10/29/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)



There is a reason it is nice to live and cycle in California and today was one of those reasons. It was a beautiful morning when I got up and went out to get the paper and it would get better as the morning moved along.

I pulled into the parking lot at Burger King and waited as 13 other riders showed up for one of our longer Friday rides. We decided right up front to break into two groups to make the ride more enjoyable for everyone. Dura-max offered to take the B group on the Laladera circuit and Gambler and Rocket would take the A group all the way to Elsinore and back. We all left together heading down Gilmore to work our way over to Kirby.


Both groups were shuffled together as we moved west on Acacia and pulled up to the light at Kirby. One of the great parts about our little group is we are very social and everyone is interested in what the other have been up to since the last time we have talked. Today we had just a little more catching to do with returning riders we hadn’t seen as much of. Highlander was back with us as was Wart and Centaur and even Benjamin, (Jack Rabbit) after a brief sabbatical.

Wart was planning on only going part way with the group so I didn’t expect him to try and stay with the pace line after it formed on Domenigoni. But the rest of the group held together rather well as we turned west off of Sanderson and made our run. I started a pull right after Warren and held on till right after the little overpass at the river crossing. When I pulled out of line everyone passed me and I found myself at the tail of a 13 rider pace line. We were still together in one big group but I knew it wouldn’t be long till we broke into two.

Sure enough as we got closer to Winchester the pace picked up and by the time Jack Rabbit was pulling we were moving along at about 24 or 25 MPH. It was about here that Dura-max would take over leading his group and the rest of us would have to commit to whatever group we were going to ride with. I could see the front three or four starting to pull away and soon I would have to make an attempt to close the gap or be completely dropped before we got to the Domenigoni saddle. After Winchester Jack Rabbit, Gambler, Centaur, Rocket, Huntress, Wolf, Surgeon and I were in the lead group and Dura-max, Sea Lion, Ruby Tuesday, T-3 and Highlander were following.

I never got close to Rocket and Gambler because in my case I can only close the gap two or three time in a day and I was all out of matches by the time we crested Domenigoni saddle. It didn’t take long for all of us to regroup and take off once again. The lead group left first and set a pretty fast pace through Sun City and passing Murrieta a lot faster than I expected. We did spread out a bit as we entered Railroad Canyon but we were all within sight of each other as we crested the first hill and within 50 yards of each other as we closed in on the freeway just before Mickey Ds in Elsinore. Dura-max took the other group over to McCall before working their way back home.
We didn’t stay very long as it seemed like everyone one more nervous energy that I have seen in some time. Even I felt pretty good considering I had enough Benadryl in me trying to counter Wednesday’s dirt and wind to make me want to take a nap whenever I sat down. As we got ready to take off were had to loosen up a little bit after even that brief stop. Soon however we were back in stride and still rolling along much faster than average. Wolf, Jack Rabbit and I pulled over to wait for Huntress at the top of Railroad Canyon because she had to stop and take a phone call. Once she caught up we latterly hammered the rest of the canyon and our speed slowly increased as started back down the last hill towards Murrieta Road. Huntress passed me and started to pull away while Jack Rabbit, Wolf and I worked together to recover from the climb.


The three of us caught every single light red as we watched Huntress slowly disappear in the east. I could just barely see her as we got back to the freeway and I couldn’t see her at all as we got back to the Domenigoni saddle. I figured I would have to hit it hard if I wanted to catch her before she got back to her truck so I took off on one of the harder runs I have made in the last year. I took the saddle in full spin and continued spinning and pushing myself as I headed for Winchester. My average speed was better than it had ever been and my legs and lungs seemed to be holding up. I knew however I would not be able to catch her if I hit one more red light or if I let up even for 50 yards because she had the hammer down. By Winchester I could just see her, by Warren I could tell what color her jersey was and thank goodness she didn’t get the light at Sanderson green. We crossed Stetson together and she backed down to give me a break as we returned to Burger King.

What can I say but it was a great day, great friends, great ride and we now have two great groups to ride with. Even when things are good they seem to be able to get better.