12/28/2011
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)


Looking outside this morning all I could see was a baby blue sky and no wind. If it warmed up just a bit the day would be close to perfect. Still I put on arm warmers, leg warmers and a jacket to ride to the parking lot and meet up with the group. I got there and noticed Highlander was already unloading his bike and Blood Hound was sitting by the paper stand in the morning sun. Several other cars and bikes rolled up and I knew it would be a good group for a nice ride to Lake Paris. 8:35 and we were off past Pep Boys and out onto Latham.


We were joined by some friends that had been missing for a while. Cossack has been busy for months and Rocket was back again. Sue isn’t able to ride with us unless school is out. Torpedo was back with us and Vortex was back after missing Monday. Still it looked like we would have a good A and B group.

We managed to make to Lyon and head north towards Ramona. I took the lead and pulled us last Devonshire, Menlo and kept the lead as we got to Esplanade. For some reason I felt pretty good and everyone else seemed more than happy to follow at my pace.

Things stayed pretty much the same all the way to Ramona Road and then to Sanderson. We managed to catch the light on Ramona Expressway with two cars tripping the light in front of us. I told the A group that they would be going straight to the front gate at Lake Paris and the B group with hit the back gate. I figured they would make a hard push somewhere before Warren and just as I signaled that I wanted to give up the lead that is just what happened. Rocket, Highlander, Sue and I kept the pace at about 20 or 21 while the A group faded into the distance. By Bridge Street it looked like the A were shedding people. We continued on towards Lake Paris and Rocket left us at Lakeview.

Highlander, Sue and I met up with Hornet, Blood Hound and Vortex at the back gate where Hornet called for a ride because of a broken chain. We continued on around the back side of the lake trail enjoying the beautiful day.


It took us a little longer than we planned but we met up with the A group at the Marina where we decided to take a short break and visit for a while before getting ready to head back to Hemet. The wind had pretty much died off and the lake was as smooth as glass. We could see ducks way out in the lake in what looked like a swimming race leaving long wakes behind them that were undisturbed by any breeze. Still as nice as the view was we had to get back so we pulled away from the marina and headed back on the bike trail to work our way back to Ramona Expressway.

The group more or less cruised through the first part of the trail until we got through the picnic area. We were still talking as we made it to the fields on the east end of the lake and I got a chance to visit with Cossack for a short period of time till Blood Hound started to extend the pace and pull away from the rest of us. Cossack finally decided to give chase and by the time we rounded onto the south side of the lake we had closed to within a few yards of Blood Hound. It looked like we were dropping some riders so Highlander and I slowed down and regrouped with the rest of the group at the top of the hill leading out of the back gate to the park.

We made it out onto Ramona Expressway and soon Torpedo pulled to the front and started to make a run. I closed onto his back wheel and contemplated trying a surprise pass but traffic was not co-operating when I hit something in the road. I don’t know what it was but I flatted in the next few feet and everyone stopped while I replaced the tube. Once back on the way we split into two groups and again the A group faded into the distance. About halfway back to Bridge we caught Blood Hound and he seemed a bit off the pace. I finally pulled in front of him and pulled back to Sanderson and down towards Cottonwood. Highlander help pull part way and I took over again till we turned on Kirby and headed for home. We got back and Blood Hound was feeling a bit under the weather so we called to get him a ride and once we knew he was safe headed for home. It was a good ride with good friends and I can’t think of a better way to spend the end of this year.