12/26/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


The weatherman told us it was supposed to warm up today and even though it was the day after Christmas we believed him. However when I looked outside this morning it was below freezing. But it was colder Friday so I put on a base layer and headed for Burger King to see how many wanted to work off Christmas dinner.

All in all it wasn’t a bad turn out with about ten riders and a chance to pick up to more along the way. The only problem was there were eight A riders and only two B riders. It looked like it could be a long hard day for the B riders. Still I was feeling good as we moved down Gilmore to Acacia and then south on Kirby. Behind me were Highlander, Donovan, (Torpedo), Goliath, Rocket, Blood Hound, Full Throttle, Gambler, and D’Artagnon. We were going to pick up Hornet and Bandit at Walmart.


Everyone tends to use the ride to Domenigoni as a warm up and after a quick stop at Walmart today was no different. Somewhere I could expect Blood Hound to take the lead and slowly but surely pick the pace up as we passed Mustang. I decided it was best to let him pull because I had a feeling Domenigoni to the saddle was going to turn into a drag race and if I had any hope of hanging on I was going to need all the energy a Christmas feast could provide. Not to mention the extra drag from pie and candy.

Blood Hound started us off rather nicely and slowly got us up to 20 plus as we headed for Warren. To be honest I was dreading my turn at the front but before I got there Torpedo moved to the front and kicked it up a notch. We stayed with him and Blood Hound for a while until I looked back and noticed the pace line was straining a bit. I tried to back it down and let the two go but soon Full Throttle, Hornet and Goliath had moved around me and gave chase. I decided to try and stay with them and sat up as much as I could to create a better draft but by Wincheter we were hauling in Blood Hound and Torpedo was fading into the distance. We had to slow at Winchester and I noticed Gambler, D’Artagnon and Bandit weren’t with us. I took a call from Gambler and promised to wait at the saddle because they had to fix a dropped chain. I struggled to reengage the pace line but noticed Rocket and Highlander didn’t catch the jump at Winchester. For a few minutes I was suspended between the two groups but decided the Saddle wasn’t that far so I closed on the lead group, minus Torpedo, and caught a back wheel just before Leon. Goliath was pushing the pace hard as we headed for the saddle.

I happened to be in the number four spot when Goliath pulled off and then Hornet gave way to Full Throttle. As we hit the bottom of the hill I found myself on Blood Hounds wheel and I stuck there as if my life depended on it till he down shifted and I made my jump. Even if my heart rate was at 90 percent my legs felt good and I could only hope I had enough in the tank to hold the sprint to the top. Much to my dismay Goliath was right behind me and I wasn’t sure I could hold him off. Still I rolled to the top of the saddle to join Torpedo and wait for everyone to regroup.


We waited for Gambler, Bandit and D’Artagnon toarrived and tossed the gauntlet down on the A group giving them and extra mile uphill after Haun while the B group stayed on Haun all the way to Newport and headed for the Chevron. We took off for Menifee and the B group stayed with the A group all the way to Holland. We thought we were doing pretty well till we caught the light at Newport where we picked up Piranha and rode as quickly as we could to Murrieta. It didn’t work because the A group was already there when we pulled up. We took a quick break before pulling back out onto Murrieta and heading for McCall.

The group spread out a lot from Newport to McCall and the stop lights spread us out even more. We hit McCall’s Hospital hill and did a mini regroup before going down the back side and into the Housing track on the other side of Menifee. We could see the A group waiting for us at Heritage.

We rolled by and the group cruised along Heritage just enjoying the warming sun and the perfect windless day that we were having up to this point. I think everyone was also anticipating the run down Simpson because they know it can turn into a pretty fast pace line.

Somehow I got in the front on Lindenburger and made the turn east on Simpson. I started the lead out and built the line into a 21 MPH cruise. That didn’t last all that long and well before we were in sight of Leon Hornet started the hard run followed by just about everyone by Highlander, Piranha and me. Soon we noticed someone fell off the back of the group and we were closing hard on then as we rolled past Leon and Piranha took over pulling our little group. Well before we were halfway through the Eucalyptus trees we noticed some cars stopping and some of our riders were circling back towards us. Turns out one of our group had gone down hard and was still on his back in the middle of the street. I swear everyone was off of their bikes trying to render aid and comfort. When I Pulled up I noticed it was Full Throttle and he didn’t look happy.

I am not quite sure what happened but it seems like he may have touched a rear wheel and as we all know that is a sure sign of disaster. He was being checked out by one of the other riders and one of the men that had stopped to help direct traffic around the riders offered to give Full Throttle and hi bike a ride to Chris’s where we planned on getting him a ride home. I know he is sore but he seemed more disappointed at ripping his new gloves and tearing his foot warmers and leggings than how sore his arm was. But not to make a commercial for helmets looking at the scrap and damage to his helmet we were glad he had a helmet on.

The helmet is toast by the way but that is what they are designed to do. They take a blow one time like the one today and they are replaced. But it is easier to replace a helmet than a skull.

The rest of us rode to Chris’s and waited while Full Throttle’s wife came to pick him up. We had coffee and conversation for a few minutes after he left and gave thanks that he seems to not have suffered and serious injury. The main group left early while Highlander, Goliath, Blood Hound and I finished our coffee before following them back to Stowe.


It was a quick and easy ride back to California and Stetson and even past the airport. We broke off at Sanderson with Blood Hound and Goliath going south and Highlander and I going north. We got back to the parking lot with very little in the tank as far as energy but the satisfaction of having a good ride and good friends. I am sure everyone is with me in praying for Full Throttles speedy healing and a return to the group.