6/11/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Hemet, Ca.

It was another overcast day and a bit cooler than I thought it was going to be when I looked at the weather report the day before. I debated if I should put on leg and arm warmers but decided against it considering that Wednesday it had cleared up before we got home from our ride. So I decided a jersey and bibs were all I needed as I waited for Sidewinder to stop by so we could ride to Burger King together.



We got there just as Duramax was pulling up and we parked our bikes and watched as everyone else started to arrive. The Phoenix and Centaur pulled up together and Rocket was right behind them. Next Ocelot, Gambler and Brian pulled up. Lastly we were joined by a new rider Ellie giving us the whole group for the days ride.

Because it was a Friday the ride was supposed to be a short easy ride. I did mention to the A group that they could make it more interesting if they decided to run up to the marina while the B group continued on to State Street. I didn’t know if that is what they had planned but I knew Sidewinder and Rocket, Centaur, Gambler and Brian would be at the very least tempted.


Right at 8 am we headed down Gilmore to Acacia and scampered over to Kirby. At least at this point we were all in one group. We were still just cruising and talking as we came up to the turn at Cypress and started towards Johnston. Looking up the street I noticed Casey Jones was riding towards us. We hadn’t seen Casey in a while and I had wondered where he had been. He explained he had been lazy but what he didn’t realize was he had left the house without his helmet. About a nano second later he realized his mistake and took off to go back home.


I didn’t know if he was going to be able to catch up with us but we continued on till we made the turn at Sanderson and suddenly the group started to change formation and the A riders moved towards the front. Soon five of them were pulling away from the rest of us and I was pretty sure they were going to try and make the Marina and then catch us before we could get to Cactus Valley. Soon they were two lights ahead of us but once we got to Domenigoni we started to move in a pace line and held a steady 18 MPH all the way to State and didn’t slow all that much as we headed for the turn onto Cactus Valley.


As I climbed the first little hill passed Sage the Phoenix, Duramax, Ocelot and Ellie were behind me quite a distance but once I got to the top I could see Ellie had closed ground. At the rate she was moving it looked like she would easily run me down before I could get to the end of the canyon. I managed to get to the end of the road just before she did. Looking back after I stopped I noticed Ocelot and Duramax weren’t far behind either.


A few minutes later we noticed a cyclist coming over the rise and from the color of the jersey my guess was it was Rocket. He must have really pushed it to get to us as quickly as he did. The next one over the rise was Sidewinder then Centaur and finally Gambler. We all decided to take a short break before heading back down Cactus Valley. The overcast still hadn’t burned off and we weren’t getting any warmer so we decided it was time to get back down State so we could head over to Fairview and finally Carl’s.

Once we started back towards State Sidewinder took the lead and rocket and I had to chase him all the way around the curve. We got into a sprint as we headed towards McSweeney which Rocket won. However the rest of the group weren’t all that far behind and Brian had left us earlier because of his work schedule. We made quick work of State Street and Rocket left us at Chambers. I followed Gambler and Sidewinder as we rode passed the golf course and finally onto Stetson. We made the same quick work of Stetson and turned onto Columbia and followed Crest all the away to Lake Street. The Phoenix and Ellie we riding easily and having no problem keeping pace with those of us who were left.

We came back onto Stetson and headed for Fairview were we once again regrouped and headed for Florida. When we got back to Ramona and Florida Gambler left us and seven of us stopped for coffee at Carl’s. After a short stop and some coffee and an energy bar we split once again with Duramax and Ocelot getting in some extra miles by heading back to the Ranger Station on Florida and Ellie, Phoenix, Sidewinder, Centaur and I headed back towards Burger King and home.

Sidewinder left us when we got back to State Street and the rest of us continued on till the Phoenix and Centaur left at Lyon. I stayed with Ellie till we got back to Gilmore and she headed one way and I went the other. I had to get home to get lunch and then go out to pick up some bike parts and new bar tape. All in all I had a bit more the 33 miles on my computer when I got home and the easy ride I had planned on. It simply proves that we are lucky to live where we do and that we have the people to ride with that we do.