12/07/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


In 1941 today may have been a day in infamy but today was a day of clear skies and a long ride planned. It turns out that it was freezing last night but at least the sun was out and we had a hope of it getting warmer. I got to the parking lot to see Wolf was already there and unloading his bike. D’Artagnon, Huntress, Blood Hound, Spartacus, Donovan, Highlander and I were the only ones starting at Burger King. We expected more riders but they were meeting us along the way.


As we made our way down to Acacia I was glad I had my base layer on and a jacket. It may still be fall but it sure felt like winter. We may not have any snow on the ground but I suspect that if it had rained we would have had ice. When we got to Kirby it was almost a relief to stop and avoid the self generated wind. Blood Hound was the only one not in tights but he is only 21 so he can take it. The rest of us were bundled up and I was just short of wearing my Balaclava.

We made the typical turn onto Cypress off of Kirby and moved through the housing track heading to Johnston. I was feeling a bit stronger today than I had been Friday. I had already decided I wouldn’t try to pull as much today and save some of my energy for the ride around Lake Elsinore. We managed to stay pretty much together once we turned onto Sanderson even if we caught the light red at Stetson. As soon as we were rolling again I fell back to let Blood Hound and Highlander lead the way past the High School and onto Domenigoni.

We didn’t get that far before D’Artagnon dropped the hammer with his new TT bike and flew past us with Donovan hot on his back wheel. As we got close to Warren we noticed Vortex and Piranha in the distance and D’Artagnon and Donovan were gaining on them pretty quickly. The rest of us stayed together for a while till Huntress broke off to give chase and Blood Hound went with her. Wolf, Highlander, Spartacus and I took turn pulling till we got to the saddle and regrouped with the two additional riders. D’Artagnon and Donovan continued on to Meet up with Gambler, The Snake, Bandit and the A group.

As out group got to where the A group was waiting we rode on by knowing they could catch us before we got to Carl’s to refuel and take a nature break. The plan from there was pretty simple. We knew the B group would spread out going through Railroad canyon. The A group knew the route so they could wait a few minutes where we would make the left turn past Micky Ds. They could leave before we got there and I would regroup the B group and follow them to Jack In the Box on the north side of the lake. Before I got started through the Canyon I noticed D’Artagnon and Blood Hound standing on the side of the road with a flat. Wolf and I stopped to assist with the tire change. D’Artagnon and Blood Hound turned around when Huntress was coming back and Wolf and I regrouped with the Bs and chased the A group around the Lake.

We did manage to catch the A group at Jack in the Box before they had time to leave. We had coffee with them and some of us went outside to talk with some locals admiring out rides. After about 15 minutes we got ready to leave and as everyone got their helmets and gloves on someone noticed Bandit had a flat. We knew they were a lot faster than we were so the B group left while they were changing a tire. We got to the corner light and turned towards Down Town Elsinore along the east side of the lake with Spartacus pulling most of the way to Main.

Once headed back towards Railroad canyon Wolf took the lead and soon Vortex was on his back wheel. They caught the second light green and we didn’t. The A group pulled up next to us and were prepared to run then down on the climb out of the canyon. We had agreed to regroup at the top of the first hill and Wolf was waiting for us when we got there. He helped pull until we were all together on Newport and heading for Murrieta. The four of us worked together all the way down Domenigoni and finally back to Sanderson. We decided it was too close to the heavy lunch traffic time to stay on Sanderson so we turned on Johnston and back on Cypress to head for home.

It still wasn’t toasty warm but at least it seemed better than when we first started the ride this morning. The street was quiet and so we could ride four across and talk all the way back to Kirby. Once heading north on Kirby and heading for Acacia Highlander started to kick it into high gear and run for the barn as they say. He sprinted around the corner onto Acacia and all the way to Gilmore. We all caught the light red at Florida and finished the ride together. We only talked for a few minutes before I headed home. I took a bit of a roundabout way to get home so that I would have a full metric ride in for the day. It was a great ride and relatively trouble free if you don’t count two flat tires.