4/11/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


It started just a bit cool but there was every indication that today would be a perfect day for a bike ride. The plan was to keep the pace steady and not push or punish ourselves too much because we all knew the Hemet Century was coming up and didn’t want to start that ride with tired legs. I wasn’t surprised to see a pretty good number of riders as I pulled up to Burger King. As we pulled out onto Gilmore there were 11 of us heading for Acacia.


We were still catching up on conversation as we rode down Acacia towards Kirby and had to wait at the light before moving on to Cypress. Once we made the turn through the housing track it seemed pretty clear we were going to stay close for most of the ride even if we did plan on breaking into two groups.

We started to get into a pace line as we headed for Johnston and Blood Hound took us around the corner and out onto Sanderson. As we got ready to turn towards the airport I took over the lead and pulled us towards Stetson as we continued west towards California. Gambler and I rode side by side till we got to Stowe and headed for Winchester.

Gambler pulled us most to the way to the Winchester Parking lot and a pretty good pace before Rocket started the sprint that traditionally happens on Stowe. I decided not to participate in the sprint and didn’t see who got to the parking lot first. After a brief rest we started down Winchester heading for the dump road. As we turned west on Grand I took the lead and pulled us towards Leon with the group in tight formation right behind me.

I noticed we had dropped some of our group so I pulled out of line and fell back to help pulled them back to the main group. As we got to Briggs I noticed Rocket and Bounty Hunter were pulled to the side of the road and talking about breaking off rather than going on to McCall. They left and headed for home and we finally caught the lead group at Mapes.

I ended up pulling the group to McCall after we passed Florida and watched Gambler and Centaur crest the McCall hill first. We regrouped at the Chevron station and then continued on and made the loop at the end of McCall and back on Cherry Hill before stopping at Jack in the Box for coffee.

The group broke up after leaving Jack in the Box and I rode home with Dura-max, Ocelot, Sea Lion and Double Time. Dura-max and Ocelot were headed for State Street so Double Time, Sea Lion and I made a hard run for Sanderson and headed north to Lowes.


The day did turn out to be about perfect for riding and I ended up with a bit over 42 miles. One of the things that make such rides feel so good is the group we ride with. What makes our group different from most of the groups I have been with is we are friends as well as avid cyclists.