3/12/2012

By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)

Did you ever have one of those days that worked out well even if not one thing went according to Plan? Well that is about how today went. I planned for a warm day much like last Friday but that failed as soon as I looked outside this morning. First off it was dark because of daylight savings time. I often wonder just what are we trying to save daylight from? The second thing was it was cold and didn’t even pretend it was going to get warmer. The next thing was I had completely forgotten what ride I had posted and wouldn’t discover my mistake until after the ride started. And with a rather small group it did start right at 8:30. I took us out onto Latham and to Lyon to head north to Ramona. Several times Wolf and Highlander asked if I was going the right way and I assured them I did.


My plan was to ride Bridge to Soboba and over to Carl’s and that is where I was leading everyone. We only got a few blocks north when we picked up Dura Max coming the other way. He pulled around to join us and we continued on past Cottonwood and slowly picked up the pace. Everyone looked confused and I kept getting asked if this was the way I had posted on Saturday. At that point I was still pretty confident I was going the right way but every time we got to a street people looked at me as if to ask, “where now”.

Finally we turned onto Ramona heading towards Sanderson and we had to pull over for Blood Hound when I decided to ask where people thought I was planning on going. Everyone assured me I had selected Backwards Soboba. Well I was on the wrong side of town for that ride so I figured we might as well do my first choice for today, Bridge to Soboba. Blood Hound took over pulling duties and took us to Sanderson and Ramona o Warren Road where the pace picked up slightly heading for Bridge.

I finally moved to the back and shifted into the big ring to slow my spin into an easy cruise. We approached the first of the small dairy farms and I noticed it must be feeding time as all of the cows seemed to be looking at us with their heads stuck through the feeding bars and eating whatever they put in front of them. Row after row of cows were stacking up on our right as we got to Bridge Street and made the turn north toward Gilman where we were planning on turning back east.

The trip down Bridge and around the farms to the Bird Preserve is almost always peaceful even if now and then a truck may roar past us. Still all in all the road is lightly used. Wolf, Blood Hound, Chinook and Highlander decided to pull away and head for Gilman while Dura Max, Tax man and I took in the sights as we followed at a distance. Still it hadn’t warmed up any even if we could see the sun trying to peek through the cloud cover. We regrouped at Gilman and headed back towards Sanderson. Once we turned south on Sanderson it didn’t take us long to get back to Ramona and head east.

The sky was just beginning to look like the sun might break through as we past Lyon again and the closer to State Street the better it looked. It was still cold however and I simply don’t care much for the cold. When we got to State Street Tax Man suggested that we could forgo heading north to Soboba and simply take Ramona all the way to Carl’s. For just a minute I contemplated it but decided we needed the workout and headed north towards Soboba. I pulled from the expressway to Soboba and took us around the corner as we began our run towards the Golf course.

As we got to the first of the rollers Highlander was pulling and everyone seemed happy to stay in a pace line till we got to the second roller where it looked like Highlander was going to give the lead to Blood Hound. But as soon as Blood Hound got in front and picked up speed Highlander fell back onto his rear wheel and the two of them started down the roller and away from the rest of us. I attempted to give chase but to no avail and they beat us all to the regroup at the Golf course and trees. However we didn’t rest long and soon we back on the road heading for Washington and Ramona. We turned and made our final run towards Cedar and Fairview.

Blood Hound and Highlander took off again and managed to hit each and every light green while the rest of us got each and every light red. They were nowhere to be seen as we past Hemet Street and we didn’t see if they made the turn onto Cedar. We were rolling along as a group as we headed towards Fairview and chatted away easily as we past the fire station before pulling together into a bunch shortly before we got to Florida.

All we had left to do was turn west on Florida and ride past Casino before we zeroed in on Carl’s. As we got to the light at Ramona Wolf jumped into a sprint and stayed in front all the way to Carl’s. We parked the bikes and went inside to warm up and tell stories about the ride. Blood Hound left first but that got the rest of us on our feet and we headed back to Lincoln and headed home. Chinook went down Florida to stop by a tire store and the rest of us stayed with Dura Max till he turned for home on Park. Highlander pushed us all the way back to Burger King and we met Chinook waiting for us as we got back to the cars. I said my goodbyes and headed for home. I got there with just over 40 miles on the computer. And the Sun was shining as I pulled in. A good day no matter what I had planned on Saturday.