up as we each headed for our own homes. I ended up with 38 miles and a great workout. It may have been windy and we may have suffered but we all suffered together and friends make the suffering just a little bit easier to take.