5/09/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) The weather finally started to warm up and I got another pass on Jury duty so I was looking forward to getting out on the road bike and putting in a few quick miles. I didn’t know just who would show up but I could only hope we had a good split between the A and B group. When I pulled up Highlander and Vortex were leaving the parking lot in their cars. I thought I might be late. But Coyote and Centaur were still there as was Surgeon and Dura Max. Torpedo and Gambler arrived and we learned that Highlander and Vortex had to go home to get some of their equipment and were coming back. Nine of us ended up leaving towards Acacia and starting our ride.

It was still relatively cool at the start of the ride and we didn’t run into any wind as we moved west to Kirby. We had to wait for a few minutes while the light turned green and then we headed south towards Cypress and the housing tract. I spent the time talking to Vortex till we crossed the railroad tracks and made our left on Cypress heading towards Johnston and Sanderson.

Once we got onto Sanderson I took us to Stetson and past Wally World. Surgeon pulled from Mustang to Domenigoni and we started the run towards Warren. I had already decided not to chase Torpedo or Gambler if they picked up the pace and sure enough Torpedo rolled by before we had gone 200 yards. Highlander and Vortex decided to make a run after him but I held my pace and watched them go. We managed to regroup at the light on Winchester. We stayed together for a while before Gambler and Torpedo started to pull away. Way up in front I noticed a rider that didn’t start with us and once we got to the Saddle it turned out to be Shadow.

We started back down the back side of the saddle and Shadow joined us. We got to Menifee and turned south once more and headed for Holland and the little hill. Torpedo and Shadow were well out in front and they hit the hill first. Shadow never ceases to impress me with how well he climbs. They crested the hill in front of me followed by Gambler and Coyote and I stopped at the top of the hill and waited for the rest of the group.

By the time we got started again we met up with everyone but Shadow and Torpedo on Scott and I pulled us back to Antelope and caught the light before the freeway. Highlander and Vortex past me and took us to Haun where we turned north to head back towards Holland.

Gambler took off and pulled Vortex and Highlander while the rest of us followed not far behind. When we got to Holland we turned west and spread out on our way to Murrieta and then back north. We had to work through a detour but that didn’t slow us down much. We got to Newport and then took a nature break at Carl’s before heading north to McCall and heading for Hospital Hill. Vortex started us with a good lead out and Coyote got a good jump as Vortex pulled out of the lead. We regrouped at the top of the hill before heading back down the back side.

All that was left was to run down the hill and over to Simpson to start the finale pace line to Winchester. Surgeon pulled us to Leon and I took us up a notch about half of the rest of the way to Winchester. Dura Max and I fell to the back and got to Chris’s shortly after everyone else for coffee and conversation. About 20 minutes later we were back on Winchester heading into the teeth of a wind that joined us while we were stopped and stayed in our face all the way to Stowe.

The dogs on Stowe let the first group pass before coming out t meet the second group. Still we all made it past them and onto California and down to Stetson. By the time we got back to Warren I started to feel the heat and decided to head for home rather than ride past the airport. Gambler went the same way as me but left me and I couldn’t keep up on the way back to Sanderson. I rode over to Johnston and met up with Dura Max. The two of us rode back to my street and I headed for home with 43 miles on the computer. Most of the ride was pretty good even if a bit warmer than I expected.