2/04/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)



Today was looking good for putting together one of our longer rides like we traditionally do before the Palm Springs Century. The wind was supposed to die down and it was supposed to be sunny. Well the wind dies down but sunny or not it was cold when I left to meet everyone at Burger King. At least today I remembered to bring my long fingered gloves and a Balaclava. When I pulled into the parking lot I noticed everyone else was dressed pretty much as I was only in different colors from Yellow to Blue.

As I pulled up to park I noticed Highlander and Centaur unloading their bikes. Then I noticed our new rider Nick, “Blood Hound”, (hard to lose) was walking over towards me as well. Ruby Tuesday, T-3, D’Artagnon, Dura-max, Sea Lion, Steve, “Barracuda,” Joined us within a few minutes of each other. Cycobob, Traveler and Raptor made up the whole group for this morning. 13 riders for a cold morning and a long ride is pretty good for a winter ride. Traveler, Raptor and Dura-max decided to go on a shorter ride so ten of us moved down Gilmore and onto Acacia and to the light at Kirby to start the ride. Blood Hound pulled us most of the way to Cypress.


We easily moved through the housing track on Cypress and onto Johnston before once again getting caught at the light on Sanderson. The plan was to keep the pace down to the kind of speed that makes doing a century easiest and I told the faster riders that we wouldn’t be following if they decided to push the pace. As we passed over Stetson Ruby Tuesday pulled to the front and she looked like this was going to be one of those days when she would be a force to be reckoned with.

We pulled onto Domenigoni and headed for Warren Road and made it through the light when we heard the dreaded shout, “FLAT”, only to see Sea Lion pulling over to start the repair. We waited for a few minutes while he replaced the tube and managed to cut his finger on a rather sharp piece of steel that had worked its way into the tire. Once he was back on the road I pulled up over the little rise where I surrendered the lead to Blood Hound and we started to rotate through the pack. Before we got to Leon Barracuda, Centaur, and D’Artagnon pulled away for a mini sprint up the saddle. The rest of us stayed in formation and rolled over the hill pretty much together.

We didn’t stop till we got to Carl’s just before Murrieta where we took off extra jackets and Balaclavas. The next regroup wouldn’t be till we got through Railroad canyon. I was cruising along just in front of Sea Lion and well behind Centaur, Blood Hound, D’Artagnon and Barracuda when Ruby Tuesday pulled up next to me and passed me. I watched as she closed in on the leading group and didn’t catch her till we got to Mission Trail. We regrouped as we made the turn and we followed Ruby Tuesday till we turned onto Corydon and worked our way to Grand to run passed the back side of the lake. T-3 was running strong even on the inclines and seven of us follow well behind Barracuda, D’Artagnon and Blood Hound.

We decided to stop for coffee at the Jack in the Box about ¾ of the way around the lake. Some of the riders looked like they could use a SAG break. We sat and visited for a few minutes at what would be about the halfway mark and then decided to get back on the road before our legs got sore from sitting. I pulled us till we got back to Railroad Canyon and Barracuda passed me to glide up the hill with D’Artagnon, Blood Hound and Centaur in tow. We didn’t catch them till we regrouped once more back at Murrieta. Next stop would be the Saddle and I fell in well behind the lead group all the way to the base of the hill. It gave me a chance to participate in the Saddle sprint and then watch as the fast guys pulled away as we passed Leon.

Ruby Tuesday took off a bit to stretch her legs and Highlander, Cycobob, Sea Lion, T-3 and I pulled together hoping to just keep her in sight as we got close to Warren Road again. Centaur, Barracuda and Blood Hound waited for us as we turned onto Sanderson and D’Artagnon headed for home. We rode as a group till we got back to Johnston where Ruby Tuesday and T-3 broke off to head home as well.

Shortly after we passed Johnston and then the railroad tracks Highlander decided he had some energy left and he dropped the hammer on me with a rather impressive sprint almost all the way to the Lowes parking lot. We turned into the driveway and rode around the Lowes back onto Acacia to make the run back to Gilmore and back to Burger King. The pace had been so good that I felt much stronger than I expected. If I can keep the same pace during the Palm Springs Century it should be one of the most comfortable centuries I have ever done. As we rode up Gilmore and got ready to stop on Florida I could see everyone else was looking pretty fresh after 60 miles. For me it was just shy of 63 miles and made a perfect metric Century. I had a great ride and I can only hope the others did as well.