11/09/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


One thing about fall and winter group rides; you never know how many people will show up when it is cold. So today I was pleasantly surprised when we had 11 riders by 8am. My plan was to get a good workout and maybe it would help to keep us warm. So the Three Climbs east ride was selected and we headed south on Gilman and east on Acacia to begin our adventure.


Snow Goose decided to stay with us for most of the ride so I was good to see her giving the B group a shot. JATO brought a friend and would only be with us through Winchester and out to the Marina hill before they broke off and headed for Temecula by way of Saint John’s grade. I wasn’t sure how long Centaur, D’Artagnon and Blood Hound would stay with the rest of the Group if anyone made a breakaway but they were still with us on Kirby.

We seems content to ride and talk all the way down Kirby and things were still pretty laid back as we turned west on Cypress and cruised through the housing tract there. Things would stay pretty much the same all the way to Johnston and even out to Sanderson.

As we turned west to ride past the airport it was hard to keep Double Time contained as we past Hanger 1. But he persevered and made it out onto Stetson where Blood Hound took the lead and started to stretch it out a bit as he headed for Warren road. Soon Huntress and Centaur pulled around to give chase and not long after that D’Artagnon, Vortex, JATO and his friend took up the chase as well. That left Piranha, Sea Lion, Dura Max, Double Time and I to follow then on California and then on Stowe.

One thing about the cold, it take a lot longer for the big leg muscles to warm up and I am maybe the worse one in the group for taking time to warm up. I was in no mood to enter into a sprint on Stowe. So I was perfectly happy to cruise along all the way to Winchester where we traditionally regroup before splitting the two groups up and letting the A group stretch their legs. That is just what we did after the regroup at the Winchester Market.

We started to spread out as we headed down Winchester towards Domenigoni. The light at Domenigoni split us up even more and I ended up in the tail end of the last group. Still we held together pretty well till we got to the Marina entrance where Dura Max and Double time decided to pass on the hill and continue on east towards Fairview and then to the Ranger station. Snow Goose and I rode over to the ramp hill to see how far ahead the group was.

I could see that most of the group had made it past the steep part of the hill and would be back before I could get there so I decided to wait till they came back and get some shots of then going up and coming back. I couldn’t tell who but I could just see the yellow jackets of some of the riders heading towards the big right before the last climb.

I did notice someone on a Mountain Bike being over taken by someone in the group and I was very impressed with the closing speed of whoever it was that was gaining on him. Just a few seconds later I could see Centaur followed by Blood Hound and D’Artagnon heading back down the hill and not long after they were followed by the rest of the group.


We took a few minutes to remove extra Jackets, arm warmers and leg warmers and got ready to give chase to Dura Max and Double Time. Blood Hound pulled us all the way to State Street. He was still in the lead as we headed north on State and I was in the third spot as we headed for the sprint rise. I followed till Centaur finally made a break and pulled around Blood Hound. It was an aggressive sprint and ran my Heart Rate well past 165.

We turned on Chambers to ride over to Santa Fe. I returned to pick up Snow Goose and she stayed with us till we got to Girard and we headed to Ramona Bowl while she went home. The hill leading to Ramona Bowl is deceptive and get harder the closer you get to the top. We regrouped by the Theater and then headed through the old neighborhood. We still hadn’t caught Dura Max and Double Time but we were moving pretty well and still felt we had a chance.


We quickly moved east on Crest and headed through the quiet old neighborhoods and past the horse property. Blood Hound was way out in front and Vortex pulled us down Crest all the way to Lake. We turned north as a group and headed to Stetson with Blood Hound still well out in front and Centaur not far behind.

We once again regrouped on Fairview and got ready to head for Florida before heading east to the Ranger Station. Sea Lion stated the pull down Fairview and I was perfectly happy to draft him almost all the way to the bridge when once again Centaur jumped out into a sprint. I was ready and managed to suck a wheel for the first 50 yards before catching another gear and turning it into a drag race. My punishment for the effort was watching Centaur and Blood Hound take off on Florida heading for the ranger station. I got there last. Once rested we headed back down to Carl’s were only about half of us stopped for coffee. After coffee and conversation five of us headed back west to Burger King. I just had to get a shot of the Zebra on Park and then had to chase everyone to Devonshire.

When we stopped to talk at Burger King and commented how perfect the day had turned into. It was a bit warmer and the sky was blue as anyone could have hoped for. We had about 40 miles on the computers and I had just finished my last bit of Gator Aid before heading for home. It was warmer but when I got off the bike I didn’t need a cool down. Still a great ride.