6/29/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) It was another Friday and another attempt at a short easy ride. I knew better of course but at least it would be short and even if it turned into a drag race I thought I could hold on for 30 miles or so and that is pretty much what I was planning when I got dressed and headed for Burger King at zero early hundred this morning. I arrived to see Coyote talking to Dura Max, Von Richthofen and 501. We exchanged greetings as Surgeon and Highlander arrived. It started to look like a small group till Ferret and Gambler pulled up followed by Bounty Hunter, D’Artagnon and Barracuda. Right at 8:30 we headed to Latham and over to Lyon and headed north.

I chatted easily with Ferret as we turned north on Lyon and I could hear other behind me talking and joking as we moved past Devonshire and then Menlo. There was no pace line this morning as we seemed more interested in conversation than they were with speed. Soon Highlander pulled up next to me and talked for a while before he fell back and 501 moved forward. The main group was never too far behind and yet not all that close either.

Ferret and 501 pulled for a while till we got to the jog through the houses to get over to Ramona and head east. Somehow I managed to get back out front at that point and for some reason no one else seemed to what to lead. I ended up pulling all the way to State and caught the light. I turned north with everyone else and once again ended up in front.

I had been feeling pretty well lately and my plan was to sit back and let Gambler, D’Artagnon, Ferret and Barracuda pull to Soboba and then through the two rollers with me on someone’s back wheel basking in the draft. But as they say plans don’t always work out and even slowing down do one seemed to what to pass as we rolled past the expressway and up to the College. By this point I was resigned to my fate and knew I wouldn’t be able to give chase down Soboba.

As we got to the first roller on Soboba the fun began. Gambler, Ferret, Barracuda and D’Artagnon past me and I thought just for an instant of giving chase. However I thought better of it and let them go. After the second roller I managed to give the lead to Surgeon and fell to the back of our pace line behind 501. I stayed there till we topped the rise at the driving range and didn’t move towards the front till it looked like Surgeon wanted off the front and Highlander was about to take over. I managed to pick up the pace a bit and attacked the last rise to the regroup spot at the golf course. I couldn’t hold off Coyote but I did manage to stay in front of the rest of the group till we stopped. Once we were all together it was time to start thinking about the second sprint and I was in a good position as Gambler led us down to the stop sign and towards the rive overpass. I got a late jump but Gambler never saw me coming and I hit the hill at full speed. However I never saw D’Artagnon coming and he past me before we crested giving me a second for the second time today. We as they say there is always another day and I felt good about my effort. We got split up when 501 flatted but managed to get back together after we turned east on Florida and headed for a regroup at the Ranger Station.

Bounty Hunter had to leave early so he turned back on Florida but there was still a good sized group for the run back down to Carl’s were we have coffee and conversation. As we pulled out onto Florida Barracuda and Gambler was once again well out in front and the pace was quickly picking up. I did manage to get a jump on the sprint into the trees and stayed there for about half of a mile before being run down by the pack. I finally fell to the back and rode behind Dura Max and Von Richthofen all the way to Carl’s. We stopped for a little while and Von Richthofen and 501 left first. We were only a few minutes behind as we started back west ourselves.

We lost D’Artagnon as soon as we started for Lincoln and Gambler left us a few blocks later. Finally we were taking it easy as we crossed Lake and then Hemet Street. Everyone looked very relaxed as we closed in on Park and got ready for Dura Max to break for home.

We made a left on Park and rode easily past a herd of Zebra that was grazing behind a chain link fence and in front of a Nativity Scene. Whoever owns that property has had a whole bevy of different animals and Zebras are only one example. Soon we were turning onto Devonshire and working our way to Santa Fe before dropping down to Latham and then back to the cars. I stopped and talked with Surgeon, Highlander and Coyote before heading for home and a hot shower. It was that far or that fast of a ride today but I have to admit I enjoyed myself.

The Attack of a Huntress

6/27/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) A confession: Right after I got my new wheels and rear cassette I was guilty of putting together three rides in a row with more climbing than I normally do. So to make up for it this week I put together two simple rides west with a lot less of the offending climbs. What I didn’t know was how fast they might be and who would show up for the easy spin. I managed to get to bed a bit early Tuesday and had plenty of time for breakfast this morning so I was feeling pretty good as I pulled into the parking lot first this morning. The next to arrive was Surgeon followed by Highlander and then Wart. We hadn’t seen wart in months and here he was with a new Masi. Huntress pulled up just before Gambler and that seemed to be about all we were going to have for the ride so we hit the road and headed for Acacia and then over to Kirby.

We made the turn south on Kirby and headed for Cypress with me in the lead. I will admit I was feeling pretty good and didn’t mind pulling in the early stages of the ride. It gave me a chance to warm up my legs and as we got close to the railroad tracks I got a chance to strike up a conversation with Wart and see what he had been up to while he was gone for all those months. Turns out he had ordered the bike months ago but never picked it up and thought it had been sold. Stopping by BSC he saw the bike in the shop and decided it was the right time to pick it up. By the time I had the details all sorted out we were on Cypress heading towards Johnston.

After getting a quick picture I continued on towards Johnston and after making the turn west we stopped at the light on Sanderson. Wart wasn’t sure how long he would stay with us all the way and might leave us when we started our run west on Domenigoni. But he did stay with us as the light turned green and I took off for Stetson in an attempt to catch that light green. We did make it through and headed past Wally World at a reasonable clip. Slowly but surely we started to pick up speed as we closed in on Mustang.

As we turned onto Domanigoni I had every intention on starting a nice easy pace line and holding the whole group together. It was just one of those mornings when 20 mph seemed like cruising and soon we dropped Wart and after the first rise I gave up the lead. Highlander kept the pace at 21 or 22 mph as did Huntress and Gambler but as soon as Surgeon took the lead we were rolling along at 23 mph. On Gamblers next turn we were rolling along at 24 all the way to Winchester. Highlander and Surgeon asked me to drop it back a bit and I did till Surgeon got back in front again and took us back to 23. Everyone was hanging on however but I knew it didn’t bode well for Gamblers next turn in the front. Sure enough just after Leon Gambler got in front and we were off. Gambler is a bit like a Greyhound that has slipped his leash and wants to run off some energy. This time I wasn’t giving up and chased him all the way to the top of the saddle where we regrouped and caught our breath.

After a brief rest we started down the back side of the Saddle and cruised past Lindenburger heading for Menifee. We managed to get behind a car before we could turn south but it wasn’t long before we were heading for the hill just past Holland. Surgeon took off towards the hill well ahead of us while Gambler and I took up a place in the back of the group. Gambler jumped the hill in front of me and I pulled up next to Huntress who was willing to attack ever hill today. We regrouped before heading to the gas station on antelope and Scott and then made our way to Haun and back to Holland and then over to Murrieta and then the detour back to Newport. Huntress was still attacking even the hill on Holland.

We got back out onto Newport and headed back up to Murrieta before turning north. Because we had already stopped at Antelope and it really wasn’t that far to Chris’s. So we headed towards McCall and cruised past the homes on Murrieta and enjoyed the fresh morning air. It seemed unusually easy to make our way to McCall and head back east towards the Hospital hill. I think it was here that Huntress decided to plan her attack. I can’t remember seeing her riding so strong and wondered how the hill climb would work out.

Soon we past Bradley and started over the freeway towards Hospital Hill. I should have expected something as we started for the light past the over pass as we rode past Valero Station. I was rolling along at a pretty good clip and the rest of the group was right on my back wheel. I pulled as hard as I could till we got past the first stop light and Surgeon, Huntress and Gambler flew past me. Surgeon pulled out just past the Highpoint light and Huntress pulled past him with Gambler. Finally Gambler got past Huntress as I watched her pulling away from me over the rise and finished the climb with a QOM, Strava: Queen of the Mountain, faster than my best climb on that same section. Her plan worked and she crushed me on the climb. Highlander and I didn’t catch up with the group till we got to Lindenburger and turned onto Simpson to head for Winchester and Chris’s. I did get even with Huntress by allowing her to pull me to the trees just before Winchester and then out sprinted her to the stop light, just to keep a shred on my male pride after being “Chicked” on Hospital Hill. Gambler left us at Winchester and we stopped at Chris’s for coffee and a little rest before heading for home. We got a chance to ride on the new pavement on Winchester up to Stowe before heading for home.

I stayed with Huntress, Surgeon and Highlander till we got back to the airport and then I continued on Stetson heading for home. I managed to keep my pace going pretty well and rolled up to Sanderson with one of my better averages for the week. I dropped down to Johnston and headed for home with still enough spin left to roll up to my street at about the same pace we had been riding as a group. To be honest I wasn’t all that upset about Huntress dropping the hammer on me, I was pretty proud after watching her improve after each ride over the last few years. Her improvement may end up making me work even harder.

6/25/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I look forward to Monday rides. I have had two days to rest. I have had two days to service my bike and I have had two days to miss riding the bike. So I was a bit fidgety while having breakfast and waiting to leave the house to meet up with my friends at Burger King. I got there in time to see Coyote’s new BMC as he sat and talked to Dura Max. Highlander and Tax Man drove up as we were talking and the Snake pulled up as well. The Snake’s friend Matt pulled in about the same time as Surgeon and Goliath. The last to arrive was Hornet and we were ready to hit the road. 10 riders isn’t a big group but it not bad for a Monday. We moved west on Acacia and then caught the light at Kirby. After heading south on Kirby and riding to Cypress we were heading west again. I talked with Goliath as we made our way up to Johnston and then out to Sanderson and dropped north to Wentworth and west once more towards the airport. We were going to have to modify our route and take Warren rather than Winchester because of the road work they are doing on Winchester. I took the lead and pulled us past the airport and out onto Stetson. We made short work of Stetson and I took us south all the way to Simpson before giving up the lead. We started to pick the pace up a bit and soon the group was breaking up a bit with three of us trailing. We weren’t that far apart when Torpedo came flying by and took off with Snake to kick up the pace again. We all pulled up to the light at Winchester together and I managed to get a rolling start so I could get back in front for another picture. The run down Simpson was done in three groups with Snake and Torpedo taking off and Goliath leading the main body about 100 yards ahead of matt, Hornet and me. In truth I wasn’t much interested in closing with them because I wanted to save my energy for the McCall climb. We did pull up to the lead group at Heritage and followed Surgeon, Highlander and Coyote all the way to McCall. Snake, Torpedo, Matt, Tax Man, Dura Max, and got caught at the light at McCall and again at Menifee. Coyote, Surgeon, Hornet, Highlander and Goliath had a pretty good head start heading for the hill. But Torpedo and Snake made a charge at it anyway and managed to catch most of the leaders before they crested. I made a pretty good run at the hill myself but couldn’t hold off Matt getting to the top first. Next it was left on Highpoint and then over the summit and down to Antelope before dropping down to Jack in the box for a nature stop. As we got ready to leave to continue south on Antelope Tax Man started us on our way at a pretty good clip. I teased him about pushing the rest of us too hard so he dropped back a bit and we settled into a pace line and dropped into a steady 17 heading for Garboni. I pulled for a little while before giving it to Surgeon who ended taking us all the way to Garboni. Torpedo already broke for home because he already had 52 miles in for the day. Snake fell back to chat with me and we joked about the Briggs Street TT and how fast the big dogs have made that run. All we had to do was average about 34 to get the record. Snake was going to try and pull Matt into the top ten on Briggs so I offered to start the lead out knowing full well I couldn’t hammer it all the way to the stop sign at the end of Briggs. It didn’t work quite like we planned but I did get Snake started at the requested speed and held on at about 22 to the stop sign. Snake headed for home at Newport and Lindenburger, Coyote took Highlander and Hornet down Domenigoni to Sanderson while Goliath, Surgeon, Matt, Tax Man, Dura Max and I stopped at Chris’s. Matt left for home first and the rest of us headed down Simpson to Warren to Mustang and then started towards Sanderson. Mustang is a pretty quiet and smooth street and we moved easily east till we got to the High School and caught the light at Sanderson. Once heading north on Sanderson Tax Man did him imitation of Highlander heading for the barn. I followed the group down to Johnston before breaking for home myself. I smiled as I looked down at my computer to see that for the third ride in a row I had pulled onto the street heading for home with a 16.4 MPH average. Sometimes it changes as I cruise home but three days in a row was interesting. None the less it was a good ride and I enjoyed it.

French Valley

6/22/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Fridays can be one of my favorite days to ride. The weather was supposed to start out cool and warm up as it got closer to noon. I thought it would be a good time to ride to French Valley and back to Chris’s to get in some extra miles for the week. I also decided I would take it easy on the ride and not push the pace so I could get home without feeling tired for a change. I even forgot to bring my camera because I planned on staying in the back of the pack all day if I had to. As we pulled out of the parking lot and headed for Acacia there were only six of us, Dura Max, Barracuda, 501, Ferret, Surgeon and I. I was surprised to see 501 without his dad but he is a strong rider and I was pretty sure he had 50 miles in his legs. We pulled up to Kirby and everyone was still chatting away as we made the turn south and we quickly made our way to Cypress and headed over to Sanderson. I took the lead and pulled us to Domenigoni and we started to take turns till Barracuda got the lead and pulled us to Warren where we saw Torpedo turning the corner. We finally caught him by the dry wash and he fell back to talk with me as we headed for the saddle. We stayed together to the top of the saddle and regrouped. I did shoot a cell phone picture. We started down the back side of the saddle and lost Surgeon at Lindenburger. We made our way to Menifee and turned South once more. I rode next to 501 as we headed to Holland and turned to Antelope and south again. I pulled over the rise and then watched as Torpedo, Ferret and 501 slid by and pulled away all the way to Scott. We stopped for fluids at Scott and then moved on south till we got to the turn heading to Whitewood. The long double downhill to Marietta Hot springs was a relief and gave us a rest till we got to the light and turned towards Winchester. Dura Max and I rode up the hill together and picked up 501 about halfway back to the gas station on Benson where we regrouped with Torpedo, Barracuda and Ferret. We left the gas station and rode together to Leon and headed north. Ferret, Barracuda and Torpedo took off and pulled away as Dura Max, 501 and I followed with the wind to our back. We lost sight of the lead group before we got back to Scott and never saw them again even after turning onto Menifee and heading north. The following wind was nice as we got to Newport/Domenigoni and headed over to Lindenburger. We all took turns pulling till we got to Simpson and I took the lead till we got to Leon. Dura Max took us to Winchester and we stopped for coffee at Chris’s. After a short stop we headed north on Winchester and got caught in a long line of cars waiting for some construction work on Winchester. A turn on Stowe and we were on the way home. We made another turn on California followed by one on Stetson before crossing Warren. Dura Max and 501 stayed with me all the way to Sanderson and down to Johnston before following me all the way to my Street before heading to the east side of town themselves. I got home with 53 miles on the computer and more rested than I have been on a half century for a long time.

Late ride report

6/20/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) The last few days have been pretty good for cycling. The group size has been pretty good and the weather has co-operated so I had no reason to expect today would be any different. It was cooler than Monday and the ride was going to shorter but there were three or four riders waiting for me when I got to the parking lot at 8am. People trickled in right up to 8:30 when we decided to head out to Latham and rode over to Lyon to start the ride. Vortex has been absent from the group for a while but at least he was with us today. Nike had a friend with her named Dave, Surgeon and Dura Max followed them and Gambler was in the back talking to Centaur. Once we were on Lyon we covered the distance between blocks pretty quickly. We weren’t pushing but it was just one of those mornings when the ride seemed easy. I was planning on making this a easy ride and early on it seemed like everyone was on the same page. Somehow Surgeon must have gained some extra energy and started to pull us along a bit quicker. I didn’t mind one bit because I found I like riding in the middle of the pack and so I sat back with the rest of the group and chatted away as we worked our way to Ramona for the turn West to get over to Sanderson. Vortex pulled up front and started us along at an easy 20mph. In only a few minutes we were turning onto Sanderson and waiting at the light to start the run on the Expressway to Bridge. Vortex pulled most of the way to Warren and I took a turn for a short distance before I fell to the back to ride with Dura Max. The group turned north on Bridge street and watched as Gambler spread out the group on a run to Gilman. We regrouped at Gilman and Bridge before taking off again for Sanderson. I chased Gambler and Centaur for a little while before backing off to let the group catch up. I didn’t need to wait however because the rolled right by me once they caught up and I followed them to Sanderson and then back down to Ramona for another regroup. We then headed east to State and made a short nature stop and Mickey D’s before getting back on the road. I am not sure about everyone else but the ride up State Street towards Soboba is always on of anticipation for me. I don’t want to push too hard because sometimes I get caught up in the hard run down Soboba to the Golf course. I had no intention of taking off with Gambler or Centaur if they dropped the hammer and I wasn’t all that worried about it after we turned on Soboba and I followed casually behind Vortex as we came up to the first of the three rollers. About halfway up the first roller Gambler and Centaur started to pick up the pace. As they past Vortex I jumped on their back wheel and tried to hang on. The Soboba run has never been one of my better runs and after the second roller Gambler took the lead from Centaur and they started to pull away from me. At first I couldn’t close with either of them and then just as Gambler started to pull away from Centaur I managed to close and get on Centaur’s wheel. It looked like Centaur was getting tired so I pulled around to pass on the little rise by the driving range and Surgeon when with me. Surgeon pulled past me and I ended up a distant third to Gamblers run to the trees where we regrouped again. Our next stop would be coffee at Carl’s so we started for the rider overpass and I managed to get over it before Gambler could run me down. However by the time we were heading back on Ramona I felt a bit tired and more or less cruised to Carl’s where we had our coffee and conversation. We stayed for about 20 minutes getting caught up on what we had all be up to for the last week before heading for home on Lincoln. Dura Max left us at Park and we quickly worked our way over to Devonshire and west. We had beat the wind and with the slight downhill taking us to Santa Fe where we had to drop down to Latham and head for Burger King. I stayed with the group till I got to Palm before breaking for home. Once again it was a good day to be on a bike with friends.

6/18/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Today was supposed to be an East ride but Saturday a fire started between here and Beaumont and I wasn’t sure we wouldn’t be inundated with ash and smoke if we headed on the Bridge to Soboba ride. So I grabbed a longer ride out to Ramona and Evans and back to Chris’s and posted it. I was a bit concerned because it has been getting warmer and we had some wind predicted. There was the extra consideration of the distance, 52 miles, and some might not be interested in that many miles on a Monday. Still we had a pretty good group at 8:30 with Surgeon, Dura Max, Von Richthofen, 501, After Burner, Coyote, Centaur, Highlander and his son Bill. I changed the ride a bit and decided to start on Domenigoni rather than come back that way. By changing the route we could finish the ride at Chris’s and have a short ride home. The other advantage would be we didn’t have many big dogs with us so we could set the pace slow enough that we could finish the ride even if it got hot. Once we got to Kirby and Cypress we picked up Hornet and started for Sanderson. I stopped everyone on Sanderson and explained that we should keep the group together by holding the pace down to 20 or less and that is how it started. I gave up the lead at 19 mph and most of the way to Warren that is how things stayed. I noticed Highlander and Bill dropping back so I fell back to see if they were OK but I was told they were taking a short ride today and would be turning back at Warren. I caught the group at the dry wash only to see After Burner pulling out of line and pulling away but the rest of the group held the pace. Finally Hornet got the pull and took us all the way to the bottom of the saddle before a small sprint started. We regrouped at the saddle minus Highlander and Bill. We had two groups left and two different rides left to do. 501, Dura Max, Von Richthofen would be leaving us early while Coyote, Centaur, Hornet, Surgeon, After Burner and I would be trying the whole ride. So it was down off of the saddle and north on Lindenburger to Heritage. We were still in pretty good spirits as we crossed Simpson and headed down Heritage to McCall and then onto Menifee heading towards the AM/PM at Florida. We took a quick break to re-hydrate and took off again north on Menifee. It wasn’t very hot yet and we still seemed to be able to keep a pretty good pace going as we did the slight grade to Mapes and got ready for the first long downhill grade. To me traffic seemed rather light as we picked up speed heading for the first stop sign. Centaur held us at a rather steady pace in the mid to low 20s as we got to Central and closed in on Nuevo. As soon as we reached the stop sign on Nuevo one group turned west and the other east and I happened to be with the group heading west towards Evans. Well before we got there however it started to get a lot warmer and I began to feel the results of playing my hand drums for Church on Father’s day. My wrist we getting pretty sore and I called for a stop on Evans and Ramona to take some aspirin before heading over the hill to Lakeview before heading back towards Menifee. Hornet and After Burner decided to climb Juniper flats while we continued on to Menifee and Mapes. We managed to get to Chris’s before them but I was pretty sure they were going to be slower climbing Juniper than we could be scooting down Menifee. And once on Briggs and Mapes we would be going downhill so if they didn’t beat us to the light we had it made. We waited at Chris’s till they got there. After we had coffee or cold drinks we got ready to leave while Hornet caught a ride from his sister, he had to be somewhere, and After Burner took off for Domenigoni. The remaining group headed to Stowe to start home. We moved quickly down Stowe to California and a slight wind started to blow from the south. The turn onto California was nice and we still had a side wind as we made it down to Stetson. Coyote and I talked in the led as Centaur and Surgeon talked following and we made it to Warren and then to the airport road when I split off for home. To be honest the heat gets to me more than it used to but with all of the fluids I took in today at least I wasn’t getting cramps as I got back to Sanderson and then took Johnston to ride back home. Strava gave me 52 miles and my computer added the distance between my house and Burger King for a total of 54 miles. Not bad for a hot Monday.

6/15/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) There is no need to try and control a Friday ride because it is going to be whatever it wants to be. Fast or slow easy or hard it will all depend on the mood of the group so I posted a ride and waited like everyone else to see who showed up to ride and let things develop. When I got to Burger King I was a bit worried because I was the first one there. But I had no need to fear because people started showing up within a few minutes. Highlander drove up and joined me over by the big store windows where we can stay warm. A car pulled up and unloaded Noah just before Rocket pulled up and Dura Max wasn’t far behind him. Von Richthofen and 501 came rolling in just before Gambler and Hornet. Ocelot rode in with her boyfriend Brian and the group started looking pretty good. Surgeon was there but he had work to do and it was still a bit cool for him. Then last but not least a blast from the past showed up and the Red Rabbit, (Richard) rode in on his Lapierre. Not a bad group for early in the summer. Because it was a west ride we took the traditional ride down to Acacia and headed over to Kirby. The only slight difference was with the younger riders with us it was a bit more like taking a puppy for a walk in that they aren’t slowly warming up but rather more pulling on the leash to get us moving at their speed. Still they stayed in the group as we turn towards Cypress and made small talk as we turned through the housing tract. As soon as we got through the housing tract and turned onto Johnston was caught the light at Sanderson. Once the light turned green we were off towards Stetson and a pace line formed. I always expect a pace line to form but not till we get to Mustang so I could see this as a sign that the group was getting ready for the turn on Domenigoni. I also knew if they were forming a pace line already that the group was willing to try to hold onto the wheels of the big dogs if they made a break for it. With that in mind I was sure I would have to give up the lead early once we made the turn. Just after we turned onto Domenigoni things started to pick up pretty much as I had expected. I gave up the lead and we started to rotate through the line till the pace started to spread out the group just a bit. Still we weren’t that far apart by the time Von Richthofen had the lead and we quickly came up on Warren and headed for the rise over the dry wash. Somewhere between warren and Winchester we spotted Bandit on the other side of the road. That revelation caused Gambler to take the lead and pick up the pace once again. That broke the group into pieces with Rocket, 501, Noah, and I joining the Gambler freight train. Gambler set such a frantic pace that by the last light he was shedding riders like the space shuttle loses plates on re-entry. He was first on the saddle. Once we were back on the road and heading for Menifee we lost Rocket as we turned the light heading south. The benefits of youth become more apparent once you have had a long fast run and a quick climb. The kids are fully recovered by the time we get to Menifee. In fact I could overhear a challenge tossed by either Noah, 501 or Hornet to race up the little hill after Holland. I was more or less resigned to just getting up the hill let alone racing up it when the three riders did indeed attack the hill. Attacking the hill however was like flushing a rabbit in front of the big dogs as Gambler and Bandit gave chase. As they blasted past Brian and Von Richthofen rolled by me as well. The big dogs caught them, I did not but half of us regrouped on top of the hill and then again at Scott and Antelope. Our next test would be on Haun. I didn’t realize it but Haun is a Strava segment and Bandit had a great time to beat on that run. So after we turned north on Haun I looked back to see Gambler and Bandit drop the hammer and head for stop sign on Holland. I decided to give a chase a shot, Fridays tend to be my play days, and as soon as I started 501 jumped in front of me and spun up rather quickly. I drafted till I was up to speed and finally passed but never managed to close on Gambler or Bandit. 501 and I pulled up behind the two of them at the light on Newport. After a brief nature break at the gas station we were back on our way to Bradley and the young riders were staying with the big dogs as we started for McCall. We laughed a bit as the rest of us followed on Bradley because for some reason Von Richthofen doesn’t like the McCall hill. The joke we always use is at least there is a hospital close to the top of the hill so if he falls over he doesn’t have far to go. We still had a good pace and no one was that far from one of the two groups as we got back to Cherry Hill and closed in on the turn up McCall. I actually did pretty well going up McCall and managed top the hill not that far behind 510 and Noah. Brian and Von Richthofen were right with me as we stopped to gather the rest of our group before heading down the back side of McCall and heading for Heritage to work our way over to Simpson and head to Winchester and Chris’s. We paced lined it all the way to Leon when Gambler and Bandit took the lead and started a hard run to Winchester. One by one we fell off as the speed increased and managed to regroup at Chris’s for coffee and conversation. We even found Red Rabbit waiting for us. After a brief recovery we were back on Winchester and headed to Stowe to start for home. Once everyone was on Stowe we slowly built up speed till we got to California. Bandit wasn’t with us because he left for home from Chris’s. Gambler decided to stretch his legs and headed for Stetson and slowly pulled off in the distance. Highlander started a run from Warren and got a good lead by the airport and it was there I was rejoined by Red Rabbit. Von Richthofen took 501 and Noah home on Johnston and Red Rabbit left me at Lowes. I finally got back to Burger Kind as Highlander was loading his bike back in his van and Shadow pulled up with a flat we helped him change. I got home feeling pretty good about the ride and we just over 40 miles on my computer. It is good to be with a good group of people and these riders have become friends as much as a cycling group.

6/13/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) There are some rides that are more challenging than others and Three Climbs east is one of them. There are times when I find the ride easy and times when it can be hard. Little did I know how hard today was going to be? I got to the parking lot a bit early to see the design for our club jerseys and to talk with some of the other riders before we took off on the ride. By 8:30 there were 8 of us heading down Gilmore to Acacia to start our move towards the west end of town. We caught the light on Kirby and Surgeon pulled up next to me and let me know he would be leaving us once we got back down to State Street. It was a bit cool as we moved south on Kirby and Surgeon was out front as we headed to the railroad tracks and the turn on Cypress. My plan was to pull as little as possible and to fall into the back of the pack as soon as I could. But my plans don’t always work out. No one seemed interested to going any faster than I was going so I got to stay up front as we headed to Johnston before getting back out on Sanderson and down to Wentworth. After turning towards the Airport I thought someone else would go up front but still everyone was content to just follow at whatever the pace I wanted. That is how things stayed till we were back out on Stetson and I took us over to Warren at about 19 or 20 MPH. Once we crossed Warren I started to get just a bit tired and tried to pull out of line but no one passed till we made the turn onto California. I pulled out of line again to take a picture and slow the pace down. Nothing much changed till we turned west on Stowe and I waited to see if a sprint started. Surgeon pulled up next to me and asked if I planned on making a jump and I said no. Then Gambler rolled by and started to pick up the pace quite a bit. At first I tried to catch his wheel but for some reason I just couldn’t push myself as much as I normally can and had to watch him ride away from me as we closed in on the parking lot on Winchester. Highlander pulled us down to Domenigoni from Stowe and I was rather relieved when he decided to do so. At the Light Gambler got ready to take the lead and soon we were headed back east at a pretty good clip. I managed to stay with the lead group consisting of Gambler, Rocket, Surgeon, Highlander and me. By the dry wash we started to break apart and I dropped back to pull the rest up to the Marina hill. Ocelot, Coyote, Dura Max and I got to Seven Dollar hill and started up only to discover Gambler, Rocket and Surgeon coming down after we made the hard left switchback. I found a good gear for spinning and stayed with it all the way to the top of the hill and turned to head back down only to see Coyote fixing a flat. As the tire was being repaired I stood there holding Coyote’s bike and looking out over a portion of Diamond Valley Lake. We are indeed lucky to live where we do considering some of the places we have to ride to. Just as I caught myself daydreaming Dura Max pulled up to assist with the tire changing. Ocelot was just a few minutes behind and she stopped for a while. Once the offending small piece of wire we removed from the tire and the tube was replaced Dura Max pumped the tire up and we headed down the hill to regroup with the rest of the group and head for State Street. Gambler started the sprint down State and I stayed with him till I blew up just before the rise and the turn onto Chambers. Surgeon left us and we turned on Buena Vista and again on Thornton. Finally we were back out on Stetson and then we lost about half of the group when we turned towards Ramona Bowl. Gambler and Rocket danced up the hill on their pedals and I started out rather well for me. I kept shifting into easier gears till I was spinning at about 80 rpm but only about doing about 5 MPH. I was the last of the four left in our group to get to the top and we lost Rocket as we headed for Crest. Gambler, Coyote and I cruised through the old homes till we got to Lake where Gambler left us and headed for home. For some reason I lost power at that point and Coyote had to pull me to Fairview. He finally helped me get to Carl’s where I cooled down and waited till Highlander pulled up and Coyote had to leave for home. Highlander pulled me back to Palm where I headed for home and a hot shower. I was pretty tired but still all in all had a good ride. Even making the ride a bit shorter I got in 37 miles so it wasn’t all that bad. It felt good to know people were there when I need them.

6/11/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) We had a good ride planned for Monday but you can never tell how many will show up because people are just coming off of a weekend that may or may not be busy. Still I was looking forward to giving the Flats a run to see how my new gears were going to work of not work whatever the case might be. After I got to Burger King it was surprised to see a lot more riders than I expected. Coyote, Highlander, Tax Man, Von Richthofen, 501, Noah, Rocket, Dura Max, Surgeon, Gambler, Hornet, and After Burner, just back from Phoenix. I found myself in a group of 13 riders heading for Latham and the turn onto Lyon to start for Ramona. It was an easy pace as we started north that let our legs warm up and got some of the nerves out. I finally got up front and started the pull north. Traffic was light and most of the riders were casually talking as we past one block after another one streets we pass every week. Highlander pulled up next to me and teased me about my new cassette before we got to Ramona and turned west to head for Sanderson. Everyone was content to just sort of sit back in the pack and save their legs for the Expressway. I took us to Sanderson and up to the Expressway and started our trek west. I signaled that I wanted out of the lead and After Burner rolled past with about four riders following and I ended up leading another group giving chase. Finally I dropped back and fell behind a group led by Rocket. Rocket pulled us to Bridge and then broke for home. The rest of us continued on well behind After Burner and his group. I finally caught the back wheel of Coyote just before the light where we would turn south towards Juniper. I managed to hit something pretty hard and flatted after making the turn. We may have lost Rocket but we picked up Torpedo and Bandit before getting back on the road towards stop sign about a mile and a half up the road. Pretty soon Torpedo, After Burner, Hornet, 501 and Noah past me and I dropped back to see what happened to Dura Max, Coyote and Tax Man. I dropped back to make sure everyone started up the climb and then I found a gear I could spin and started up the hill myself. Soon I was moving up to some of the other riders and I can say the hill didn’t seem as bad as it normally did. I followed Surgeon to the top and waited for the ones that had stopped by the big stop sign to roll over the hill. When Dura Max and Coyote past me I started down the back side of Juniper and began the fast run down the hill. We didn’t get far however before we noticed Tax Man pulled over on the side of the road. He had managed to throw his chain and somehow managed to turn it into a puzzle that it took Coyote to figure it out. We got back on the road and headed down to Florida and Briggs were we could see the others waiting. As soon as they saw we were going to catch the light they started out and we never managed to real them in as we headed towards the housing tract. I pulled our group as best as I could but more or less ran out of gas just before Winchester as we all stopped at Chris’s for Coffee and conversation. 20 minutes later we headed back up Winchester to Stowe to start the run for home. We were still in cruise mode as we moved east towards California until 501 picked it up a bit and made a run for it. I rode his back wheel till we got to the house where the dogs normally run at us. He looked up just in time to see me roll past him and gap him a bit before I noticed Gambler and the other heading our way at a good pace. We were gobbled up by Stetson and a few of us stayed together all the way to Warren. I only stayed with the group till we got to the airport road and I continued on heading for home. I got there and posted my time on Strava. I might not have been as fast as Gambler, Bandit or Torpedo but it was one of my better climbs and it was also one of the easiest times up Juniper that I have ever had. 37 miles and I still got home in time to shower before my son and daughter in law came to visit from Colorado. Good day to be with a good group of riders.