12/15/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


I will have to admit I was pretty surprised to see overcast skies and even received a call from one of our riders on the west end saying the street was wet. It didn’t matter much to me because my street was dry and my hope was that the weather would lift before we got too far along on the ride. But it was a long fingered glove, Arm warmer and knee warmer day for sure.

I got to Burger King early just as Wolf was unloading his bike and Dura-max was pulling in. Soon we were joined by Raptor, Rocket, Cossack and D’Artagnon about 8:15am. As we were talking Attack Cat, Double Time, T-3 and Huntress arrived. Raptor left for his ride as the rest of us pulled out onto Latham and headed towards Lyon. We stayed together as one big group all the way to Ramona and then over to Sanderson. But it was easy to see the pace was going to get kicked up a bit once we got out onto Ramona expressway.

Much like I expected it wasn’t long before we started to break into groups on Ramona. Soon I found myself in a pack consisting of, Sea Lion, Huntress, D’Artagnon, Cossack and Rocket. Needless enough to say I held onto the draft for all I was worth as we fought a slight headwind heading past Bridge Street. We were only on our second rotation through the pace line when I noticed we were coming up on the stop light just before Lakeview. We regrouped and waited till Attack cat, Dura-max, T-3, Wolf and Double Time rejoined us. We started back out on Lakeview and once again split into two groups and this time we were joined by Attack Cat. I pulled most of the way to Nuevo and then merged into the group as we headed towards Menifee Road.
We set up another pace line heading south on Menifee and made pretty quick time after we turned on Mapes and pushed on to Briggs Street. For a change there were no dogs out to challenge our sprinting ability. We did round the corner on Briggs together and took an easy cruise down the grade back to Florida. Everyone seemed full of energy and it was pretty sure we had another sprint of two left before we stopped for coffee.
As we took our turn around then houses on Briggs the group tightened up and we started to get into formation for the run on Grand. As we turned off of Briggs Attack Cat was leading until we got to Leon where Cossack started to pull and Rocket, D’Artagnon and I stayed close on his wheel. As we crested the rise after Leon Rocket lit the fuse and took off on a break. For some unknown reason I went with him as we made quite a jump on the rest of the group. The problem was we were running at about 105 percent and as our energy level tapered off Cossack and D’Artagnon started to reel us in. They caught and passed before we made it to the end of the long straight away. But we all felt good about the run as we stopped for coffee at Chris’s. We didn’t stay long and took off on Winchester to Stowe and it didn’t seem to me as if the pace had slowed one little bit. Cossack got out front and made us work to keep up with him all the way to California Street.

There was very little cruising as we rode down to Stetson and no one was cruising as we turned towards Warren Road. We had no stragglers as we were averaging better than 17.2 for the ride and Attack Cat broke off at Warren as the rest of us continued east on Stetson. Cossack and Rocket kept the pressure on as we got close to the airport turn off. As we broke off to make the turn into the airport road Cossack and Rocket continued on like cowboys riding off in a movie. D’Artagnon, Sea Lion, Huntress and I continued on working our way towards Sanderson.
Finally we took a bit off as we got out onto Sanderson and headed towards Lowes. I was still feeling pretty good and even with the over cast I would have said I had a good ride. It was cool but not cold. It was damp but not wet. All in all it was a pretty good ride and I got in another 38 miles. I know my mileage will drop off when I go to Colorado for the last two weeks of this month but I will be looking forward to getting back in the saddle when I get home.

12/13/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


If we had Indian summers this would have been one. Beautiful morning with a high expected to be 85 degrees. Not only that we were scheduled to do a requested run with a pretty hard climb about halfway through it. I was looking forward to it but I wasn’t sure how many other riders thought the same.

Wolf was waiting for me as I rode up to Burger King and we talked a bit about jerseys and then joked about who put in for the Gibble climb. I didn’t want to drop a dime on one of the riders so we sort of played 20 questions and it was clear that Rocket, D’Artagnon, Attack Cat or Mark, (Daredevil) weren’t the guilty people so that only left Sea Lion who admitted to the request. This would be his first attempt and Gibble and we were all looking forward to his impressions.

By 8:30 it was clear that we were only going to have the seven of us so we took off down Gilmore. I was just a bit sore from trying to duplicate a jump turn I watched one of the mechanics at the LBS do on my MTB Saturday. I did half of the jump but the second half was the one that took me down. Dirt can be pretty hard all by itself when you aren’t expecting a fall. Still I was feeling pretty good and thought the ride would be a good one.
We quickly rode down Kirby and made the turn onto Cypress but instead of just cruising we more or less rode a moderate double pace line out to Johnson.

What concerns me on days like today is how strong everyone looked. D’Artagnon said he was tired from doing a Triathlon on Sunday. Daredevil said he was tired from riding three days in a row. Wolf was tired from riding with a group from Jaxs over the weekend. Sea Lion was going to save himself for Gibble, or so he said. But if I have learned anything from riding with this group it is not to take any of their protestations at face value. I had a feeling that tired or not the pace might get pushed today and I only had a few blocks to test out my assumptions.
As we rounded the turn west on Domenigoni Attack cat and Wolf took the lead and started us off at a consistent 20+ MPG. We pulled through the first rotation and got to Warren road still within that range. As Attack cat and wolf rotated out of line D’Artagnon started to press the pace and soon had us running hard at 25 MPH. We rolled over the wash at 24 or 25 and D’Artagnon kicked it up another notch. We were still quite a distance from Winchester when I noticed D’Artagnon had us rolling along at 30+ in a pace line. I took my turn and pulled as we passed Winchester and we were back down to 25 before Daredevil took off again taking things back up to close to 28 with Rocket in tow. To my surprise the group had blown up into two parts and to my surprise I was in the first part. We stopped to regroup at Leon and I was still standing on the side of the road as Attack cat made the U turn and headed back towards Winchester. Soon I watched as Rocket, D’Artagnon, Attack Cat and Daredevil seemed to disappear over the curve of the earth as Wolf, sea Lion and I cruised back to Winchester. However we started to pick things up a bit once we got back to Warren and soon were back in sight of the lead group as they started up Gibble. I made a hard run at them but wasn’t able to pull in Daredevil before we reached the top of the hill.

On the way back down the hill and up towards Stetson we lost Rocket as he had work to do. We lost D’Artagnon on Stetson about ½ mile before Lake and we lost Attack cat at Fairview and Florida. Still Wolf, Sea Lion, Daredevil and I had a good visit at Carl’s where we discussed the Palm Springs century in February and some other rides we would like to do early next year. We decided to leave Carl’s before our legs completely locked up and headed back west together.

I have to admit it was a good ride today. Climbing or no climbing we had a chance to test ourselves and still enjoy each other’s company. It is good to ride with people that just enjoy getting out and riding. Nothing complicated just point our bikes in a direction and see how long it takes to get there. A short period of time for bench racing and war stories are we have had a good day. Any day you can get in 40+ miles and still have the energy to talk and laugh is a good day in my book. And I could do both on the ride home today.

12/10/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)




Sometimes you have to wonder just what we did to deserve living where we live. If you happen to be a cyclists there isn’t much more you can ask for in weather than what we had today. Traffic was light no wind and a temperature a bit under 70 degrees is just cool enough no to overheat and not so cold you need a vest. In other words I was looking forward to today’s ride.

The group quickly formed with Rocket, Dura-max, Gambler, Double Time, Sea Lion, Highlander and Cossack. Raptor rolled up but left to do one of his modified rides. Just as we rolled out of the parking lot Ruby Tuesday and T-3 joined us. We headed down to Acacia and then over to Kirby and headed for Cypress to make the cut over to Sanderson.

Once on Sanderson Ruby Tuesday took the lead and we follower her all the way to Domenigoni before turning west for the run towards Warren Road. It is here where the pace normally picks up and today was no different. When Gambler picked up the lead we crept up into the 20s. By the time we had rotated through one time we were getting close to 24 MPH and the lead group was Cossack, Gambler, Double time, Rocket, Sea Lion and I. When Cossack got the lead back we were cruising at 25 and getting close to 27. As we got to the bottom of the Saddle people lined up to take a shot at the hill sprint and even I was thinking of giving it a shot. A quick look at my HRT told me I should second guess on the sprint part and I watched Cossack, Gambler and Rocket pull away. Shortly after we started towards Menifee I flatted and that was the last I saw of Rocker, Cossack and Gambler. Sea Lion and Double Time stopped to help me and I ended up spending the rest of the ride with them and Dura-max, Ruby Tuesday, T-3 and
We made the turn onto Menifee and then Scott road before heading north on Haun to Newport. Once we started down Haun we mad at least one sprint and I couldn’t get away from Double Time. We all made the left onto Newport together before turning once again on Bradley. We quickly made it over to McCall and started east towards the hospital. Sea Lion took off and I tried to follow and somehow we made it through the light at Encanto and Sea Lion got caught at Hillpoint where I got on his rear wheel. I let him pull me almost to the flat spot in front of the Hospital when he missed a shift and I managed to sneak past. Once we started back down the hill Double time pulled like a freight train till we got to Simpson and Sea Lion pulled most of the way to Winchester. I pulled us up to Stowe and Double time started to think about Hanger 1 and the pace picked up.

We were all talking about what a beautiful day it had been and how lucky we are to be in a place where we can ride almost 12 months of the year. I noticed that our pace had averaged close to 17.5 Mph up to this point and thought it was a pretty good pace for cruising. But then it is a lot easier to cruise at that pace with six or more riders helping pull. Sea Lion was running strong and Highlander was staying with us even after being off the bike for more than a week. I was impressed with how well we were doing as a group and how well we get along as Sea Lion once again got in front and headed down Stowe to California.

I freely admit that I was getting ready for a break because my legs were starting to get tired and the saddle wasn’t quite as comfortable as it had been at the beginning of the ride. I fell back to talk with T-3 as we got close to California. It was also good to see Ruby Tuesday back with us because we don’t get to ride with her all that often now that she works out of town. We all closed on California within a few yards of each other and turned towards Stetson.

We moved down Stetson and got close to warren Road when Double time took off on a break. By the time I got to the front of the pack he was halfway to the airport. I managed to close within a few yards when he turned off of Stetson and slowed down to smile at me because he got away with the break. I wasn’t sure it was a breakaway of if it was a run to see what freshly baked goods they might have at Hanger 1. We had some coffee and some had a light breakfast before heading home. By the time I got home I had a good 38 miles on the computer. It was a great ride and a good time to spend with friends. It is the kind of thing that keeps bringing us back.

12/08/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


We had tried the planned ride just a few weeks ago and the wind drove us back into a shorter ride. Today looked like it might be different as we assembled at Burger King to try the ride again. Wolf and Dura-max and Rocket were already waiting as I got to the parking lot. Sea Lion looked ready to go as he unloaded his ride and pulled up next to us. Gambler and D’Artagnon pulled up in matching kits tossing down the challenge glove saying they were here to push this ride. To my surprise Centaur was able to join us and got there just before Double time and Raptor. Raptor left just before the rest of us did and just before we got out onto Latham we were joined by T-3. I was pretty pleased to see T-3 because she had been AWOL for a few weeks and I needed her to push me.


Once we got down Latham and made the turn onto Lyon we set up a steady but reasonable pace heading north towards Ramona. T-3 complained that she was out of practice after being gone for so many weeks but she was talking a lot better than I was as we passed Menlo and picked it up a bit. While we were still in talking mode as we approached Ramona no one was falling back and the group was still tight. We still had to face the run down Ramona expressways so all I could do at this point was hold on and hope my legs warmed up before we got to Bridge Street.

Once we turned onto Sanderson we got separated slightly and only half of us made it through the light onto Ramona. We pulled up behind Raptor who had made the light just before us and followed him briefly till Double Time decided to pass him and the rest of us followed. Once we rotated through the line I realized I was feeling better than I thought as we all turned onto Bridge together. The big guns took off for Gilman while Dura-max, Double Time, T-3 and I trailed them by about ¼ mile. We took a quick break to regroup Gilman and Bridge before taking off to get back to Sanderson. We all got to Sanderson to regroup once more and got ready to run down to Ramona.

At this point I would have said you couldn’t have asked for a much better day for a ride. We have very little wind and while it was sunny it was also only about 68 degrees so it wasn’t too hot. Rocket told us he would have to break off before we got to State Street. It was a pretty relaxed ride as we turned back down Ramona Road heading back towards Lyon. I had to admit I was grateful to Wolf for loaning me a water bottle after I discovered that I had left both of mine at home. Rocket left us about Lyon so Wolf and I took the lead and pulled most of the way to State where Gambler took over as we made the turn and headed north towards Soboba.
I could tell as D’Artagnon and Gambler started to line up on Soboba and I was pretty sure they were going to make the run towards the golf course quick and painful. We made the first two hills in a group of five but split up a bit as we got to the flat part. I managed to pull back up to Sea Lion after has passed me like a freight train running down hill. We both caught Gambler and D’Artagnon and drafted them till D’Artagnon got up to relax his legs. I tried to make a break but I guess I went too soon and they reeled me in before I made the golf course hill and all three passed me again. After regrouping we headed for Shaver/Main and I took one more shot at a sprint. At the top of the river bridge I simply ran out of gas but I was feeling pretty good about the run I had so far.

We made the turn onto Mountain/Ramona and cruised to Carl’s with six riders still in the group. After stopping Raptor joined us and we rested and joked for a few minutes before heading back west towards Burger King.

After Dura-max left us at Park we quickly cut over to Cornell and then Devonshire for the downhill run back across town. T-3 and I broke off at Lyon and rode back to Johnson where I dropped her off at her house and headed for home. I ended up with 39 miles for the day and a good workout. I know it may seem like a long way to go for a a cup of coffee and a chance to visit with friends but it is worth it.

12/06/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


There was a time when weather predictors used bear grease and a cricket in a match box to predict the weather. Today we have satellites and weather computers and radar but it seems as if they did better predicting weather in the old days. It was supposed to rain Sunday and taper off to a little rain Monday morning. When I went out to get the paper this morning the sky had a few light clouds in it and the street was damp but there was no sign of impending rain. It was cold because of the moisture in the air but it was relatively dry as I headed off to meet up with the crew for our Monday ride.

When I arrived at the parking lot I noticed that Dura-max was missing so I was afraid it might be raining on the east end of town. Still there were no clouds in that direction so I assumed he was just late. Sea Lion, Cossack and Wolf were in the parking lot before me and Rocket and D’Artagnon got there right after me and it looked like that was going to be the whole group. Raptor showed up just before 8:30 but there was no one to ride with his group so he decided to ride Bridge Street as we headed south towards Acacia.

With only six of us I was a bit concerned that I would be able to keep up. All of the other five riders are strong and I am still bothered with just a bit of soreness in my legs even though I seem to be getting better. The test would be when we got out onto Domenigoni and headed west. The pace was reasonable as we headed towards Warren road and I moved to the back of the pace line as we got to the rise over the river bed. Much to my surprise wolf pulled out of line and fell off the pace. It turns out he had a big ride Sunday and he was still a bit stiff and hadn’t warmed up so I stayed with Rocket, Cossack and D’Artagnon as we headed for Winchester. Soon Sea Lion was right behind me and we were getting close to Leon. D’Artagnon ended up with the lead and tried to push the pace from the front. With Cossack on his wheel I didn’t think it was going to work and soon the two of them were pulling away to make the sprint at the saddle. I pulled the hill a distant fourth.

Once over the top we headed down Newport towards LaLadera but in two groups with Rocket, Cossack and D’Artagnon in front and wolf, Sea Lion and I behind. I would guess we were falling off the lead pace by about 2 MPH but we were still moving along pretty well as we got close to Murrieta and the making the right at the light before taking to old road towards LaLadera. We regrouped before making the turn west and rounded the corner towards the little park together. We made the turn back east passed the old owl sanctuary still in one group of six.

As we turned towards McCall we spread out a bit but we were still pretty much back together as we got close to Murrieta again. Normally it is about here during the ride that you start thinking about the hill on McCall. D’Artagnon was thinking of challenging Cossack and Rocket by conserving his legs till after the last light but I guess they pushed the pace a bit too fast for any conservation. By the time Sea Lion, Wolf and I reached the last stop light both Wolf and Sea Lion passed me so I had to bear down just to keep up. But my spin was a bit better and I managed to get back passed them with Sea Lion nipping at my heels all the way to the top of the hill.

We got over the hill and started to work our way over to Simpson with the three musketeers pulling away from us again. Cossack and Rocket had to get home so they weren’t going to stop at Chris’s so we decided to head for Hanger 1 at the airport. We took turns pulling up to Stowe and then down to California and I will admit I was looking forward to stopping to rest my legs at the airport. We pulled into Hanger 1 to see D’Artagnon coming out to sit at one of the tables so we joined him for coffee and conversation. Soon we were headed for home in a group of four and chatted away like long lost relatives all the way back to Lowes.
I followed the pack back to Gilmore and broke off from Sea Lion and Wolf to follow D’Artagnon to the bike shop to see about getting him some new pedals. We spent a few minutes there before heading back towards home and splitting up at Palm as I turned for my house. I got home with just over 38 miles on the computer so 6000 miles are in the bank for the year so far. It is much easier getting out riding when you like the people you ride with and that is part of what keeps me going when it is cold.

12/03/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)



It was another beautiful day as I walked out to get the paper and have breakfast. It was a bit warmer than it had been for the last few days and we were going to ride up Bautista which is one of our favorite rides.

Sea Lion and Dura max wee already there when I got to Burger King. Highlander and Raptor pulled up after me and Rocket and Cossack were just moments behind. D’Artagnon, After Shock and Huntress got there just before Shadow to complete the group. Eleven riders pulled out of the parking lot and headed down Gilmore to begin the ride.

There was nothing special about the ride to Thornton. Due to one or two red lights Sea Lion, Dura max and I were several block behind Rocket, Cossack, After Shock, D’Artagnon, Shadow and Huntress. By the time we got to the start of Bautista the lead group was nowhere to be seen. I headed up Bautista with my best imitation of a spin and slowly pulled ahead of Sea Lion and Dura max. Every time I would try to back down and cruise a bit Sea Lion would gain on me and I would push myself a bit more. This went on for the first five miles or the climb till I caught sight of Huntress in the distance. All I could think about at that point was stalking her like she has done me so many times and closing the gap. I snuck up behind her just as we got to the last climb only to see Rocket, D’Artagnon and Cossack fly by in a blur going back down the hill.


As I pulled even with Huntress just before the end of the canyon she went into a full sprint. I tried to stay with her but she just may have clipped me at the finish line. We took a break with After Shock and Shadow until we were ready to head back down to Carl’s. I hit a rock or something on the first hard right coming back down the hill so I was paying pretty good attention to my tire while chasing Huntress and After Shock down the hill when I flatted at about mile 6. Shadow stopped and we changed the tire and rejoined the rest of the pack at a regroup on Bautista and Fairview.
We lined up heading north on Fairview and slowly but surely got into a pace line running about 21 MPH. The great thing about Fairview is it gives you a chance to recover and at the same time keep up a good pace. Of course I was thinking this all the while we were gobbling up the road heading passed Stetson.

By the time we got to the little bridge over the drainage channel we were moving at about 25 and my legs were pretty much recovered. In fact everyone looked pretty much recovered as we rolled passed the elementary school. I was hoping no one was going to go into a sprint because I didn’t know how much I had left but it seemed that everyone was content to more or less cruise along as a group rather than push the pace. I for one was relieved we could relax a bit before we got back to Florida.

We waited at the light on Florida and Fairview for what seemed like 10 minutes. I am sure it wasn’t that long but it is also one of the longer lights we face on our ride to the east side of town. Finally we made the turn and headed passed Casino Bikes in one long line. We made the light at Ramona just as it turned green. We pulled into the parking lot and headed for Carl’s where Huntress, Sea Lion and Aftershock left to get back to their vehicles at Burger King. Shadow, Dura max and I stopped for refreshments and conversation before heading back west ourselves.

The three of us rode down Lincoln and talked about how great of a day it had turned out to be and how lucky we were to live where we could ride for twelve months a year. Just how much nicer can it get than 72 degrees and blue skies? We made it to Park where Dura max left us for home and Shadow and I continued on to retrieve his arm warmers from Burger King where he had hidden them before we left in the morning. We then road home together till we got to Johnson and Lyon where Shadow went right and I went left. I got home with 38 miles on the clock and a good ride under my belt.

12/01/2010
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)



It looked like it was going to be another cold day for a ride but I was pretty sure it would warm up before we got home. I tend to ride better when it is warmer so I was looking forward to today’s ride. Once I got to Burger King it looked like 11 other riders were ready as well.

Highlander, Dura-max, Cossack, Raptor, Huntress, Wolf, Casey Jones, Attack Cat, D’Artagnon, Sea Wolf and CycoBob were all at the parking lot as we pulled out onto Gilmore and down to Acacia. Turns out Cossack got a flat before he could get onto the road and cycobob helped him change it while we waited on Cypress for them to catch up. Highlander and Raptor continued on without us on a ride Raptor had planned.


We kept the pace easy as we rode passed the airport and stayed together as a group all the way to Stowe and Winchester. We broke into three parts on the dump road and Cossack led the fast group to Briggs Street and then up to Mapes. There was some kind of police activity on the blocks just to the east of Mapes and Briggs but we didn’t stop to check it out. Wolf, Sea Lion and I followed at a distance behind the lead group and then stopped to regroup at the ARCO station before heading to McCall and over the hill. We went to the end of McCall and cut back over to Cherry Hill but we were down to eight riders because somehow we lost Dura-max and Cycobob. It turned out there was a mix up in direction. But we followed the lead group back to Bradley and headed towards Newport.

We made a quick stop at Jack in the Box before heading home. I was still testing my leg to see if the soreness was going away and I was cruising along with Sea Lion, Huntress and Wolf as we got close to the Saddle. I knew once we got over the hill that Cossack would run for the barn and D’Artagnon would be with him. I didn’t know if Casey Jones and Attack Cat would give chase till the passed me right at the top of the hill picking up speed on the downhill side

I backed down a bit as Wolf and Sea Lion went by thinking that I might have to lead Huntress down Domenigoni only to have her pass me like I was rolling backwards and watcher her pass Sea Lion and then catch Wolf. We all hooked up behind D’Artagnon and followed him towards the river overpass where I almost took myself out on Wolf’s back wheel. Huntress passed us again and Wolf, Sea Lion and I had to chase her fading silhouette all the way to Sanderson. Once we made the turn onto Sanderson she gave us a break and we all road back to Lowes together.

By the time we got back to Burger King I was just a bit tired but my leg was feeling good and had in a good number of miles. It was in the mid to high 60s by the time we stopped so it was almost warm enough that it would have been worth taking off arm and leg warmers if I had been wearing them rather than a base layer of tights and long sleeve shirt. Still I got in 43 good miles with people I enjoy riding with. What more can a southern California boy ask?