1/30/2013 By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I got up and looked out Wednesday morning and it was dark. Normally I have breakfast first but today I wandered past the coffee pot and peeked out of the window blinds to a dark street. But at least the sky looked clear and we were expecting a nice day. Because of that we planned a bit of an adventure ride that would help some of us get ready for the Palm Springs Century. It had been reported that Railroad Canyon was open so a trip around Lake Elsinore seemed in order. It would be the longest ride since I got sick after new years and I considered it a test of my fitness for the century coming up. The ride would prove to be just the test I needed. I had breakfast, showered and got into my Club Kit and headed for the parking lot to see who would be joining me. Dragon Slayer was already there airing up his tires as I pulled up and Dura Max wasn’t far behind me as I rolled up to talk. Highlander arrived and our long lost Canadian Friend Chinook and his wife pulled up with his new Dogma on the roof of their jeep. Turns out they weren’t riding because they were sick but they said they would try and join us Friday. Bulldozer rode up followed by Rocky, Gambler and D’Artagnon. Huntress pulled up about the same time as Bloodhound and lastly Double Time drove into the parking lot. However he forgot his shoes so with a dejected look on his face he told us to leave without him, which we did right about 9am.

We quickly made our way to Acacia and headed for Kirby and up to Johnston and the light at Sanderson picking up T-3 along the way. I had promised Highlander I would try and keep the pace at a moderate century pace and pretty much had that in mind at least all the way to the saddle and maybe to Carl’s if we got lucky. We pulled out onto Sanderson and Bloodhound almost upset the plans from the start. But with luck we caught the light at Stetson red and I got a chance to get in front of him and slow the pace down.

I don’t think he was happy about it and by Mustang he was out front again and creating a gap. It wasn’t a big gap and the rest of the group was cooperating so we were close on his wheel as we rounded onto Domenigoni. Once we were headed west Bloodhound was like a puppy the broke its leash and he started pulling away. I fell back giving the lead to Highlander and soon found myself next to Huntress chatting away about the day and what she would be doing this weekend. Soon Gambler and D’Artagnon pulled around and I was afraid they were going to drop the hammer and go after Bloodhound. But they didn’t instead they decided to pull all the way to the saddle. Except Gambler finally broke out after we past Winchester. But D’Artagnon pulled us all the way to the regroup point.

We were next headed down the backside of the Saddle and we had to look for Bulldozer because he had left before us to make a stop along the way. I was going to pull over and call him by the time we got to Haun but everyone assured me he knew we were headed for Carl’s so I waited. We just started to pick up speed heading for Bradley when Bulldozer went flying by like a low level F-16. Finally he sat up and slowed down like pulling a drag shoot and let us pull up to him. Next Bloodhound took off again and like a fool I gave chase. I caught him but I believe I burned too many matches too soon in a long ride. Still we had a chance to recover and decide how to split the rest of the ride into two groups. Gambler said he was going to take the A group through the Canyon and on to Jack In the Box on the North side of the lake He had added Bandit to his group so there was a strong A group with a pretty fast B+ group following. I told the B group to meet on the corner just past Mickey Ds and follow after the A group. We rode together to Corydon and headed west where Huntress decided to stretch her legs.

Still Highlander, Dura Max and I kept the pace I had set and we followed Huntress at a distance all the way north on the west side of the lake. It was just our luck that what little wind we did have was right in our face as we moved north. The worst part for me was the wind seemed to be swinging 180 degrees but never to our backs. It didn’t matter however because we took turns pulling giving each of us some rest till we got to the cut off leading to Ortega Highway.

Soon we could see the road curving to the east about 300 yards in front of us. Huntress was already heading east well before we got to the corner but at least as we rounded it ourselves the ride seemed to get easier. The three of us kept taking turns rotating through the pull and heading past the RV parks before Highlander finally pulled us into the parking lot at Jack in the Box. The site of the other bikes parked there was pretty impressive.

It was good to take a break after 35 miles so I gladly walked in to get some coffee and join the group sitting at tables and talking about the ride so far. We didn’t get a chance to talk all that long because the A group was getting antsy after having to wait for the rest of us so long. As Gambler and Bandit started to put on their helmets we knew they would be leaving and hitting it hard on the ride back through Railroad Canyon. Huntress, Dura Max, Rocky, Bloodhound, Highlander and I left a few minutes later.

The ride up to Lake and south towards the Town of Elsinore was pretty easy and we were soon making our way through the old shopping area and back out towards the Mickey Ds we had past when we started around the lake. We were spread out a bit as Bloodhound, Huntress and Rocky worked their way out front and Highlander, Dura Max and I followed them to the Stop light before turning left onto Railroad Canyon road. Highlander jumped on the back of the Huntress group and pulled away from Dura Max and me. Not that we cared because by this time we were in cruise more conserving as much energy for the canyon and the ride home as we could. The front group did wait for us at the top of the last hill in the canyon so we stopped and rehydrated before heading for Murrieta.

The only thing left was the long straight grind home. We stayed together more or less all the way to Antelope when Rocky, Bloodhound and Huntress once again picked up the pace. We weren’t that far apart till we hit the Saddle and then I finally started to bog down. Maybe because it was so cold when we started I didn’t drink enough but my legs were beginning to fatigue was time to so I figured it was time to drop a gear and once again work with my friends to get back to Sanderson with as much gas left in the tank to make it home and actually get my leg over and off the bike. We got back to Sanderson and Dura Max stayed on Domenigoni to State and home. I followed Highlander to Johnston before heading home myself. I got home with a bit over 60 miles at an average of 16mph. Just the Century pace I will be looking for at Palm Springs. As I have heard said before, today was an example of why we live were we do.