2/21/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


Because we were a day short on riding last week I thought it might be a good idea to add a few miles to our ride for Monday. Lake Paris is always a nice ride so I was looking forward to it and I thought others might be eager as well. Turns out at least 9 other riders were ready to go by 8:30.


It was a pretty eclectic group but a good cross section of the people that ride with us on a regular basis. Sidewinder had a day off from school and Huntress had a work holiday. D’Artagnon was simply looking to get in a few miles and Wolf and Double time had the day free. T-3 wanted to make up for missing Friday. Highlander was working on getting stronger and Tax Man was attempting to get on more saddle time. I just like being with the group and on my bike.

We were a bit cold but we managed to ride quickly down Gilmore and out onto Acacia with very little fan fare. A quick ride down to Kirby and we all caught the light and had to wait to turn south. We were planning on keeping the ride at Century pace to keep the whole group together and we did pretty well all the way to Cypress. It can be hard to hold back Sidewinder; he is a bit like a puppy on a long lead. But up to this point he was staying with us.

We made it out onto Sanderson and then made the run up to Domenigoni with me pulling. Once we headed west towards Warren road I held us to a respectable 18 to 20 MPH and passed the pace request back after I pulled off of the lead. We did fine till Sidewinder took over at the rise over the dry river bed. He kept the pace at 20 up the rise but let it creep up as he crested and pulled away from the rest of us. Huntress went with him. It turned out to be a repeated picture for the day, someone would take off a bit and Huntress would run them down. The rest of us pulled up to the saddle as a group and I attempted to make the sprint passed D’Artagnon going up the saddle. I didn’t quite make it and we laughed about it at the top where we regrouped before heading down to Linderburger and finally out to Menifee and Florida.

I ended up with two flats before we got to Lake Paris but they were repaired and we made it passed the guard shack and turned towards the Marina.

We stayed at the Marina for some conversation and refreshment and to relive some of our favorite rides and experiences from our youth. We even discussed the worthiness and worthlessness of squirrels. Once we had rehydrated and refueled we got ready to leave and started to look forward to the run around the lake and down Ramona expressway. Tax Man had already bypassed the Marina and headed for home so there were only 8 of us left to make the homeward trip.

We stayed together pretty much till we got to the east gate of the park and then we started to spread out a bit heading back through Nuevo. I pulled till we got passed Nuevo and then Huntress passed me to slow us down so we could pick up a few stragglers. Once we were all back together D’Artagnon picked up the pace because he had things to do at work and I watched as he, Huntress, Double Time and Wolf pulled away. Highlander, T-3 and I cruised along till we pulled up on Sidewinder who decided to kick back and clear his head. We caught up to Wolf and Double Time after we turned onto Ramona Boulevard and got back to Lyon. We all rode together heading back to Burger King.

We ended up splitting up at Latham and I followed Wolf, Highlander and Double Time back to the parking lot where Huntress was already loading up and getting ready to leave. I have to admit Highlander and Huntress were in top form today. It wasn’t that any of the rest of us were doing badly it was just that those two were riding so well. It is good to know that your friends are getting stronger even when it means it is harder for you personally to keep up. We don’t get better unless we have something to chase. We can thank the whole group for any improvements the rest of us are showing. For me it was 51 easy miles at a pace I could have easily have done for 100. It may have been cold but it was a good day to be out on bikes with friends.