5/12/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca.
When I got up this morning it looked like summer was about to get here. It was clear but not cold and the sky was blue with just a smattering of white fluffy clouds. I would be using a base layer but it didn’t seem like arm or leg warmers would be necessary. Other than my legs being a bit tight I thought it would be a good day for a ride. I got dressed slathered on some sun screen and rolled out of my front door heading for Burger King. When I got there everyone looked ready to ride, even Parky.


Everyone was talking as it hit 8am and I explained where we were going. Cossack informed us that Scott road had some construction work going on so we modified our ride on the spot and cut out the planned section on Scott. As we pulled onto Gilmore and came to the stop light at Florida I tried to pass that information to the rest of the group. Most of them shook their head as if acknowledging my words. Then light changed and I sprinted ahead to get a picture only to see a group of very determined riders pulling up to me. That look told me this was going to be a very spirited ride.

We caught up to Red Rabbit by the time we got to Kirby and I noticed that Parky was right with us. I really didn’t know how long he was planning to hang with us but it is always good to see him rolling along at such a good clip. Looking over my shoulder I noticed some of the men that had been such a great influence in my riding. Sherpa who was sure I could ride a Century before I was, Rocket who pointed me in the right direction when it came to bicycle choices, Duramax who taught me that a clean machine is a happy machine and Cossack who showed me how quickly someone could become a powerful rider. I have to admit this is a good group to be able to ride with.

The run down Sanderson was a bit quicker than usual and somehow I managed to turn onto Domenigoni first. I ended up pulling for about ¼ mile before giving the lead to Sherpa and from that point forward we ran a pace line all the way to Winchester Road. The pace was a bit faster than I expected but we were still all in one line as we got to Leon and once again Sherpa was pulling when I noticed Cossack moving towards the front. I was in the back following Rocket when he pulled out of line and started to close on Cossack. I didn’t intend to challenge those two riders on the Domenigoni saddle but sometimes you just can’t help yourself. The three of us stopped at the top of the saddle to catch our breath but the rest of the group was only moments behind us so we were off towards LaLadera and a quick stop at the park. We hooked up with Oso Rojo on Newport and collected Raptor on LaLadera. We didn’t wait long before we were back on our way and headed passed the ground Owls towards McCall. No one was loafing as we moved down Honeycutt as the whole group slipped smoothly passed me and started to drift away as we turned north.

Duramax and I got caught at the last light going up McCall and had to watch as the rest of the group pulled away from us. We regrouped at the top of the hill and headed down the back side for the final run to Chris’s. Some of the group had to continue on but a few of us stopped for coffee and fellowship before heading home passed the Hemet Airport. It was just over 40 miles but it was a good 40 miles and you couldn’t ask for a better day.