3/28/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

The Attack of the Hemet Fog People

The legend has had it that after a moonless night and a predicted clear morning people in the neighboring villages would watch out for fog in the San Jacinto valley. What did they have to fear you might ask? If there was fog after a rain filled week the Hemet Fog people would arrive riding their bikes on the edge of a fog bank. The problem was they would ride up to unsuspecting casual bike riders and steal their energy and warmth. So people would run inside or jump in their 3000 pound steel cages and drive away. At 8:30 in the morning a group of Fog people came riding out of a fog bank on Gilmore and Florida heading south.


Like a pack of hunters they had Blood hound out front part of the way hoping to spot some unsuspecting people walking or riding down the road as the group moved south towards Cypress on Kirby just going with the fog. Once the turn was made it was clear everyone was trying to protect themselves from the attack of the fog people.
Looking back into the fog I could see Rocket, D’Artagnon, Attack cat, Double Time, Highlander, Dura-max, Ocelot, Sea Lion and Wolf surfing the front of the fog with Blood Hound and I taking point to see if we could sneak up on some unsuspecting cyclist but we were having no luck. It was almost as if we were the only ones out in the fog. None the less Double Time didn’t seem happy about not being able to find some warmth to make up for being underdressed.

The group took a chance and headed south on Sanderson to reach Domenigoni to make the run towards Winchester before the fog could burn off. The fog people would become just normal cyclists and lose all of their fearsome powers to scare anyone. The pursuit riders took off quickly heading first to Warren and then to Winchester with Highlander, Ocelot, Dura-max and me following in the distance. They didn’t see anyone on the road to overtake so they all regrouped at the top of the saddle.

After viewing the sky carefully the group continued on to the west even with the fog thinning. As they traveled west on Newport they could see the sky was clearing to the south but they knew that soon they would be turning north and away from the clearing sky.

Rocket pulled off to hunt in the fog by himself while the rest of the group headed for Laladera and the turn north. Attack cat took off on his own while the rest followed over to McCall and finally over the hill to Simpson were the fog started to lift. The group no longer looked as scary as it did when it started and Double Time was starting to feel justified for not wearing arm and leg warmers. They made a straight run to Winchester and turned north once again and stopped at Chris’s for coffee as a fog cutter. Highlander continued on to the north and Dura-max and Ocelot went to the south east heading back to Hemet. As the group sat under the umbrellas on Chris’s patio the sun started to burn more of the fog off and it felt a bit warmer. Still as soon as Double Time stood up and moved towards his bike the clouds filled in again and the temperature seemed to drop.

By the time they got to Stowe the sun had burned off most of the fog and the fog people turned back into regular cyclists. In fact they even started to smile and look friendly.


As it got warmer and the group got closer to their starting point the mood got lighter and the ride seemed better that it did when they started. All in all it had been a good ride at a pretty easy pace for 38 miles where the whole group stayed within sight of each other or regrouped to make sure everyone was together. Hopefully it will be quite a long time before the Hemet Fog People invade Winchester and Murrieta again.

3/23/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


It was a cool morning but at least it wasn’t raining and there weren’t many clouds in the sky. I got a text from Blood Hound so I knew he was ready to ride and a call from Huntress so I knew she would be late. It remained to be seen who else would show up. Traveler and Raptor were going to give Lake Paris another try so 9 of us left on Gilmore right at 8:30.


We worked our way over to Kirby and then through the housing track on Cypress to Johnston .and finally to the light on Sanderson. As we sat there we realized how fortunate we were to be living in Southern California. It may have been rather cool but we could still get in a ride and we didn’t need fenders or studded tires. As we were talking about this the light changed and we headed down Sanderson towards Domenigoni.

I started the pull down Domenigoni and pulled all the way to Warren Road where I gave the lead to Blood Hound. Blood Hound pushed the speed up to about 21 and I fell to the back of the line behind Ocelot and Dura-max. Somewhere about Winchester Ocelot pulled out of line and I pulled forward to draft Dura-max. I noticed Ocelot was falling behind to I told Dura-max and started to slow down when he told me to go ahead and follow the group that now had Attack Cat in the lead. After the traditional sprint up the saddle, dominated by D’Artagnon, we waited to see where Dura-max and Ocelot were. I called but didn’t get through so we left after about 10 minutes and headed for Menifee and then towards Scott Road.

I was last up the hill and we regrouped at the top of the little climb after Holland. It took a few minutes to catch our breath before we were once again on our way to Scott and then west towards Hawn. I once again found myself pulling till we got to Newport where Blood Hound took over and I finally fell to the back and rode with Highlander in the sweep position all the way to McCall. The lead group pulled the hill well before us but we all regrouped at the top of the hill before heading down the back side and out to Simpson heading for Chris’s. We expected to see Huntress back-tracking on the dump road before we stopped at Chris’s for coffee.

We had a report of a Pit Bull loose on Winchester so we made a detour back to Simpson and headed for Warren road. As luck would have it we passed a Golden Retriever playing the weeds that wanted to race us down the road. He didn’t pull anyone down so we continued on till we rounded the turn onto Warren and then made it down to Stetson to make the turn to the airport. I had already received a call from Dura-max telling me they had suffered a flat and would see us next time.

Once in front of the airport we slacked off on the pace a bit and worked our way over towards Sanderson where we expected to catch the light and regroup one last time. But for a change we all caught the light green. Highlander pulled us to Lowes and we turned into the driveway to run around the back of the store before pulling out onto Acacia

Attack Cat pulled around us and took off towards Acacia with Blood Hound on his back wheel like the shadow on a sun dial at 1230 PM. When Blood Hound latches onto your wheel he never lets go unless you manage to get him in front of you s he can pull. That didn’t happen this time and we ended up following them all the way back to Kirby and then they caught traffic at Gilmore and we caught up with then so we could make the turn together. It wasn’t a long ride; I only had 42.5 miles on the computer. But it was a great day for a ride and I think we all had a good time.

3/21/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


No there wasn’t an official group ride today. I rained pretty hard right up t o 7am and I didn’t expect to get in a ride. Wolf called me about 7:30 and said it was clearing up in his area and the wind was moving the clearing in my direction. So we decided to show up and see if anyone else was going to give it a try. We were the only ones so we headed out to Domenigoni to try the La Ladera ride. I was on the back up Jamis after cleaning the Lapierre all day Sunday so I was just going to cruise and try to stay as dry as possible.


We were doing pretty well as we got to Warren Road and wolf started a pull that lasted most of the way to Winchester. I however was feeling pretty congested and having trouble breathing so I asked if we could cut the ride short and head over to the Airport for coffee. So we turned north on Winchester and east on Stowe trading pulls till we got to California and Stetson were we rode side by side solving the problems of the world.

As we got ready to go inside for coffee and to see if Bambi had backed anything for the day. As we talked I looked around and noticed some of the planes parked to the north west of us looked a bit different than I expected.

I couldn’t tell what it was at first so I asked Wolf if he noticed anything different as well. He did say there was something strange about a small pusher plane parked to the far north east of the group on planes. I case I missed it I took a zoom picture and sure enough it was parked on its nose. Nothing we could do about it but we thought it might have lost its landing gear.

We sat in the café for a while before making a run for home just as the clearing in the sky started to close up. We got back to Burger King with a very light drizzle coming down. Wolf packed up his bike and I headed for home. Rocket drove past me and yelled something about my brain functions riding in the rain but at this point I was only interested in getting home before I got soaked through. I wasn’t home 20 minutes before the sky opened up and dropped rain by the buckets full. We just dodged a bullet.

3/19/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)
Special Race Report


I don't know how the Borrego ride went but we were represented at the Camp Pendleton Bull Dog race today. In truth Daredevil was there but that hardly counts because he is almost always there, he is a Marine.

Some of us had been watching the weather report all week and they predicted almost a 50 percent chance of rain so not that many of us decided to go. I had been looking forward to it all year and decided to drive down just to see how the weather really was. I got there about a half hour before Centaur and waited around to see if it was going to get wet. Everything looked fine until I registered and paid my entry fee. No sooner had I put down my Check then it started to rain. But I was committed as was Centaur. We drew a 9:10 and a 9:20 start time and Centaur started 10 minutes before me. But by 9:00 the rain stopped and all we had to deal with was wet roads, oh and dirt.


I think I was a bit too cautious because I had never been on the course and I ended up and the chase group rather than the lead pack. Still I moved up pretty well and hit the climb to the Recreation area and jumped in front of our group as we started the climb. No one was passing me so I was afraid I might have gone out too hard. I saw centaur heading back about the time I was halfway up the climb. I never made up any distance on Centaur but I did get to race a rider representing the Coast Guard all the way back to the start finish. I ended up finishing in 1:29:59 about two minutes slower than Centaur.

Centaur and Phoenix were waiting for me as I crossed the finish line and one look at both of us and you might have thought we had just been in a Cycle cross. Both bikes were covered in mud and Centaur was pretty spotted as well. It was harder to see how dirty my bibs and jersey were because I was wearing digital camouflage but I can assure you I was covered as well.

We walked back to the vehicles to put our bikes away and change into something a bit warmer before walking back to see what our time was and if we could spot Daredevil. It was then I discovered that Centaur had a better time than I did and that he had knocked off 11 minutes from his ride last year. Still I was happy with my first race and I think I would do it again. Maybe next time I can try it in warmer weather.

3/18/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


I had considered not riding today because I wanted to be at my best if I got a chance to race the Bull Dog at Camp Pendleton on Saturday. However riding with the group is more than just about how I feel it is about being with friends and getting out on the bike. So I put together a short recovery/pre-ride and invited the group to join me. Lucky for me 7 other riders decided to take me up on my planned ride.


We took off right at 8:30 am and pulled out onto Gilmore where we promptly caught the light at Florida. Looking at the group I could see Dave, Dura-max, Gambler, Highlander, Raptor, D’Artagnon, and Traveler and we had all decided to keep the pace at a reasonable recovery rate. I was thinking of doing between 16 and 18 and keeping a nice easy spin going. We got in a pace line early and cruised west on Acacia and south on Kirby and through the housing track on Cypress very smoothly. It only took a few minutes before we were out on Wentworth heading for the airport.

It wasn’t long before we turned onto Stetson and made a quick run west to Warren and turned north towards Florida. We crossed Florida and headed for Devonshire and headed east. Everyone stayed in line up to this point because this was a new route and I don’t think anyone wanted to push me so that I might tire my legs out. We crossed Sanderson and made it to Lyon in pretty short order. Raptor and Traveler had already taken a short cut before we even got to the airport so it was just the six of us as we headed north towards Ramona.

Up to this point we kept the pace to a reasonable 16 to 18 and I was still feeling very relaxed. I could see the value of a recovery ride and how much it would help after a hard ride. By keeping the pace to a easy spin your heart gets a bit of a work out and your legs get a bit of a break. While daydreaming a bit I soon found myself at Ramona and State where it was time to head north again. The whole pace line hadn’t changed much since we started and it wasn’t long before we got to Soboba.

Typically the ride down Soboba is a quick one that ends in a sprint up the hills and finally a stop at the golf course. I didn’t plan on following the typical run but I knew it would take all of my self control to hold back if the rest of the group decided to make a run of it. I was lucky however and only D’Artagnon and Gambler took off. I had expected that however because they both had morning meetings and would be breaking off after the golf course anyway.

The rest of us cruised down Soboba and finally saw Raptor and Traveler coming the other way on east Main. We turned onto Hewitt and rode to Park and followed it around to the east and back over to Cornell and then to Devonshire. It didn’t take long before we were back on State Street and stopping at the Bagel Station where we met up with Raptor and Traveler. We took a quick break there before heading back west to Burger King and home. It turned out to be a good relaxing ride and a great time spent with interesting people. It was only 31 miles from door to door but I feel better than when I left home this morning so it couldn’t be a bad thing.

3/16/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)



I was asked for another west ride for today so I picked a group favorite, Elsinore and back. Looking out of my front window it looked like a pretty nice day even if it was just a bit cool as I left to meet everyone.

I got to Burger King to find Blood Hound and Dura-max waiting and Centaur unloading his bike. I noticed Sea Lion was back again and Gambler showed up just before Rocket and D’Artagnon. Highlander and Huntress pulled up within minutes of each other and Attack Cat rode in about a minute later. Traveler and Raptor showed up but they were planning on doing Lake Paris today so they left in another direction. The rest of us pulled out and headed south towards Dominigoni at 8:30am.

Everyone seemed like they had already warmed up before we got started because we were moving along pretty quickly on Gilmore and picked it up even more on Acacia. At this point in the ride I was feeling pretty good but you never knew if your legs would feel like running with the big dogs or of you should have stayed on the porch till you get out on Dominigoni. So Acacia and then Kirby don’t feel like a real test even when the group is pushing it a bit.
After we left the light at Acacia and Kirby heading south again we started to get in line as if the pace line was already starting to form. This seemed a bit unusual to me because it is the first part of these rides where most of our conversation takes place. Conversation would have to wait when we regrouped or stopped for coffee because everyone seems like they wanted to ride and were enjoying it. When we rounded the corner on Cypress I caught sight of T-3 cruising along waiting for us to catch up and our number was up to 12.
Once out onto Sanderson things picked up again. Attack Cat jumped out in front as if trying to pick up the pace again but I was trying hold us back so we wouldn’t keep running into red lights till we passed Mustang. Shortly after Mustang and the High School we did turn it up a bit and soon we were stretched out for maybe 100 yards. Once we turned west on Dominigoni the group split with several people passing me to give chase to Attack Cat while the rest of us settled into a constant 22 MPH pace line. It wasn’t long before we were all regrouping on top of the Dominigoni saddle and getting ready to run to Murrieta Road.
I took a quick head count and figured the group would be split in two with Rocket, D’Artagnon, Gambler, Centaur, Blood Hound, Huntress and Attack Cat in one group and Highlander, Dura-Max, T-3, Sea Lion and me in the other group. I knew all we had to do was make it to Murrieta where we would regroup before hitting Railroad Canyon. I just wasn’t sure how far the first group would be ahead of us.
We weren’t that far behind when we got to the little store at Murrieta and after some quick refreshments we were off again for the canyon and Elsinore. We all stayed together pretty well all the way to the first climb and we didn't spread out all that much till we topped the hill. Huntress pulled up on my wheel and pushed me all the way to the big downhill heading into Elsinore. She pushed so hard I ended up closing on Attack Cat and catching him just before we got to the rest stop at Mickey D’s. I parked my bike in the enclosed playground area and walked in to get some coffee only to have one of my new Gator Skins blow out a tube while I was parked. I had to change the tube and put a boot in the tire because I had a side wall cut but soon we were back on the road and headed for home.
Highlander and I pulled over when we got back to Murrieta and waited for Huntress and Sea Lion to catch up. Sea Lion was running with a broken spoke but was moving along at a pretty good clip anyway. We let Blood Hound and Centaur go ahead and once we regroup with Huntress and Sea Lion we gave chase. I caught Blood Hound and Centaur and the bottom of the saddle and managed to climb the hill first if one just edging out Blood Hound. I told Highlander I would wait for him at the bottom of the hill and so we pulled over at Leon only to have Centaur and Highlander go flying by to be joined by Blood Hound before Sea Lion, Huntress and I could even get clipped in. We almost caught them at Winchester but they made the light green and we got it just as it turned red. We didn’t see them again till we got back to Burger king.
I have to admit it was a rather good ride and the weather turned out just about perfect. I was showing 18.2 as an average when I got to Burger King and 18.0 when I got home. So it was a rather quick ride as well. I also got to another 47 miles to add to my yearly total. I will need a few weekend rides and a century here and there to top 7000 miles this year but if my health holds I can’t see any reason I can’t accomplish that as a goal. Beside I just like getting out with friends and riding.

3/14/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)



If you were to try and describe the perfect day for a ride you would be hard pressed to describe a better day than we had today with little or no wind and not too hot or too cold. We had ten riders and three were returning from a rather long layoff. Everyone was ready by 8:30 so we were off and heading for Acacia just a bit after that.


Once we were all gathered at Kirby and Acacia I had a feeling we were in for a rather quick ride. Even T-3 seem to have extra energy to burn and we moved quickly up Kirby to Cypress and started our turn west through the Housing Track. Just as we got to the corner there was a person walking down the sidewalk and about enter the crosswalk. Two of us turned in front of him but he paid absolutely no attention to us and stepped off the curb oblivious to the eight other riders about to turn the corner right behind the first two. It didn’t matter because everyone managed to miss hitting him but we got the impression that he never looked up to see if anyone was going to run him over or not.
Much to our surprise T-3 kicked it up a notch and pulled us all the way to Johnston and then to Stetson. It seemed as if she was determined to work us a bit once we got out onto Dominigoni and she was right behind Rocket as we made that turn. We were pretty quickly up to 20+ MPH as we headed towards Warren road. Once we started through our rotation and T-3 took her turn we held it at close to 22 MPH. But as aggressive as T-3 was I was about to discover that Wolf was going to be the one to watch today.

Blood Hound took over pulling about Winchester and he kicked it up again to close to 24 or 25 all the way to Leon. Just past Leon Attack Cat decided to pull out of line and jump to the front and it looked like he was making a run at the saddle. Blood Hound wasn’t far behind but with Attack Cat pulling away it seemed to inspire D’Artagnon to make his move just a bit early for this group. Rocket took off after D’Artagnon and I grabbed Rocket’s wheel. Right in my shadow was Wolf moving in for the kill. We got past Blood Hound and ran down Attack Cat and made a sprint of it heading up the saddle. What I didn’t know at the time was that Wolf was nipping at my heels and ready to pass if there had been room. At the top of the saddle you could have covered all four of us with a 4x8 sheet of plywood. We regrouped at the top of the saddle and laughed about how close the sprint was even with D’Artagnon holding us all off.

After Dura-max, T-3 and Ocelot arrived we got ready to push off towards Murrieta and Sea Lion, who had rejoined us for the first time since Palm Springs, had to turn back for a school function with his kids. However we stopped once again at Carl’s just before Murrieta Road and regrouped picking up Double Time who had been trailing us about 3 miles behind. We broke into two groups of five and headed for Goetz. The climb up Goetz was one of my better one and one where I managed to keep my heart rate below 150 for the first time in a long time. We waited at the top of the hill and regrouped before making a fast drop down the hill and onto Ethanic before heading east towards Murrieta.
Once we got to Murrieta the group started to connect again and soon we were a pack of 7 shortly after turning south towards McCall. Double Time and Wolf were now firmly in the pack and formed into a pace line as we moved down Murrieta. It didn’t take long before Rocket, D’Artagnon, Attack Cat and Blood Hound were setting the pace once we turned onto McCall. Not that Double Time, Wolf and I were far behind it was just that the other four were beginning to zero in on the McCall climb.

Attack cat started the Climb first with D’Artagnon and Rocket close behind. Blood Hound was sitting in fourth. I followed Blood Hound with Wolf and Double Time close behind me. For some unknown reason my legs were still feeling pretty good as D’Artagnon and Rocket pulled out to pass Attack Cat. Much to my surprise Blood Hound started to gain on Attack Cat and I found myself gaining on Blood Hound. Once Blood Hound passed Attack Cat I seemed to find some extra energy and started to close and passed him as well. Double Time was falling back but Wolf was hot on my back tire. At the flat just before the top of the hill I caught Blood Hound and passed. However Blood Hound wasn’t finished and he came back on me. It was just before we reached the top of the hill where Wolf jumped in front of both of us to be the third man up the hill. We regrouped once more before heading down the back side of McCall and heading for Chris’s.
Double Time and I got a late start on following the main group after we discovered Dura-Max, T-3 and Ocelot weren’t going to stop at Chris’s and we caught the light red at Menifee so we made a quick turn and headed to Simpson. We were still behind the main group at Lindenburger and were not closing as we got close to Leon. So we went straight to Winchester and managed to arrive at Chris’s just before the faster animals arrived for coffee.

Coffee and conversation were in order today but we didn’t stay all that long before we were ready to hit the road for home. For reasons only known to the girls at Chris’s the coffee seemed to give me some extra boost and I quickly latched onto Blood Hound’s back wheel till we got to Stowe. From there I pulled all the way to California and then Stetson and finally to the airport feeling as if I was a rested as I was at the beginning of the ride.

We didn’t slow down much coming by the airport and soon found ourselves sitting at the light on Sanderson waiting to head north towards Lowes. Blood Hound pulled us all the way to Lowes and then onto Acacia and finally back to Gilmore. I looked down at my cycle computer and was impressed with the mileage and time. When I got home I had 44 miles on the clock with 2 hours and 22 minutes of riding time. Like I said earlier you couldn’t have ordered up a much nicer day for a bike ride. I am glad we live where we do and that I know the people I know and can call them friends.

3/11/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


Fridays are unpredictable. Sometimes that can be hectic and sometimes t hey are laid back. Today was pretty laid back for the most part. The plan was to go out to Winchester and back to Cranston Station I just wasn’t sure how many were going to be with us.


The turnout wasn’t bad because Dura-max was back with Ruby Tuesday, Rocket, Highlander, D’Artagnon, Gambler and Surgeon. At the last minute Raptor, Quick sticks and Traveler also arrived and were ready to hit the road. Raptor and Traveler planned on meeting us at Carl’s while the rest of us headed towards Acacia and Kirby with Ruby Tuesday leading the way.

Ruby Tuesday said she was going to take it easy but with the pace she was setting I wasn’t so sure. We quickly made the turn onto Kirby and again on Cypress where we backed it down a bit as we worked our way towards Johnston.


Quick sticks hadn’t been out with us much this year any more than Surgeon had but both were riding well. In fact the entire group seemed to me moving effortlessly as we approached Johnston where we were going to turn towards Sanderson and then over to Wentworth to head past the airport.

We scooted past the airport and out onto Stetson heading for Warren Road. Still we were riding well within ourselves and the pace seemed rather relaxed. Rocket took the lead just before California and we turned south towards Stowe. Once heading west on Stowe rocket picked up the pace a bit but before we got to the old barn Gambler and D’Artagnon dropped the hammer and I tried to stay ahead of the rush only to be ran down at least 200 yards before the parking lot. After we regrouped Rocket, Gambler, D’Artagnon, Ruby Tuesday and Surgeon took off first with Highlander, Dura-max and I following. Quick sticks had left us at Warren Road so we didn’t see him after that cross street. We did manage to regroup with everyone at Domenigoni and once again at the entrance to the water park before heading east to State Street and back to Stetson.

Rocket led Gambler and D’Artagnon rapidly towards the golf course while I pulled the rest of the group in the same direction. I started out pulling on Dominigoni and continued pulling as we headed north on State. We were rolling along at just a touch over 20 as we got to the little rise just before Chambers. It was here that Highlander decided to come around me in a full sprint and started to pull away. It was a well timed pass and I never had a chance to catch his back wheel. So much for going east being too hard for him?

We ended up taking Stetson all the way to Fairview where Gambler and D’Artagnon had to catch up to us at Fairview and Florida. Rocket had already gone home but the rest of the group headed towards Cranston Station and regrouped once more. As we were sitting there we noticed Quick Sticks coming back down the hill.

Shortly after Quick Sticks passed us we started back towards Carl’s and soon we were in a pace line and could see him in the distance. Much to my disappointment the wind seemed to be blowing from the west and made it hard to hold a fast pace or give us a chance to close on Quick Sticks but we did our best all the way back to Fairview. Surgeon took the lead after Fairview and we followed him all the way to the Carl’s Parking lot. However I kept an eye on Highlander all the way in case he got another spurt of energy but he gave me a break and followed us to the parking lot as well.

As we sat down to have coffee Raptor and Traveler pulled up and joined us. We had some good conversation and caught our breath for about 20 minutes before we all decided to head back west and home. Raptor and Dura-max broke off by the time we got back to Park and Ruby Tuesday left us at Lyon while I continued on with Surgeon, Highlander and Quick Sticks back to Burger King. It turned out to be a pretty good ride and the wind wasn’t real bad. Still I ended up with just over 40 miles and maybe just a touch of Sun Burn. Not bad for March?

3/09/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


There is a reason they call where we live Sunny Southern California and today was proof of that reason. Looking outside of my front window I could see it was going to be a beautiful day. Clear blue skies and some warm sun with almost no wind sounds like a day made to order for a bicycle ride and that is just what we got.

When I got to the parking lot I could see Centaur and Wolf unloading their bikes and Blood Hound was right behind me. Rocket and D’Artagnon arrived just before Traveler and Highlander. Then came T-3 and Raptor followed by Sherpa. Just before we were ready to leave Cyco-bob pulled up but he was going to have to cut his ride short so he didn’t plan on riding with us. When we headed down Gilmore there was just seven of us with T-3, Sherpa, and Cyco-bob heading in another direction and Raptor, Wart and Traveler heading out as the C group.


We made the turn onto Kirby and quickly headed for Cypress to make to cut over to Sanderson and then jog over towards the airport. We thought we were in luck as we closed in on the light at Wentworth because there was a car already at the light that we figured would trip the light so we could make the turn as a group. It took two cycles before we made the left and headed towards the Hemet Ryan airport.

While we were waiting for the light at Wentworth we saw Raptor and Wart coming north on Sanderson to make the turn ahead of us. Both Raptor and Wart seem to know every shortcut in the city so all you have to do is tell them where you are going and when you will be there and they can arrive about the same time the A group does. Not that we were planning on running at A group pace but still we were a bit quicker than the average B group pace. They were halfway down the block before we made the turn and it took us a while to catch them.

Once we passed the airport and were out onto Stetson I took the lead and pulled us to California before turning towards Stowe. I was still in the lead at Stowe as we started towards Winchester and I stayed there for about the first third of the road. Soon I saw Rocket, D’Artagnon, Blood Hound and Wolf blast by in a sprint watch as they pulled away heading past the big barn and turning into the parking lot at Winchester and Stowe.

We took a quick breather before heading back out onto Winchester for the Dump road. Somehow we were still all together as we turned towards Leon and still the pace wasn’t slacking off much. Shortly after Leon Centaur put the hammer down a bit and took Rocket, D’Artagnon, Blood Hound and Wolf with him. Highlander and I followed along till we got to Briggs Street and gathered in Wolf and finally caught back up to the main group just before we got to Florida.

The run up Briggs to Mapes was pretty uneventful and we all made it back to Florida and Menifee to regroup and fix a flat on Blood Hounds bike. We scampered over the back side of McCall and ran down to the end of the street before cutting back to Cherry Hill, Bradley and Newport. We stopped at Jack in the Box for coffee and conversation before heading back to the Domenigoni Saddle.

I made a run at the saddle only to be caught at the top by Centaur and then passed by Rocket, D’Artagnon and Blood Hound only to watch them disappear into the distance as we got close to Leon. Highlander, Wolf and I did a pretty good job of staying together all the way back to Sanderson without falling apart and for one of the first times I can remember caught the left turn light onto Sanderson just as it turned green. Wolf pulled us to Lowes and I got us back to Burger King. All in all it couldn’t have been a much nicer day and it was a good 42 miles to add to my year to day mileage. As they say, a good time was had by all.