10/01/2012 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) It was another Monday and it was going to be hot. The plan was for an easy recovery type of ride because we had a century coming up Saturday and some did a 75 miles ride last Sunday. I was a bit surprised to see Highlander pull up after Dura Max, Coyote and Centaur. In fact he was there about the same time as Digger, Jerry and Red Rabbit pulled up. It wasn’t a big group but everyone looked energetic and ready to go as we pulled out onto Gilmore at 8am.

I was wondering how energetic the group might be today. It had been a while since we had Jerry riding with us and as I remember him he was pretty fast. Centaur was a solid A rider and Coyote could ride with either group. Sometimes it was hard to hold Highlander back. Dura Max traditionally was steady and Red Rabbit was still working his way back into the group. So as long as no one pushed me I was content to keep the pace down and let someone else set the pace as we turned onto Kirby and made our way South.

As we closed in on Cypress I started to back off to allow someone else to lead us through the Housing tract and out towards Johnston. Highlander started to move forward and pulled us to Johnston and finally to the light at Sanderson. Just as we got to the light it changed and we rolled through it and headed south on Sanderson towards Stetson. Highlander and Centaur easily led us through the light and towards Mustang.

Everyone was more or less together as we past Mustang and headed for Domenigoni. I got out front and got us started west and for the first half of a mile or so kept the pace at a constant 18 mph. Things stayed together till we got to Warren and I gave up the lead. We hit the rise at the dry wash and didn’t miss a beat but the group started to break up. On the back side of the wash were broke into three parts, Five in front, two back about 150 yards and one another 150 yards behind that. I let Centaur know that I would drop off at Winchester and pick up the trailers. Coyote had one and I waited for the other and we followed everyone to the regroup point on the Saddle.

Once we got ready to start down the backside of the Saddle I had Rabbit take the lead and the rest of us followed him to Lindenburger. He simply doesn’t have the mass to hold us off on the downhill and we caught him before Laguna and headed for Menifee. We got the light green and took off again for Antelope where Highlander started to get antsy before cresting the freeway in front the rest of the group. The light started to turn at Haun and we all stopped except Highlander who went through on the tailgate of a Ford Pickup. We ended up having to chase him almost all the way to Murrieta. He pulled over just before Carl’s and some of us got past and made a run at the light on Murrieta.

As we got close to Murrieta we caught the light red but only for a moment and we were off again heading west on Newport. I got a chance to lead us to the next light and made the big Zee jog over to old Newport and LaLadera. Little did I know that Rabbit and Jerry would miss the turn and have to come back while we all waited for them at the park of LaLadera. We had a long wait for Jerry and Rabbit to get to Goetz and back to LaLadera. Once we took a nature break we were back on LaLadera and headed for Honeyrun.

Rabbit downed some 5 hour energy drink before we left the park and he decided to make a break for it on Honeyrun. We didn’t give chase right away because we all knew there was a grade coming up as we turned north and headed for Cherry Hill. After the left turn Coyote and I started to run Rabbit down. Coyote past me and pulled us up to his back wheel at Cherry hill and the whole group was on that wheel by McCall. Highlander got a one light head start on us and you could hear Rabbit complaining that we had to give chase and not let him get away. I caught him just past Highpoint and backed down as I past. Not so when Centaur and Coyote past us they just kept on going to the top of the hill. Rabbit and Jerry didn’t stop. The rest of us gave chase a few minutes later as we dropped off the hill and turned onto Heritage.

Coyote left us at Lindenburger and Simpson and I started the run at Winchester. I slowly picked up the pace till we got to Leon and Centaur took us took us to the trees just before Winchester. I gave him a short pull to Winchester and wondered why we hadn’t caught Rabbit and Jerry. We stopped at Chris’s while Dura Max continued on towards home. As we had coffee and conversation we wondered what had happened to Rabbit and Jerry when Digger said he thought he say two riders coming out onto Winchester on the Dump road. We headed towards Stowe ourselves a few minutes later and followed Highlander up Winchester. He took us all the way to Stowe before giving the lead to me as we headed for California.

Coyote left us at Lindenburger and Simpson and I started the run at Winchester. I slowly picked up the pace till we got to Leon and Centaur took us took us to the trees just before Winchester. I gave him a short pull to Winchester and wondered why we hadn’t caught Rabbit and Jerry. We stopped at Chris’s while Dura Max continued on towards home. As we had coffee and conversation we wondered what had happened to Rabbit and Jerry when Digger said he thought he say two riders coming out onto Winchester on the Dump road. We headed towards Stowe ourselves a few minutes later and followed Highlander up Winchester. He took us all the way to Stowe before giving the lead to me as we headed for California.