By: C. Kent, aka (Superman)
6/5/13
Monday had been a cool day and rather lightly attended by the group. It worked out well because we had a new rider with us, Chrissy, and she had some time constraints but today was supposed to be a bit better and I had a harder ride planned. I could only hope some of the group would decide to turn out and hit Goetz with some of us. With that in mind I got up, got dressed, had breakfast and headed for Burger King and Coffee. At first it seemed like it was going to just be Digger, Dura Max and me. By 8:15 Surgeon arrived so at least there would be four of us. But by 8:20 the parking lot started to fill up. Bloodhound arrived followed by Coyote, Bulldozer, Gambler, Rabbit, Chrissy, Huntress, MacGyver, and to my surprise Quick Sticks. That was thirteen riders heading down Gilmore to Acacia and onto Kirby by 8:30.
As we headed south on Kirby I realized we had a great A group and a reasonable B group for today’s ride. It would be hard to tell how much we would spread out once we hit the parkway. It was with this thought in mind that I looked over the group as we turned onto Cypress and headed west.
As we pulled up to the light on Sanderson and Johnston the mood was still pretty mellow and people were still talking casually. Once the light changed Bloodhound lead us to Stetson and had us moving rather quickly past Wally World and towards Mustang with most of the B group in front.
Once we got out onto Domenigoni and headed west I took the lead and started us towards Warren. I tried to give up the lead after the rise but Surgeon didn’t take it and soon Digger came up and asked what speed I wanted. I called for 18 to hold the group together just as some of the A group came by picking up the pace. I wanted to let them go and soon some of the B group rolled by as well. Coyote and Huntress started to pull away and by the time I got back to the front of my group I only had Surgeon, Digger, Chrissy, Dura Max, Rabbit and Quick sticks with me. As we headed for Winchester after Waren Chrissy rolled by me and tried to close on Huntress and Coyote. I did manage to reel her back in by Winchester where Quick Sticks left us. Chrissy faded slightly by Leon and we joined the rest for a regroup together. We were about a mile ahead of Rabbit.
As I looked over the group I noticed Bandit had joined us replacing Quick Sticks and we were back up to 13 riders. We rested a bit and I rode back on the hill to see if I could spot Rabbit. Sure enough he was way back on Leon so I told Gambler to take the group to Carl’s and I would follow as soon as Rabbit arrived. Dura Max waited with me and we started down the back side of the Saddle about 600 yards behind the rest of the group. But we got all of the lights green and managed to catch them by Haun. The group spread out a bit as we got to Bradley.
After taking a picture of MacGyver showing off we all pulled together and caught up to the leaders at the next light. Gambler, Bloodhound and Bulldozer had backed it down a bit as did Bandit so we had gone into cruise mode as we closed in on Carl’s and had our second regroup. Rabbit left first and Surgeon decided to ride down Murrieta as we headed to Goetz. We hit the corner of Newport and Goetz together and looked at Rabbit closing in on the stop light and we had to give chase. Huntress took off first and by the time I got to the light the A group hit the light and dropped the hammer. I started a spin and pulled away from Chrissy, Digger, Rabbit and Dura Max at the first climb. By the top of that climb Chrissy came after me. I gapped her a bit at the first flat section and she was still coming at the second climb. It was my good luck to top the second climb first and gapped her again on the decent to the last climb. For a new rider she hit the climb hard as was only 30 seconds slower than me at the top.
Once everyone had topped the last climb we dropped down the front side of Goetz and headed for Ethernac. I warned everyone to watch their downhill speed because of the condition of the pavement and we headed for the regroup at Ethermac. After the bad sections of the road I dropped into a tuck and managed to hit 30+ just coasting before making it to the light and regrouping with the whole group. We headed to Murrieta and turned south till we got to the cemetery and turned towards Bradley. We were back into cruise mode as we passed the Emus, Llamas and other animals.
As we turned onto Bradley I started to feel a bit tired and when we got to the light on McCall I got a cramp the worried Huntress to the point that she forced me to stop at the Valero just to see if I was OK. After a few minutes I felt fine and the cramp went away so we got back out onto McCall and headed to the top of Hospital Hill. A short regroup and we dropped down the back side of the hill to pick up the A group at Heritage where Bandit left for home. We continued on towards Simpson where Rabbit was already heading for Winchester.
Part of the A group had attacked the Murrieta Simpson segment and rolled by us at the Simpson light. The A group were in hot pursuit of Rabbit and the B group wasn’t far behind. We got to the light at Winchester just as Rabbit turned left and then we followed him to Chris’s for coffee and conversation. After a brief break we headed back out onto Winchester and I got us up to Stowe.
No sooner had we started towards California than the A group decided to hit the run to Stowe hard. As they faded into the distance the rest of us managed a more sedate 18 to 20 mph all the way to California were I had just enough energy to pull us to Stetson and headed east towards Warren.
Surgeon left us at Warren and I got us to the Airport road unscathed and headed over to Sanderson and caught the light. Once it turned green I got us to Lowes and around the back to Acacia and back to Kirby. We crossed Kirby and made our way to Gilmore and back to Burger King where Huntress and Chrissy loaded their vehicles and headed for home while Digger and I rode to Palm and headed in different directions to get to our homes. It was a great 45 miles for me and it was great being with a group of people I have come to consider friends,
As we headed south on Kirby I realized we had a great A group and a reasonable B group for today’s ride. It would be hard to tell how much we would spread out once we hit the parkway. It was with this thought in mind that I looked over the group as we turned onto Cypress and headed west.
As we pulled up to the light on Sanderson and Johnston the mood was still pretty mellow and people were still talking casually. Once the light changed Bloodhound lead us to Stetson and had us moving rather quickly past Wally World and towards Mustang with most of the B group in front.
Once we got out onto Domenigoni and headed west I took the lead and started us towards Warren. I tried to give up the lead after the rise but Surgeon didn’t take it and soon Digger came up and asked what speed I wanted. I called for 18 to hold the group together just as some of the A group came by picking up the pace. I wanted to let them go and soon some of the B group rolled by as well. Coyote and Huntress started to pull away and by the time I got back to the front of my group I only had Surgeon, Digger, Chrissy, Dura Max, Rabbit and Quick sticks with me. As we headed for Winchester after Waren Chrissy rolled by me and tried to close on Huntress and Coyote. I did manage to reel her back in by Winchester where Quick Sticks left us. Chrissy faded slightly by Leon and we joined the rest for a regroup together. We were about a mile ahead of Rabbit.
As I looked over the group I noticed Bandit had joined us replacing Quick Sticks and we were back up to 13 riders. We rested a bit and I rode back on the hill to see if I could spot Rabbit. Sure enough he was way back on Leon so I told Gambler to take the group to Carl’s and I would follow as soon as Rabbit arrived. Dura Max waited with me and we started down the back side of the Saddle about 600 yards behind the rest of the group. But we got all of the lights green and managed to catch them by Haun. The group spread out a bit as we got to Bradley.
After taking a picture of MacGyver showing off we all pulled together and caught up to the leaders at the next light. Gambler, Bloodhound and Bulldozer had backed it down a bit as did Bandit so we had gone into cruise mode as we closed in on Carl’s and had our second regroup. Rabbit left first and Surgeon decided to ride down Murrieta as we headed to Goetz. We hit the corner of Newport and Goetz together and looked at Rabbit closing in on the stop light and we had to give chase. Huntress took off first and by the time I got to the light the A group hit the light and dropped the hammer. I started a spin and pulled away from Chrissy, Digger, Rabbit and Dura Max at the first climb. By the top of that climb Chrissy came after me. I gapped her a bit at the first flat section and she was still coming at the second climb. It was my good luck to top the second climb first and gapped her again on the decent to the last climb. For a new rider she hit the climb hard as was only 30 seconds slower than me at the top.
Once everyone had topped the last climb we dropped down the front side of Goetz and headed for Ethernac. I warned everyone to watch their downhill speed because of the condition of the pavement and we headed for the regroup at Ethermac. After the bad sections of the road I dropped into a tuck and managed to hit 30+ just coasting before making it to the light and regrouping with the whole group. We headed to Murrieta and turned south till we got to the cemetery and turned towards Bradley. We were back into cruise mode as we passed the Emus, Llamas and other animals.
As we turned onto Bradley I started to feel a bit tired and when we got to the light on McCall I got a cramp the worried Huntress to the point that she forced me to stop at the Valero just to see if I was OK. After a few minutes I felt fine and the cramp went away so we got back out onto McCall and headed to the top of Hospital Hill. A short regroup and we dropped down the back side of the hill to pick up the A group at Heritage where Bandit left for home. We continued on towards Simpson where Rabbit was already heading for Winchester.
Part of the A group had attacked the Murrieta Simpson segment and rolled by us at the Simpson light. The A group were in hot pursuit of Rabbit and the B group wasn’t far behind. We got to the light at Winchester just as Rabbit turned left and then we followed him to Chris’s for coffee and conversation. After a brief break we headed back out onto Winchester and I got us up to Stowe.
No sooner had we started towards California than the A group decided to hit the run to Stowe hard. As they faded into the distance the rest of us managed a more sedate 18 to 20 mph all the way to California were I had just enough energy to pull us to Stetson and headed east towards Warren.
Surgeon left us at Warren and I got us to the Airport road unscathed and headed over to Sanderson and caught the light. Once it turned green I got us to Lowes and around the back to Acacia and back to Kirby. We crossed Kirby and made our way to Gilmore and back to Burger King where Huntress and Chrissy loaded their vehicles and headed for home while Digger and I rode to Palm and headed in different directions to get to our homes. It was a great 45 miles for me and it was great being with a group of people I have come to consider friends,
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