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.
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.
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