9/14/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


Wednesdays are often one of the more exciting ride days because they are often some of the hardest rides we have. Today the weather was about as nice as anyone could ask for and the group was just about the perfect size. I may have arrived at the parking lot first but by 8am there were 10 eager riders ready to go and pulled out onto Gilmore heading south. We quickly moved to Acacia and then to Kirby almost straining to get to Cypress.


I had a feeling it was going to be a hard push once we got to Domenigoni and in fact it was a hard push heading down Sanderson to Domenigoni and I was in the lead with everyone lining up behind me as if they expected me to drop the hammer as soon as we turned west and headed towards Warren. I didn’t get 50 yards before Blood Hound yelled flat and I stopped to see who it was. It turned out to be me. I didn’t feel it but Blood Hound spotted a large screw in my back tire that would have cause a flat any moment. To tell the truth I thought my day was over because when we removed the screw it was a rather large hole.

Once I got the tube replaced and put Highlanders magic tire boot between the tube and tire I planned on kicking back and following at a respectful distance once we were back on the road. We had been joined by Attack cat and soon he made a mini break with Blood Hound falling on his back wheel. I decided the boot was going to work or it wasn’t so taking it easy wasn’t going to do any good and I bridged the gap just before the rest of the pack caught up. The whole group fell into a rotating pace line and by the second rotation we were past Winchester heading for the saddle. Gambler turned it into a drag race and I gave chase with D’Artagnon following. I couldn’t catch gambler and started to fade at the bottom of the saddle where D’Artagnon past me and I finished third with Blood Hound closing just before we stopped to regroup.

Due to the frantic pace set by Gambler the group had fractured before we got to Leon. Vortex and Sea Lion put up a good run despite the fact he was still a bit sore from a birthday century he had done Sunday. You would never had known he was tired by how well he was riding.

Highlander and Bud pulled up shortly after everyone else as Bud is still learning how to ride with the group. Bud also had a handicap of having to ride an old bike while his new super bike was in the shop.

Our next stop was going to be the Carl’s to refill the water bottles and then we would be heading for Goetz and the climbs. Shortly after we crossed Murrieta Attack Cat broke away again and was about ¼ to ½ of a mile ahead of us as we got divided at the light on LaLadera. As we turned onto Goetz we sorted into teams and headed for the hill.

Gambler, D’Artagnon, Jack Rabbit and Blood Hound took off to give chase and try and catch Attack Cat. I pulled Highlander over the first hill and until Sea Lion and Full Throttle caught us. Turns out they were passing us about the same time as Gambler and D’Artagnon had caught Attack Cat. Bud and Vortex caught us at the last climb but we passed them back on the back side heading for Ethinac.

I pulled us back to Murrieta and towards McCall when Attack Cat zoomed past well before we got there. We held together as a group and Full Throttle took us over to Bradley on an almost empty street. As we crossed over the freeway D’Artagnon, Gambler and Jack Rabbit say Blood Hound leading Attack Cat well up McCall and gave chase like a pack of hunting dogs. That was the last the B group saw of them as they took the lead going over the top of McCall and headed for Chris’s. By the time we got there they were already having coffee so we joined them.


We didn’t stay all that long and by the time I got a cup of coffee down it looked like some of the A riders were getting antsy and ready to head for home. Even Full Throttle was looking like he wanted to hit the road SO I downed the coffee and took my cup back in as we got ready to leave.

I pulled us up to Stowe where Jack Rabbit and Attack Cat past me and headed for California Road.

I started to drift back to make sure everyone was still doing good as Vortex and the pack quickly closed on and then past me heading for home. So far I was feeling pretty good and it took a little while before I fell to the back of the pack heading down Stowe.

Once we got back to the Airport everyone split up and headed for home. I followed Highlander, Sea Lion, Vortex and Bud to Sanderson where Sea Lion pulled off and then rode with the remainder to Lowes and around the building to get back to Acacia and head back to Kirby. Highlander was still looking serious and I wasn’t sure if he might break into a sprint and head all the way back to Gilmore.

Highlander decided to play nice and stayed with me all the way back to Burger King where we talked for a few minutes and made an appointment to go pick up Bud’s new bike. I headed for home and a shower and got there with 44 miles on the computer. It was a great ride even with bad back tire. I felt pretty good about the ride and can only hope others had as much fun as I did.