By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Today was the kind of day cyclists always wish for. It had some of everything, fast sections, small hill, bigger hills, beautiful scenery and a bit of distance. It was also the last training ride for D V V before the Tour de Palm Springs. And to be honest this metric century is harder than the imperial century in Palm Springs. If anyone can ride through wine country in Temecula they can easily do the short climb at the beginning of the TDPS and race down Dillon. Anyway I had posted the ride on Monday and let everyone know to wear one of their D V V jerseys. I planned on wearing one of the new ones and so put on the Fearless Biker Kits and headed for Burger King to start the day. Like many days before Digger and Sasquatch were already there when I arrived. In fact Highlander was there as well. Quicksilver pulled up looking pretty eager followed closely by Phil and Scott. Bloodhound and Gambler were the first two A riders to show up but they were joined by MacGyver so there were at least three of them if they didn’t want to ride a more sedate century pace. I promised the B group a 15 to 16 mph average for the day and I knew it would stretch it a bit for Gambler as far as a time frame went. Huntress and Newsboy were the last to arrive before we hit the street and headed for Acacia.

True to my word I tried to keep the pace easy and refused to chase Bloodhound as he headed for Kirby and then turned towards Cypress to start us west. He was the first into the housing tract and the first out onto Johnston before rounding the corner onto Sanderson north tom get to Wentworth and west once more towards the airport. Only three of us made the light at Wentworth but we waited for the rest of the group till they got trough the light. We then headed for Cawston and then onto the Airport road to make or way back to Stetson.

Bloodhound was still pushing us a bit as we came out onto Stetson and traditionally we would ramp it up to Warren to avoid some of the traffic in the morning. Still I tried so save the pace a bit so people might have some energy left for east Benton. As we crossed Warren Bloodhound started to move forward but at lease the A riders stayed back and allowed us to cruise to California and then south to Stowe.

He pulled away as we headed west on Stowe and the rest of the group stayed with me till we rolled into the parking lot at Winchester Farms. We took a short break there so I cold inform the new riders about hydrating and eating on this ride. I also mentioned the last stop to take on water and food would be on Winchester and Nichols.

I took the lead on our way south on Winchester and pulled us down to 9th Street. As we turned west and headed towards the Wild West Show grounds Bloodhound pulled away again. Gambler pulled up next to me and confirmed the route over McCall and the Murrieta before taking off after Bloodhound with MacGyver in tow. We watched them go and kept the pace to 16 and 18 mph all the way to Leon and then over to Simpson before turning west ourselves and making our way to Heritage so we could make it to McCall. We crested the hospital hill and headed down to the Chevron Station for a regroup before headed off again to Murrieta and south to get back to Newport.

I pulled most of the way to Newport and then fell back as we made the turn east towards Antelope. We managed to get together at Haun and took the lane over the freeway before turning south towards the college. Huntress and Quicksilver took over the lead and pulled us past the college and over the hill to Scott road. It was here that Scott left us not feeling he was ready for the metric. We waved as he left and then continued on towards Keller to make or way south. Finally we turned over to Whitewood and started the fast downhill to Murrieta Hot springs before moving east to Winchester to get to our last fuel stop.

The ride up Nichols was about as easy as it has ever been and soon we were turning on Wilcott and over the hill to make our way to Butterfield Stage. Sasquatch tossed a chain at the bottom of the hill but we got him back on the road and caught everyone by the time they got to Rancho California.

Shortly after we started towards the Wineries Newsboy pulled away and we had to let him go or drop two riders off of the back of the group. It took me a while to move from the back to catch Huntress and Quicksilver. I closed slightly on Newsboy with Quicksilver right on my wheel. To my surprise Sasquatch was still right behind us as we turned onto Glen oaks Road and headed for Mesa. I could just see Newsboy making the turn but I didn’t know if he was going to regroup with us or not. He didn’t so we regrouped and then headed for Mesa Hill and I managed to just catch Huntress and Quicksilver at the top before the short downhill.

Quicksilver and I rode together towards De Portola and we ran into a patch of rather bad road. It reminded me of the stories of the Roubaix during the TDF and I was glad I had my 25 mm tires on. As we bounced and vibrated down the road I decided to pull over and wait for the rest of the group before hitting the long grade on Benton.

Soon Huntress and Sasquatch pulled up to us and we rode together till we got to De Portola where I waited for Phil and Digger. Highlander went after Huntress, Quicksilver and Sasquatch and I let Phil and digger pass me before heading after the group up Benton Grade. I caught Highlander just as we crested the grade and watched Sasquatch start over the top and down the hill towards Sage. I stopped again and Phil passed followed closely by Digger. Both of them began to chase Highlander and as we crossed the top of the grade I gave chase as well. They passed me again at Sage and I chased them to the Fire Station where Newsboy, Huntress, Quicksilver and Sasquatch were waiting. Phil and Digger stopped with us and Highlander kept going. All we had left was a short climb and the drop down Saint John’s grade to Cactus Valley. Huntress got a jump on me heading up the hill but caught her just before Red Mountain.

As we dropped off of Saint John’s I got by Huntress and made it almost to the Diamond Valley market before she caught me. I then had to keep the pressure up so as to not get “chicked” before I made it to Cactus Valley and rejoined Highlander. He then informed me he was tired and needed me to pull him at between 16 and 18 mph all the way back to Domenigoni. As I got to 16 he said kick it up. At 18 he said kick it up again and as we rounded onto State we kicked it up again to an easy 24 all the way to Newport before cutting back to 20 after McSweeney.

I still had enough energy to pull us west on Domenigoni but for some reason the Monster energy drink wasn’t setting well with my stomach and Huntress had to take over for me until Newsboy and Sasquatch pulled by and made the turn onto Sanderson. They kept getting caught at red lights till we got to Stetson and I got t the light first. I them managed to pull us to Lowes and finally over to Acacia and back to Kirby. Highlander took off at the light on Kirby and got us to Gilmore before taking us back to Burger King where we visited for a few minutes before I headed for home for a snack and a shower. All in all I would say we all made the ride and we were all ready for whatever the TDPS can toss at us.