4/06/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca

I don’t know about the rest of my friends but I am disappointed when I miss one of our weekday rides. I had planned on riding Monday and was all dressed and just finished my coffee when my wife asked if I was going to use the car. I said no I was going riding and she laughed and pointed out that it was raining. It hadn’t been raining when I got up so I was surprised to see the sidewalks were wet.

The only cure for missing a ride day in my opinion if a replacement ride so I posted an invitation to everyone to see if they wanted to ride today. I knew it was short notice but I thought I would put it out there. Well Sidewinder and Hitman took me up on it so we decided to ride to Beaumont through Lamb’s canyon to have coffee and then ride back. At 9am we were at Burger King and all ready to go


We chatted away like long lost relatives all the way up Lyon to Ramona and even though it was a bit cool the day was beautiful. Sidewinder was determined to practice his group riding skills even if it is a bit like holding back a young puppy when you try to hold him to a casual pace. He did very well today and I knew he would get a workout climbing Lambs canyon. I could tell he was eager as we got to Sanderson but I wondered how eager he would be when we made the turn off of Ramona. We wouldn’t have long to wait because we were cruising along at a pretty good pace.

Hitman and I discussed how long it had been since he last climbed the hill to Beaumont and he admitted it had been years. I told him it wasn’t as bad as I had originally thought it would be but still I knew the first grade could be a struggle it I didn’t pace myself. At least it was a cool day so I knew I wouldn’t overheat riding up the hill and I always look forward to the ride back down as a reward for all the hard work of climbing in the first place. As we rode up Sanderson and crossed the bridge just before Gilman we all got a good look at the road we would be going up.

By the time we passed Gilman I had dropped into my little ring and attempted to find a gear I could spin all the way to the top of the first grade. Hitman didn’t need to look for a spinning gear and he started to pull away from me and a pretty good clip. Shortly thereafter Sidewinder took off after him and I contented myself with a steady more sedate pace hoping to save what little leg energy I had for the second climb. The first climb always gets in my head and makes me think it is worse than it is and I seem to always fall for it. But eventually I made it over the top and I started shifting up as I headed towards the dumb road. Hit man and Sidewinder waited at the light for me and we continued on towards the second climb. It wasn’t a complete replay of the first hill but I was still well behind as I watched Sidewinder crest the hill quite a distance in front of me.

After having coffee at Taco Bell we walked across the street rather than fight traffic with a left turn and headed for home. Once we crested the little hill in front of the Jack in the box parking lot it was a top speed run for the return trip to the dump road. Hitman decided that he wasn’t interested in riding flat out for the next 3 or 4 miles so Sidewinder and I pulled away until we finally reached a cruising speed that made our eyes water. Sidewinder tried to pass me on the last decent but the superiority of the pear shape I possess soon proved it could dominate the yardstick shape of Sidewinder and I took the lead back. We continued down Sanderson and regrouped on Ramona and cruised down Lyon heading for home. It wasn’t a long ride but I still got in 30 good miles with two good friends. It was a good replacement ride.