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

Hemet, Ca.

I didn’t know just what to expect when I got up this morning. I was pretty sure the weather would be good and I could hope it wouldn’t be windy but you never knew till you actually went outside. Today looking outside was very encouraging. In fact it was close to perfect. For some reason I was up early so I had plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast and change into riding kit. I fact I was fully ready to go by 6:30am so I had an hour to kill before leaving the house. I have discovered the chance to ride with a few good friends is one of the highlights of my week.


Somehow I got to the parking lot first and for a minute I thought maybe I had the wrong day. Soon however I was pleased to see Duramax pulling up and not long afterwards Rocket pulled up. About that time Sherpa called to say he would meet us on our way out to Domenigoni and he would have a new rider with him. I always look forward to new riders. By the time 8am rolled around we had twelve riders ready to go and would be picking up 2 more. Not bad for a Wednesday.

I didn’t notice that Red Rabbit was out in front of us until I saw him turning onto Kirby and I had planned to try and catch him till we lost Quicksticks at the light on Kirby. Seems he pulled a Hamstring and was feeling a bit sore today. I didn’t think it would be a big problem because even sore he is a pretty good rider so I wasn’t too worried as he caught up to us. We turned onto Cypress I realized we also had Raptor way out in front of us so we would have to chase him down as well. It didn’t matter because everyone seemed to be riding well and relaxed.

After we turned onto Johnson we picked up Sherpa and his friend Bob and then caught Red Rabbit at the light on Sanderson. We spread out into a line as we rode passed the High School and made the turn onto Domenigoni and started the run towards Warren Road. As has become his habit Attack cat pulled out of the line and took off by himself. Still Rocket and Cossack made the Domenigon saddle first. For a ride with as much climbing as we had we were all running pretty strong. I started up the hill at Goetz and was cruising along at one of my better paces when Hit man jumped passed me to try and run down the leaders. Sherpa was pushing himself and I couldn’t catch him either. Some of us waited at the top of Goetz and regrouped then it was a quick trip down the back side and over to Murrieta and finally heading to McCall. For the first time I managed to stay with Sherpa all the way to the top of the Hill.
Next it was down McCall and through the housing tract and a fast run down Sempson to Leon. It felt like I had been doing intervals for the last 45 minutes and I was pretty tired as we pulled onto Leon. Normally we regroup on Leon but this time only about 1/3 of the group got together and turned onto the dump road. We went into a sprint and it was pretty close till Rocket started to pull away for the rest of us. I thought he was going to fade into the sunset but soon he back off and Attack Cat pulled up to him. I thought it was over and then out of nowhere Hit Man blasted passed all of us heading for Winchester. Next stop was Chris’s for some coffee and fellowship. It was good to see that Bob stayed with us for the whole ride. I think he would make a good addition to our little group.

We sat around and talked for a while and then everyone seemed to get restless and we knew it was about time to go. Sherpa and Bob would be going down Domenigoni along with Parky while the rest of us headed for Stowe and east towards the Hemet Airport. Towards the end of the ride it was down to Duramax, Surgeon, Huntress and I as we pulled through the Lowes parking lot and down Acacia and home. I ended up with just over 44 miles and I have to admit it was a great ride. I pushed myself a bit more than I had planned and I was tired but it was a good tired and I did enjoy being with good friends.