By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) 8/19/13 Another Monday and I happened to be planning on a cooler longer ride. The normal French Valley ride was out because Leon was closed. I wanted to ride up to Washington and Scott on Winchester but they had closed all but one lane between Pouroy and Washington. So we were going to have to change the ride on the fly and re-planned on taking Benton to Washington and back to Scott. I think we had about 13 or 14 riders with us today but only 12 of them started with us on Gilmore. We had a new rider with us Kendra from Casino but she couldn’t stay for the whole ride. Highlander and Tax man couldn’t make the whole ride either. But they planned on being with us at least till we got to Holland and Antelope. So it was with that in mind we headed south on Kirby and quickly moved through the housing tract on Cypress. We got the light on Sanderson and some of the A group headed rapidly to Stetson and past Wally World with Quicksilver and Kendra hot on their wheel.

My plan was to wait till the groups split and then fall to the back to ride with the B group. As we turned onto Domenigoni Bloodhound started us off and slowly built up the speed till Bulldozer pulled by and pulled. He fell off giving Bloodhound the lead again and by Warren I got a turn to pull and wonder of wonders I felt pretty strong. Maybe my body was finally getting used to my diet but I pulled us over the dry wash and most of the way down the back side till giving the lead over to the next guy. Bulldozer and several other must have caught the light at Warren because when Bloodhound took the lead back we were pretty far ahead as we rolled by Winchester. Quicksilver got the lead but she pulled too long and was dropped when she pulled off. Kendra dropped the draft and I rolled by her. Tax Man pulled out and I closed again. I was on Goliath’s back wheel and had a great draft when Bloodhound pulled over giving the lead to MacGyver. But after letting MacGyver pull for a while Bloodhound rolled back to the front just as MacGyver was ready to pull off and picked the pace up again. Highlander had enough and that left just Bloodhound, Goliath and me rolling past Leon. I was already in zone 4 but what the heck I was in a great draft with only the saddle climb left. We started up the saddle and for a brief moment I thought about sprinting to the top. That however would have put me in zone 5 and I would rather not explain my lack of self control to my doctor. We regrouped at the top and I noticed we had Shadow and Coyote with us.

We dropped off of the saddle and had to look for a park so someone could take a nature break. I told the faster guys to go ahead without us but they waited and soon we were on our way to Holland and aver to Antelope where Kendra headed for home. We were over the rise and headed for Scott road with MacGyver and Bloodhound setting the pace trying to keep Bulldozer in sight.

As we crossed Scott Tax Man and Highlander turned for home and Quicksilver stopped with me so I could eat my meal replacement. The rest of the group continued on and Quicksilver and I followed a few minutes later. I have no idea how far behind we were when we got to Whitewood but Quicksilver was pulling as much as I was. We made it to Murrieta Hot Springs and then back to Winchester and headed north. We climbed the little hill and discovered Coyote and Dura Max waiting on Digger to fix a flat. We headed for Benton and Digger got another flat, a pinch flat this time so I gave his another tube and Coyote changed the tube while Dura Max pumped it up. Coyote said he knew another way other than Washington to get back home s we followed him back up to Max Gillis and made a left to get over to Los Alamos and back west towards Whitewood.

I had never been on Los Alamos and it turned out to be a nice quiet road made up of plenty of curves and some big rollers. Coyote led us over some gradual climbs and after the last one we pulled over to regroup with Digger who seems to be a bit sluggish today. Once over the last climb he told us it was going to be downhill all the way to Whitewood. Still it was a nice ride and pretty scenic.

Coyote then led us up Whitewood and north even if Digger was dreading the climb back to the Loma Linda Hospital. Highlander, Quicksilver and Dura Max made the climb look almost effortless and soon Digger was off the back again. I fell back but he wasn’t interested in accepting a pull. We regrouped before turning and getting back to Antelope where Coyote and Quicksilver led us to Keller and then back to Menifee to head for Scott road.

We let the light together on Scott and Quicksilver took off for Garboni and over the little rise before the downhill to Holland. As we started down the hill I literally reveled in the hill with the wind to my back. I pulled away and moved quickly to Newport only to wait for the rest of my group. Coyote was right at his housing development so he went home and Dura Max, Quicksilver, Digger and I headed for Lindenburger and then over to Simpson to head east and home.

We got back to Winchester and headed up to Stowe where Dura Max and digger stopped to rehydrate and Quicksilver and I continued on to she could get back home and relieve her baby sitter. We got back to Burger King and I noticed I had 57 miles on my computer. So quicksilver offer me a ride home and I took it because it was much hotter in Hemet than it had been in French Valley. It was a great ride and we discovered a new road for future rides. What more can I ask for?