11/25/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


I cannot believe how slow a big Thanksgiving dinner can make one feel. I didn’t get home Thursday night till after 10pm and quickly tossed together an easy ride for Friday. I figured that after a night’s rest I would have digested that Thanksgiving dinner and would be up to a good quick ride to burn off some of those calories. I should have known it wasn’t going to be that easy as I struggled to get out of bed and get ready for the ride.

I got to Burger King and noticed Dura Max was waiting for me. We were there a few minutes before Blood Hound arrived. I had plenty of time to go in and get a cup of coffee before Sea Lion and Hornet, (David) arrived. To my surprise Sue decided to ride with us today. A small group but an eager one was ready to go by 8am. The group wasn’t getting any bigger so we took off down Gilman and turned on Acacia before catching the light green at Kirby and turning south.


We were rolling along pretty smoothly but I still felt like a stuffed turkey as we turned onto Cypress on our way to Sanderson. It was colder than I thought it should be and it was harder to breathe than I thought it was going to be. I was beginning to think that I should have stayed home and taken an extra day’s rest because it wasn’t warming up like I wanted to. We took Sanderson to Domenigoni and I managed to pull everyone to State Street and then to McSweeney to loop back to State before heading east. By the time we got back to State the dreaded shout flat and noticed Blood Hound was slowing down.

Flats are always a team effort in our group and this one was no different. Sea Lion and Dura Max assisted Blood Hound and we were back on the road and heading north within about 10 minutes. We moved north past Domenigoni and stayed together all the way to Chambers and Thornton before moving out onto Stetson to begin out trip east to Fairview.

We worked our way east on Stetson to Columbia and then to Crest to cruise through the old homes on the east side of Hemet. We talked and rode easily all the way to Lake Street before turning once more on Stetson. Once out onto Fairview we changed the ride and decided to ride up Cranston Station before returning to Carl’s. Sue, Hornet, and Blood Hound led us to the Ranger station and we took a short break.

We began to lose riders on the way back down to Carl’s. Blood Hound pulled us through the trees and I pulled us to Fairview where Hornet flatted and decided to call for a ride home. Blood Hound left us at Fairview and Sue stopped at Casino. Sea Lion left us at Carl’s so Dura Max and I stopped at Carl’s by ourselves. We were joined by Sue and after some coffee and conversation the three of us headed for home on Lincoln.

Dura Max stayed with us till we got back to Park and Sue and I made our way to Devonshire and continued west to Santa Fe before dropping down to Latham and back to Burger King. We got back with just over 30 miles on the computer and finally the chill was gone. I still had what I will call turkey lethargy and wasn’t able to pick up a very good pace on the way home. Still I am glad I got out for a ride but I realize how much diet has to do with our ability to exercise. I guess it is time to eat lighter and least till I am back on an even keel.