3/04/2013
By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)
I was just a bit worried as I looked outside today. I was expecting a bit of sun but all I could see was overcast skies. I thought it would be warm and sunny so I thought we should stretch it out a bit and take the long route to Lake Perris. I looked at the temperature and realized I wouldn’t need a jacket but I didn’t believe I could get away without arm and leg warmers. I had a quick breakfast and got ready to head to Burger King to see how well the legs had recovered over the weekend.
I may have arrived first but that didn’t last long. In rapid succession Dura Max, Digger, Highlander, Tax Man, Chinook, Artemis, Bloodhound, Bulldozer, Dragon slayer and his friend Steve arrived. Lastly Torpedo pulled up and as soon as he got his bike out we were ready to head down to Acacia and head south on Kirby? At least Chinook made it all the way this time without any problems. We moved smoothly to Cypress and headed for Johnston and Sanderson.
Bloodhound pulled us most of the way to Johnston and he kept the pace easy and relaxed. My plan at this point was to let someone other than myself pull while I rode sweep once we got into Domenigoni. As we sat at the light in Sanderson I wanted to let Bloodhound and Highlander take the lead and pull us past Stetson and on past Wally World. Bloodhound made it to Stetson first but he caught the light and we were more or less all sitting at the crosswalk waiting for the light to change. I ended up clipping in first so I pulled us towards Mustang.
I started the pull west on Domenigoni but quickly turned it over to Bloodhound and fell back to the tail end of the group so I could pick up any stragglers that might drop out of the pack. It worked pretty well except there was just a bit of the slinky effect most of the way to Warren. At Warren Digger broke as did Dura Max and Tax Man. I fell back to pull Digger and Tax man pulled Dura Max up to both of us. We became the B group as we worked our way to Winchester just missing a regroup at the light when it turned green before we caught the lead group. We followed about 200 yards behind them all the way to the saddle.
After the shedding of a few jackets and arm warmers we were ready to get back on the road and drop off of the back side of the Saddle and head to Lindenburger and head north. At this point we broke into three groups almost like World War 2 airplanes. We had the fighters out front with the Torpedo planes in the middle and the bombers following in the back. It more or less stayed that way all the way to the AM/PM where we made a nature stop before heading back out onto Menifee and the run to Nuevo. Once again the fighters took off to the front but this time they took a torpedo plane or two with them. After we past Mapes Chinook and I took over and pulled our group up to the stragglers from the lead group and turned on Nuevo to head west towards Evans.
As we closed in on Evans I realized we had a rider missing. Digger had fallen off of the draft and because he still had his jacket on trying to catch up was a real struggle. I stopped at the corner and could just see a small figure moving down the road towards me. Digger waved me on as if he didn’t need the company but that isn’t how we work it so we rode together north to Ramona and headed for the front gate at Lake Perris. We pulled onto the hill a bit behind Tax Man and Dura Max but we were all together as we had to walk our bikes around the locked gate leading towards the Marina.
After munching down energy and fiber bars and rehydrating a bit while catching up on everybody’s weekend we got ready to leave and started moving back out into the parking lot. The next part of the ride is one of the most peaceful as it is a bike trail that leads all the way around the east end of the Lake and out the south east gate.
I noticed the big dogs were moving up as we got closer to the park exit. Bloodhound was extending a breakaway and I knew sooner or later a chase would take place. I stayed with our original B group and took them around the lake and back out onto Bernasconi so we could start the run down Ramona Expressway towards home.
We got back out of the back gate and down onto Ramona with a fast downhill heading towards Lakeview. We picked up Highlander at the bridge and once again I was out front by Hansen. I will freely admit the wind was getting to me after a while and soon Highlander came up and pulled for the next two miles or so. We took turns all the way back to Sanderson. We decided to stay on Sanderson all the way to Devonshire and once again we worked together heading south. This time it seemed like we had the wind to our back and we made short work of Cottonwood and Esplinade.
Digger and Dura Max left us at Menlo while Highlander pulled Tax man and I to Devonshire and then back east. We were moving at a pretty good clip as we crossed Kirby and finally turned onto Gilmore once more to find Dragon Slayer and Steve loading up their truck just as we pulled up to Highlander’s van. About 10 minutes later I was pulling up to my house with 52 miles on the clock and a feeling of accomplishment. It started off over cast but ended up a beautiful day.
I may have arrived first but that didn’t last long. In rapid succession Dura Max, Digger, Highlander, Tax Man, Chinook, Artemis, Bloodhound, Bulldozer, Dragon slayer and his friend Steve arrived. Lastly Torpedo pulled up and as soon as he got his bike out we were ready to head down to Acacia and head south on Kirby? At least Chinook made it all the way this time without any problems. We moved smoothly to Cypress and headed for Johnston and Sanderson.
Bloodhound pulled us most of the way to Johnston and he kept the pace easy and relaxed. My plan at this point was to let someone other than myself pull while I rode sweep once we got into Domenigoni. As we sat at the light in Sanderson I wanted to let Bloodhound and Highlander take the lead and pull us past Stetson and on past Wally World. Bloodhound made it to Stetson first but he caught the light and we were more or less all sitting at the crosswalk waiting for the light to change. I ended up clipping in first so I pulled us towards Mustang.
I started the pull west on Domenigoni but quickly turned it over to Bloodhound and fell back to the tail end of the group so I could pick up any stragglers that might drop out of the pack. It worked pretty well except there was just a bit of the slinky effect most of the way to Warren. At Warren Digger broke as did Dura Max and Tax Man. I fell back to pull Digger and Tax man pulled Dura Max up to both of us. We became the B group as we worked our way to Winchester just missing a regroup at the light when it turned green before we caught the lead group. We followed about 200 yards behind them all the way to the saddle.
After the shedding of a few jackets and arm warmers we were ready to get back on the road and drop off of the back side of the Saddle and head to Lindenburger and head north. At this point we broke into three groups almost like World War 2 airplanes. We had the fighters out front with the Torpedo planes in the middle and the bombers following in the back. It more or less stayed that way all the way to the AM/PM where we made a nature stop before heading back out onto Menifee and the run to Nuevo. Once again the fighters took off to the front but this time they took a torpedo plane or two with them. After we past Mapes Chinook and I took over and pulled our group up to the stragglers from the lead group and turned on Nuevo to head west towards Evans.
As we closed in on Evans I realized we had a rider missing. Digger had fallen off of the draft and because he still had his jacket on trying to catch up was a real struggle. I stopped at the corner and could just see a small figure moving down the road towards me. Digger waved me on as if he didn’t need the company but that isn’t how we work it so we rode together north to Ramona and headed for the front gate at Lake Perris. We pulled onto the hill a bit behind Tax Man and Dura Max but we were all together as we had to walk our bikes around the locked gate leading towards the Marina.
After munching down energy and fiber bars and rehydrating a bit while catching up on everybody’s weekend we got ready to leave and started moving back out into the parking lot. The next part of the ride is one of the most peaceful as it is a bike trail that leads all the way around the east end of the Lake and out the south east gate.
I noticed the big dogs were moving up as we got closer to the park exit. Bloodhound was extending a breakaway and I knew sooner or later a chase would take place. I stayed with our original B group and took them around the lake and back out onto Bernasconi so we could start the run down Ramona Expressway towards home.
We got back out of the back gate and down onto Ramona with a fast downhill heading towards Lakeview. We picked up Highlander at the bridge and once again I was out front by Hansen. I will freely admit the wind was getting to me after a while and soon Highlander came up and pulled for the next two miles or so. We took turns all the way back to Sanderson. We decided to stay on Sanderson all the way to Devonshire and once again we worked together heading south. This time it seemed like we had the wind to our back and we made short work of Cottonwood and Esplinade.
Digger and Dura Max left us at Menlo while Highlander pulled Tax man and I to Devonshire and then back east. We were moving at a pretty good clip as we crossed Kirby and finally turned onto Gilmore once more to find Dragon Slayer and Steve loading up their truck just as we pulled up to Highlander’s van. About 10 minutes later I was pulling up to my house with 52 miles on the clock and a feeling of accomplishment. It started off over cast but ended up a beautiful day.
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