6/04/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca.


Friday rides are designed to be fun and easy but sometimes those two terms don’t go together. Today’s ride was defiantly going to be fun but it would be up to the riders to determine how easy it would be.

Looking out of my front window this morning I could see it was going to be a great day, beautiful clear sky and almost no wind. All it would take to make it a great ride was for a good sized group to show up. When I got to the parking lot two riders were already unloading their bike from their truck. I managed to get my bike parked just before three more riders arrived. By the time the clock struck 8am we had 14 people were ready to ride. We took off down Latham with Duramax, T-3 and Ocelot in the lead and headed towards State before turning north towards Ramona expressway.


Not far behind followed the fast group with Rick, Rocket, Full throttle, Bandit and one of his friends. At this point we were traveling along at a comfortable pace and still talking to each other and catching up on what everyone had been up to for the last few days. We rolled up to State Street and were waved through by some motorists. Once we made it to Devonshire I got a chance to get in front and lead the group as we headed towards Ramona.

I started out feeling just a bit lethargic when we first left the parking lot but as we rode along I was beginning to feel a bit better. By the time we passed Seventh we were rolling along at about 18 MPH and no one was falling behind. Somewhere along here I lost my helmet mirror so I couldn’t see who or how many people were behind me so when I sat up to look around I saw what looked for all the world like a posse giving chase to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid. I knew once we got onto Ramona things were going to get even quicker so this was stacking up to be a ride that had a lot for both the A and B groups

Much as I had thought the pace picked up as we rode west on Ramona and shortly after I fell off of the pull after Warren Road the A group started their run. The B group was holding a moderate pace of about 20 MPH and the A group was pulling away at least 4 MPH faster. For some in the B group this would be the first trip to Lake Parris and there was some trepidation over the little hills in front of the Lake on Ramona passed Lakeview and the West entrance to the lake. There was no reason to fear however because everyone did just fine and we all took a break at the Lake Perris Marina.

Like I said before you couldn’t have asked for weather much better than what we had. We talked easily as we got ready to start for home with a ride around the bike path before getting back onto Ramona. Once bake on the bikes we turned east and enjoyed the coolness from the trees and watched as the small wildlife ran along the side of the road next to us or even across the road in front of us. I happened to be about in the middle of the path and looking in front of me I could see a whole group of riders that seemed far better cyclists than me.

To tell the truth the cyclists behind me looked like they were in better shape than I am so I feel lucky just to ride with this group. What impressed me was how beautiful the day was and how friendly our group can be. We are more than a club that is organized to cycle we seem more like a group of friends that happen to like to cycle so we decided to do it as a group.

I didn’t have much time to dwell on these thoughts as the ride picked up speed while going around the lake. I got in on Rocket’s back wheel and held on like a trailer to a truck. I followed everyone out of the east gate where we regrouped and then took off for home. I stayed with the lead pack till we got back to Lakeview and then dropped out to regroup with the B group. Once we started down Ramona together we settled into a easy 18 MPH and held that almost all the way back to Burger King. We all stopped for a cold drink at Burger King where we got a chance to talk with Rick for a few minutes before heading for home. It was a great 45 miles for me and one I hope everyone enjoyed as much as I did.