By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)
5/20/13
When I started planning for today’s ride I looked carefully looked at all of the weather reports and it looked like a nice day with just a little wind. With an expected high of 84 in the afternoon how could it be any less than close to perfect for a half century? So I had breakfast, a Strawberry, raspberry, banana smoothie, got dressed and went out to check my bike tires. I headed for Burger King expecting to have coffee with Digger and we would wait and see how many others wanted to give Lake Perris a Shot.
Sure enough Digger was there when I pulled up and we were drinking our coffee when Dura Max arrived. We couldn’t wait by the windows however because by 8:05 it was just too hot to stand in the open under the sun. To our surprise Highlander pulled up to talk to us about his bike repair and while he was there Tax man pulled up. Next came Torpedo followed by Bulldozer and Bloodhound. Bounty Hunter showed up to my surprise because I hadn’t seen him in months. Coyote arrived followed by T-3 and Ruby Tuesday and all we had to wait for was Gambler who texted me he was on his way. We headed out onto Gilmore as soon as Gambler pulled up.
I was a little stiff as we moved down Gilmore and that was a bit surprising as well because it was a lot warmer than Friday and I felt pretty good on Friday. As we rounded the corner onto Acacia I fell in behind Ruby Tuesday and followed her to the turning lane and caught the light at Kirby. While we sat there Bloodhound pulled up next to me and waited for the light. I knew I would have to get on the stick if I wanted to lead us to the railroad tracks because Bloodhound always starts off fast when the light changes. But I got clipped in first and got the lead.
Now all we had to do was make the turn onto Cypress and ride through the housing tract and over to Johnston. I will admit I was just a bit apprehensive about the run west on Domenigoni because I wasn’t sure I had much energy in my legs if the pack was much over 18. That thought was fresh in my mind as we finally turned onto Sanderson and crossed Stetson. Bloodhound took over the pull and picked up the pace, far too early for me by the way, and to my horror Dura Max, T-3, and Ruby Tuesday took off with him. We were pushing 20 as we crossed Mustang and I had to fall in behind Bounty Hunter and let him pull me up to the fleeing foursome.
Bloodhound took us around the corner and west on Domenigoni and quickly had us up to 20 with Dura Max, Ruby Tuesday, T-3 and Bounty Hunter right on his wheel. The thing about Bloodhound is you never know how long he will pull and today was almost a marathon pull as he took us past Warren and over the dry wash. He didn’t give up there however and still had the lead heading to Leon. However Torpedo pulled up to relieve him and as soon as he took the lead Gambler and Bulldozer attacked and four of them took off without the rest of us. Dura Max and Digger pulled for a bit before Ruby Tuesday took over and pulled away herself with me on her wheel all the way to the regroup on top of the Saddle.
We didn’t stay on the Saddle all that long and the A group was part way down the hill as we got started towards Lindenburger. As we started down the backside I had to crank it up to get in front and get a quick picture of the A group. This time of the year we let the A group run their own pace once they get to Domenigoni, Ramona, or Stowe so I thought once they were on Lindenburger they would be gone and we wouldn’t see them till we got to the AM/PM.
To my surprise the A group stayed with us on Lindenburger and we were close to them all the way to McCall and then onto Menifee. We spread out a bit on Menifee and watched them pull into the AM/PM with some of us following. Bounty Hunter left early so he wasn’t with us as I turned into the driveway and Dura Max, Ruby Tuesday, T-3 and Coyote continued on over Florida while Tax Man stopped for a nature break. By the time we were back on the bikes and headed north on Menifee I knew the chase would be on even with me starting the run. Soon Bloodhound passed me and then Gambler, Bulldozer and Torpedo took off. Bloodhound started to follow but soon the three started pulling away before he could catch a wheel and he was dropped. Still he was 100 yards in front of me. I knew trying to close with the big dogs would be a waste of energy so I set a reasonable pace and pulled digger and Tax Man to Nuevo and west towards Evans.
We saw Bloodhound waiting for us about two blocks before Evans and he seemed to be fine and started up as soon as we past him. I took the lead to Evans and started us north even if I pulled begrudgingly at this point. It was getting hot already and we hadn’t made it to Lake Perris yet. I felt like I might be fading as we past Orange and rounded the bend to the first stop light. We caught it green and by Ryder we could see the Dura Max group waiting at the light. My spirits were lifted once we caught them and headed for Ramona.
Coyote was in good form and I fell back to talk with him as we moved north. I teased him about how his facial hair made him look like a bad guy gun slinger in a western but if you know Coyote you know that only encouraged him. And encouraging him means he teased me back at least two fold. He knew full well I had almost burned myself out trying to pull Digger and Tax Man up to his group so he also knew full well I was dreading the climb to the dam going into the park. So as we made the right turn onto Ramona and got ready to turn towards the park he pulled up behind me and pushed me all the way into the turn lane and towards the turn. I did have enough to pull ahead and get a picture heading towards the gate.
The group let me get away so I was through the gate and started up the hill chasing Bloodhound. Now it was getting real hot and as I made the first rise before the Indian Museum I saw Ruby Tuesday gaining on me pretty fast. It was all I could do to stay in front of her till the turn on the frontage road leading to the Marina. Bloodhound took the long way to the Marina so I got to the deck first to meet with Gambler as he was about to leave with Bulldozer and Torpedo. They had appointments and I knew we would never be able to keep up with them anyway so they headed for home.
The rest of us took a short break and followed down the bike path towards the back gate.
Once again we lost Bloodhound well before we got to the back gate of Lake Perris. When we pulled out onto Ramona Ruby Tuesday and T-3 lead us back towards Lakeview where Coyote had left for home before we got there. Tax Man and Digger got a bit of a lead on us at the light but Tax Man waited while Digger continued on. It was just our luck that the wind decided to hit us in the face. We all took turns chasing Digger and once Ruby Tuesday got back in the lead she acted like she could smell blood like a hunting dog. Finally she managed to run him down and we absorbed him into our group and headed to Sanderson. We made to jog off of the expressway to Ramona Boulevard and found Bloodhound waiting under the big shade trees where we stopped to regroup. Bloodhound was out of water so Ruby Tuesday and Dura Max shared some with him and we continued on at a slower pace towards Lyon.
By now it was well past 90 degrees so it was much hotter than the 84 or 86 I was expecting. I tried to keep the pace down and spin an easy gear all the way to Lyon and keep everyone from blowing up in the heat. Everyone behaved pretty well as we made our turn south and I made the mistake of ramping up a bit too soon and gapped the group. I slowed down to let them reconnect with the draft but Bloodhound rolled on by as soon as they caught me and took over the pull.
Digger, Dura Max and I turned east on Menlo before splitting up on Palm and going our separate way. I headed south and by the time I got back to Florida I was out of water as well. It was also close to 100 as I got to my street and pulled up to my house. Way hotter than I thought it would be and a lot more exhausting. Still I made it and had a good time with friends so as they say, it’s all good.
I was a little stiff as we moved down Gilmore and that was a bit surprising as well because it was a lot warmer than Friday and I felt pretty good on Friday. As we rounded the corner onto Acacia I fell in behind Ruby Tuesday and followed her to the turning lane and caught the light at Kirby. While we sat there Bloodhound pulled up next to me and waited for the light. I knew I would have to get on the stick if I wanted to lead us to the railroad tracks because Bloodhound always starts off fast when the light changes. But I got clipped in first and got the lead.
Now all we had to do was make the turn onto Cypress and ride through the housing tract and over to Johnston. I will admit I was just a bit apprehensive about the run west on Domenigoni because I wasn’t sure I had much energy in my legs if the pack was much over 18. That thought was fresh in my mind as we finally turned onto Sanderson and crossed Stetson. Bloodhound took over the pull and picked up the pace, far too early for me by the way, and to my horror Dura Max, T-3, and Ruby Tuesday took off with him. We were pushing 20 as we crossed Mustang and I had to fall in behind Bounty Hunter and let him pull me up to the fleeing foursome.
Bloodhound took us around the corner and west on Domenigoni and quickly had us up to 20 with Dura Max, Ruby Tuesday, T-3 and Bounty Hunter right on his wheel. The thing about Bloodhound is you never know how long he will pull and today was almost a marathon pull as he took us past Warren and over the dry wash. He didn’t give up there however and still had the lead heading to Leon. However Torpedo pulled up to relieve him and as soon as he took the lead Gambler and Bulldozer attacked and four of them took off without the rest of us. Dura Max and Digger pulled for a bit before Ruby Tuesday took over and pulled away herself with me on her wheel all the way to the regroup on top of the Saddle.
We didn’t stay on the Saddle all that long and the A group was part way down the hill as we got started towards Lindenburger. As we started down the backside I had to crank it up to get in front and get a quick picture of the A group. This time of the year we let the A group run their own pace once they get to Domenigoni, Ramona, or Stowe so I thought once they were on Lindenburger they would be gone and we wouldn’t see them till we got to the AM/PM.
To my surprise the A group stayed with us on Lindenburger and we were close to them all the way to McCall and then onto Menifee. We spread out a bit on Menifee and watched them pull into the AM/PM with some of us following. Bounty Hunter left early so he wasn’t with us as I turned into the driveway and Dura Max, Ruby Tuesday, T-3 and Coyote continued on over Florida while Tax Man stopped for a nature break. By the time we were back on the bikes and headed north on Menifee I knew the chase would be on even with me starting the run. Soon Bloodhound passed me and then Gambler, Bulldozer and Torpedo took off. Bloodhound started to follow but soon the three started pulling away before he could catch a wheel and he was dropped. Still he was 100 yards in front of me. I knew trying to close with the big dogs would be a waste of energy so I set a reasonable pace and pulled digger and Tax Man to Nuevo and west towards Evans.
We saw Bloodhound waiting for us about two blocks before Evans and he seemed to be fine and started up as soon as we past him. I took the lead to Evans and started us north even if I pulled begrudgingly at this point. It was getting hot already and we hadn’t made it to Lake Perris yet. I felt like I might be fading as we past Orange and rounded the bend to the first stop light. We caught it green and by Ryder we could see the Dura Max group waiting at the light. My spirits were lifted once we caught them and headed for Ramona.
Coyote was in good form and I fell back to talk with him as we moved north. I teased him about how his facial hair made him look like a bad guy gun slinger in a western but if you know Coyote you know that only encouraged him. And encouraging him means he teased me back at least two fold. He knew full well I had almost burned myself out trying to pull Digger and Tax Man up to his group so he also knew full well I was dreading the climb to the dam going into the park. So as we made the right turn onto Ramona and got ready to turn towards the park he pulled up behind me and pushed me all the way into the turn lane and towards the turn. I did have enough to pull ahead and get a picture heading towards the gate.
The group let me get away so I was through the gate and started up the hill chasing Bloodhound. Now it was getting real hot and as I made the first rise before the Indian Museum I saw Ruby Tuesday gaining on me pretty fast. It was all I could do to stay in front of her till the turn on the frontage road leading to the Marina. Bloodhound took the long way to the Marina so I got to the deck first to meet with Gambler as he was about to leave with Bulldozer and Torpedo. They had appointments and I knew we would never be able to keep up with them anyway so they headed for home.
The rest of us took a short break and followed down the bike path towards the back gate.
Once again we lost Bloodhound well before we got to the back gate of Lake Perris. When we pulled out onto Ramona Ruby Tuesday and T-3 lead us back towards Lakeview where Coyote had left for home before we got there. Tax Man and Digger got a bit of a lead on us at the light but Tax Man waited while Digger continued on. It was just our luck that the wind decided to hit us in the face. We all took turns chasing Digger and once Ruby Tuesday got back in the lead she acted like she could smell blood like a hunting dog. Finally she managed to run him down and we absorbed him into our group and headed to Sanderson. We made to jog off of the expressway to Ramona Boulevard and found Bloodhound waiting under the big shade trees where we stopped to regroup. Bloodhound was out of water so Ruby Tuesday and Dura Max shared some with him and we continued on at a slower pace towards Lyon.
By now it was well past 90 degrees so it was much hotter than the 84 or 86 I was expecting. I tried to keep the pace down and spin an easy gear all the way to Lyon and keep everyone from blowing up in the heat. Everyone behaved pretty well as we made our turn south and I made the mistake of ramping up a bit too soon and gapped the group. I slowed down to let them reconnect with the draft but Bloodhound rolled on by as soon as they caught me and took over the pull.
Digger, Dura Max and I turned east on Menlo before splitting up on Palm and going our separate way. I headed south and by the time I got back to Florida I was out of water as well. It was also close to 100 as I got to my street and pulled up to my house. Way hotter than I thought it would be and a lot more exhausting. Still I made it and had a good time with friends so as they say, it’s all good.
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