By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I have learned a few things since riding with this group. One of those things is how to read code. What do I mean by code? I mean when you post one thing and everyone does something else. And that something else is almost always the same thing. I used to post flat Fridays. That turned into code for, fast Friday. Then I tried to make the Friday rides a cruise because we had several people racing on Saturday. But posting a ride I might call easy Friday, always ended up being, Fast Friday. So a few days ago a rider asked me to move the flat and shorter days to Monday. The summer was coming and we had some riders returning to the group so I felt the request was reasonable. I headed to Burger King today thinking I had posted a easy flay ride for the group and I intended to try and keep track of the B group and let the A group go without me. As I had my coffee 14 rides showed up for the ride including a new rider, Mark, just visiting the area. At ( am we headed for Latham and Lyon.

As I moved east towards Lyon Surgeon and Bloodhound were close behind and my friend Rocket was just behind them. As we turned south on Lyon everything seemed to be going according to plan and we cruised easily at about 16 down to Florida. We had t wait for a moment till the light changed to green and we headed for Acacia. It didn’t change much as we moved on to Johnston and then down to Stetson. Only four of us made it through the light on Stetson and we had to wait for the rest of the group after we turned on Thornton. Once they got there I led us towards State and we were still holding together as a group.

I got us started on State and stayed out front till we rolled by Chambers where Daredevil took over and several of the young Turks went with him. Soon Rocket went by me and I fell in on his wheel and stayed with them till we rounded the corner onto Domenigoni. We were almost to Searl when I realized we had dropped several riders so I went back to get them. Daredevil had the rest of the group on his wheel and both Digger and Jackal past me as I tried to collect Mark and Tax Man to bring them up to Digger and Jackal. We caught them at Sanderson and I pulled the five of them to Warren and over the Wash. Daredevil had Highlander, Bloodhound, Newsboy, Surgeon, Mantis, Pony Express, and Rocket and they were pulling away from us by at least 3 Mph and fading into the distance. There was no way we were going to catch the lead group and we did see Rocket heading back before we got to Winchester. As we pulled away from the light I only had Jackal, Digger and Tax Man with me and everyone else had left us to regroup at the saddle.

I explained to Bloodhound where we were going and planned for our next regroup before we dropped off the back side of the Saddle and made our way to Lindenburger. I kept Tax Man, Jackal and digger with me and we finally caught the lead group at Simpson before heading through the housing tract and turning on McCall to head for Menifee and north towards the AM/PM. As we got to the first light on Menifee Mantis and Newsboy kicked it up and past Bloodhound and Daredevil. That wasn’t going to work however because there just isn’t enough distance to the AM/PM to even begin to tire either Bloodhound or Daredevil out. They got to AM/PM a few minutes before my group and we took a short break.

I was telling Jackal that once we were back on the road he needed to watch the group after we made the rise just past Mapes. Normally the pace picks up quite a bit and if there was going to be a break that was where it would be. As we closed in on Mapes I pulled in front of Bloodhound so he would have fresh legs if the attack came and led us over the rise and slowly picked up speed after the rise. No one attacked at 24 nor did they try t come around at 25 so I figured they were happy with the pace. I cranked it to 26 and still no one came out to pass. At 27 we were closing on the first stop sign and I pulled out to let someone else take the lead and that is where Newsboy and Jackal went after Bloodhound. However they had Daredevil tracking them like a shark and when they made the jump he went by them like they were rolling backwards. He would have finished it that way except a car tried to share his space at Central and he decided not to argue with 3600 pounds of steel and plastic. As I turned onto Nuevo I stopped to collect the stragglers and then proceeded east to Lakeview and caught Highlander, Jackal, Pony Express Bloodhound and Mantis waiting for us. Once we were all collected Bloodhound started us north towards Ramona and Daredevil finished by taking us to Hansen for a regroup. We had to wait for Huffnpuff to fix a flat before we were ready to make the run east on Ramona.

I got us started and slowly worked us up to 20 or 21 before Daredevil took over. A good portion of the group fell off and shortly after that we kicked it up a bit and made a hard run for Warren. Soon it was just Daredevil, Bloodhound, Jackal, Newsboy, Mantis, Surgeon and me. I took my turn at the front and after falling back had to hold on to a very difficult pace line. It was one of those slinky lined where I kept gaining and slowing and gaining all the way to Warren. At one point Highlander back and I picked him up and then Surgeon fell back and I picked him up. Newsboy and I waited at Sanderson for Digger, Huffnpuff and Tax Man and then headed onto Ramona heading towards Lyon as Huffnpuff headed up Lambs Canyon. Mantis came back and picked up Newsboy at Lyon and I pulled Tax Man all the way back to Burger King to meet up with a few of the other riders before heading for home myself. What had I learned about flat Monday cruise rides? They are pretty much like the old flat Fridays that were just an excuse for Fast Fridays. So no I guess even an easy Monday can turn into , “Just another Manic Monday,” as the Bangles used to say.

By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Fridays have become the day a rider has to put on their big boy, or girl, shorts and ride whatever it thrown at them. The pace of the ride depends 100 percent on the mood of any of the A group that shows up. There is no real B group on Friday there is just the As and the super Bs. If it is a planned flat ride it will be fast. If there is some climbing there will be climbing attacks and the group will spread out. That my good friends is just the way things seem to turn out. Today was no different even with one of the larger groups of the year so far. I got to Burger King right after Digger and was standing there talking when the rest of the riders pulled up. Highlander and Doug, Gambler and Bulldozer, Quicksilver and Huntress, Ranger and Jackal, Surgeon and Barracuda, Ferret and Sasquatch and Closer were all ready to go when Rabbit arrived and took us out onto Gilmore to start the day. Barracuda commented that we looked like a gang riding down Gilmore and onto Acacia to sit at the light. After we turned onto Kirby I looked back and could see his point.

We may not be exactly like Marlon Brando and the wild bunch but we were pretty determined looking and we had wild bunch characters in the group. At least from my perspective they are characters. The Bling team is always stalking me like cats stalking a bird. Jackal is nipping at my wheel like an angry dog and Sasquatch seems to just be waiting for a weak moment to roll over me in youthful exuberance. But still keeping this group together can and is like herding cats.

Or reasons beyond me I was pulling as we headed north to Wentworth and west again past the airport. I slowed a bit but no one seemed interested in pulling out onto Stetson first s I pulled again till we got to Warren. As we moved towards California I felt I had to do something to get off the front or I would be a sitting duck by the time we got to Stowe. So after we turned the corner I simply stopped pedaling and Bulldozer pulled by with Gambler and Ferret on his wheel. I was determined to play when we turned onto Stowe and got into the lead pack as we moved west on Stowe. At first Bulldozer ramped it up for us and then Ferret took off and I followed, with Jackal on my wheel. Just as we were hitting our stride we noticed a large water flow in the road that broke the pace line and caused us to cruise to the Winchester parking lot.

It took a few moments to get out onto Winchester because of traffic but once we did we quickly moved south towards the Dump road. However we were joined by Murphy ’s Law just as we got to 9th and Ranger missed the turn and headed for Simpson. I thought he would turn around so I fell back and waited picking up Digger and never seeing Ranger. I pulled Digger down the Dump road and onto Leon and then Simpson before heading west again. By the time we got to McCall we could just see Ranger cresting Hospital Hill and he was gone by the time we got to the same spot. We dropped down the front side and made our way to the gas station on Bradley for a regroup.

As we left the gas station I got a chance to draft the A group all the way up McCall and south towards Honeyrun before turning onto LaLadera where I pulled up next to Surgeon and waited for Huntress and Quicksilver. We then teamed up and headed for Normandy passing the A group waiting at the park. We turned towards Goetz and the A group caught us just before we turned on Goetz towards Newport. Somewhere we had lost Jackal and Digger and I was sitting in sixth when we turned west on Newport and into Railroad Canyon. We hot the first two hills hard and finally made it to Canyon Hills. After the turn I was missing three riders but discovered that Closer had gone home. I called Digger and found out where they were and had Gambler take everyone else to Jack in the Box while I waited for Digger and Jackal. We then rode down Canyon Hills till it turned into Holland and then picked up Highlander before heading for Haun and then north to Newport and Jack in the Box. Several of the riders had gone home but some of us stopped for coffee before heading east towards the Saddle and home. We spread out going over the Saddle and I waited at the top till everyone was past me. As we dropped down the saddle and made it to Leon we had closed up a bit and had to chase Jackal almost all the way to Wincheter before heading on to Warren. We got mixed up a bit before the dry wash and I kept falling back to try and pull Sasquatch back up to Highlander and Jackal. Sasquatch was about finished so I made a solo run to catch Highlander and Jackal but just as I got to them Jackal flatted and I rode by to join Doug and wait at Sanderson.

I followed Highlander north on Sanderson till we got to Johnston and noticed we had lost Jackal, Sasquatch and Digger again. It turned out he had only added air the last repair attempt and had to change the tube by the time he got to Mustang. I waited for them and we ended up riding east on Johnston together till I got back to my street and turned for home and a hot shower. I had almost emptied the tank but I sure felt good about the ride today.

By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I did not believe we would get in a ride on Wednesday the weather wizards assured us on Monday that we had a 50 percent chance of rain by Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. By Tuesday it was down to 30 percent and in some places it may have rained. It did not rain where I live and so I headed for Burger King to see who would be riding. I got there first and was followed by Highlander and then Digger. Scott, (The Closer) drove up about the same time as Sasquatch. Lastly Mantis arrived and we were ready to leave. The clouds had parted and I did not know if it was clearing up or if we had a monster sucker hole that would dump rain on us when we were as far from as we could be. We made it to Acacia and then headed south on Kirby to start our journey west to ride the rollers on Goetz.

At first I was concerned that this ride was simply going to be cold bit as we moved to Sanderson I realized it would be windy as well. Highlander got us to Domenigoni and started west before I took over and pulled to warren giving the lead back and falling to the back of the line. As we rotated through the pace line we soon came to Winchester and the wind simply got to Digger and blew him off the back of the pace line. I closed the gap and got in behind Closer and soon we stopped to collect Digger at the trees on the other side of Winchester. Once we started off again I got us started and had the group moving along between 17 and 19 into the wind. To my surprise Sasquatch came from the back and made a break for Briggs and the Saddle. Sasquatch had gapped us but he was running alone into a ever stiffening head wind and I managed to pull Highlander up to him before we were at the start of the Saddle. He had simply burned too many matches and Highlander and I passed him with Mantis moving up pretty quickly as we got to the top for our regroup.

We took a few moments to rest before dropping off of the Saddle and heading west towards Lindenburger and then Antelope. Somehow we were able to catch all of the lights green until we got to Haun. Once that light turned Green Closer took us to Carl’s for a nature break before moving on past Murrieta and heading to Goetz.

Sasquatch, Closer and Highlander rounder the corner onto Goetz first and I didn’t catch them till they got to Normandy. Once we started up the first roller I pulled out front and kept Sasquatch and Closer close behind me till I saw everyone but Mantis fall back. By the second climb Mantis had caught up to me and we road together past the Moose Lodge and down to the final climb. The rest of the group was nowhere in sight as we crested the hill and Mantis went back to bring up Sasquatch. Closer finished third followed by Sasquatch, Highlander and Digger.

All we had left to do was drop off of the hill and turn on Ethernac and get back to Murrieta. We headed south into the wind again and I pulled everyone for a while till Sasquatch took the lead and led us to the turn heading over to Bradley and back out onto McCall and east. I got a good jump on Hospital hill and got to the regroup point first. We then rolled down to Menifee and then to Heritage and south to Lindenburger. I started the pull east on Simpson and took us all the way to Winchester before we headed for Winchester Farms on Stowe. We had coffee and conversation before heading for home on Stowe and then to California to turn North.

Highlander took us to Stetson and we started east towards Warren. It was much easier now when we didn’t have to fight the wind and it wasn’t long before we crossed Warren and made our way to the airport road. Highlander didn’t seem to have the “heading for the barn” syndrome today and we pretty much stayed together all the way to Sanderson and then to Lowes. People started to break off by Kirby and we were down to Closer, Highlander and me by the time we got back to Gilmore.

Digger continued on for home when we got back to Burger King but I stopped to talk with Closer and Highlander before heading for home myself. I got home feeling tired but good even if my legs never felt like they totally warmed up. But for me cool damp weather always does that to my legs so it simply took a hot shower and took the dog for a walk before kicking back in the easy chair and having another cup of coffee.

By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Today was supposed to be our second ease into the week Monday ride. I was concerned that we might we might get rained out Wednesday so I had to choose between a short ride with some short climbs or a longer ride with some sprint points. I went for the latter and picked Backwards Soboba. Now all I had to do was get over to Burger King and see who would show up and what kind of pace we would set. I got to the parking lot just before Digger and we were having coffee when Rocket pulled up. Bloodhound pulled in just before Highlander and to our surprise Surgeon came out even though it was overcast. Sasquatch arrived followed by Daredevil and Akira, (The Jackal) and lastly Tax Man. It was time to go and as we headed down Gilmore to Acacia I could tell this was not going to be a laid back day. We did pick up Mantis at Kirby. I didn’t even get a picture till we got to Cypress and stopped to change the batteries in my camera.

As we got out onto Sanderson Bloodhound started ramping it up and soon we were in a pretty good pace line all the way to Mustang. Before we knew it we were merging left and getting ready to turn onto Domenigoni. At first Bloodhound took off by himself and Daredevil had to pull the rest of us up to him. That pull however broke the group in half and as we turned onto State Street and headed for McSweeney we had three separate bunches. Somehow we all turned right and Tax Man turned left. We made it through the housing tract and headed north to try and catch Tax Man. I stopped on Stetson to call and make sure Tax Man was still in front of us and then had to chase the whole group all the way to Fairview. Rocket ran hard past Lake Street then checking his dilithium crystals decided to head back to the launch pad while I chased the rest of the group all the way to Fairview for the regroup before heading to the Fire station for a nature break.

Digger didn’t stop with us so we ended up having to chase him west towards Lake and Main. Before we got to Ramona Daredevil took over the pull and we quickly we through the light on Hemet Street and settled into a slowly accelerating pace towards Main. As we turned right at the light over the river bed e caught Digger and started down the road towards Soboba. Soon we turned left and were headed for the Golf Course and the run down Soboba to State Street. Here is where things turned into hectic fun.

As we came out of the trees Mantis took flight and started the run west. He got out about 70 yards in front of us and was pulling away before I pulled in front and started to give chase. The slight downhill allowed me to pick up speed quickly and managed to catch Mantis at the driving range. As we rolled by him Daredevil pulled by me and I fell onto his back wheel for the next mile or so. On my next turn to pull Jackal came up from behind us and tried to create a gap. It wasn’t about to work however because I saw it as an early relief to my pulling and followed him till he started to sputter a bit and moved back around with Daredevil in tow. Once we had a gap on both Jackal and Mantis Daredevil took over and extended our lead and took us all the way to state Street for another regroup. We took a few moments before heading south on State towards Ramona and along the way we found Bloodhound again, we lost him on Fairview. He stayed with us most of the way to Ramona.

We turned back east on Ramona and headed back towards Main to go have coffee at Carl’s. Bloodhound didn’t stay all that long and shortly after we rolled past the light on Main he broke off and headed for home. I noticed we had dropped Highlander on the hill and I stopped to pick him up. Daredevil came back to ride with us while Jackal and Surgeon continued on. We caught them at Cedar and took turns pulling all the way to Carl’s. We talked for a while before Daredevil headed for home while Highlander, Digger, Surgeon, Sasquatch, Jackal and I had coffee and took a break. Once we were ready we pulled out onto New Chicago and headed for home.

Jackal left us first followed by Digger leaving ride back t Surgeon, Highlander, Sasquatch and me to Burger King and the vehicles. After a few more moments of conversation I said my good byes and headed over to the bike shop to see about getting a set of Cool Stops. I then headed for home for a hot shower and to walk the dog before heading out to run some errands. Like I said before it pretty fast for a kick back Monday.

By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) This has been a good week for me and the group. We had what was planned as an easy day Monday that resulted in a lot of fun and fast riding. Wednesday was a new ride and we had a good showing even after a lot of wind greeted us as we headed for Gilman Springs Road. Today was a Friday ride and I no longer predict how hard or easy they are going to be. I posted a flat ride of about 40 miles and decided to let the chip fall where they may. All I knew was I was going to try and stay with the lead group at least for the first half of the ride and then see how I felt after that. I got dressed and had breakfast before taking the long way to Burger King to meet Digger. We didn’t have long to wait before Rocket and Bloodhound rode up. Daredevil pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later followed by Newsboy and Red Rabbit. Highlander, MacGyver and Huntress joined us as we got ready to head down Gilmore to Acacia. We saw Papillion on the other side of Florida and he joined us before we got to Acacia.

After we turned on Acacia and caught the light at Kirby I could almost feel the eagerness in the group and when the light changed it reminded me of the gates opening at a horse race when we headed south towards t railroad tracks and the turn onto Cypress to start our move west.

As we pulled up to Sanderson Rocket told me he was going to run with the Big dogs and far as he could to test his stamina and that encouraged me to make sure I stayed in any group that picked up the pace. I didn’t know where the run would begin but I was in agreement with Rocket that this was going to be a frisky run west to the saddle and anyone falling out of the draft would be working hard to stay in the same zip code as the leaders all the way to the saddle. Daredevil got us to Domenigoni and Bloodhound started us west and we slowly picked up speed over the rise. Everyone stayed together pretty well all the way to Warren where I fell back in the group behind daredevil, Bloodhound, Highlander, Newsboy and Rocket. That left Huntress, Digger, MacGyver and Rabbit behind me. There was some kind of problem between Newsboy and Highlander and the group broke up as they sorted it out going over the dry wash. I closed the gap and got on Daredevils back wheel before taking my turn pulling towards Winchester. By the time I gave up the lead we were flying at about 26 to 28 and Newsboy took the pull from Winchester almost to Leon before giving it back to Bloodhound. Newsboy broke out of the pace line and I tried to pull up and give Bloodhound a pull while Daredevil took off and got to the top first where we regrouped. Everyone was there within 4 minutes of the lead. Rocket broke off and we dropped down the back side of the saddle going after Rabbit who already made the turn south.

We didn’t catch Rabbit till Holland and the start of the hill called revive. Bloodhound and I were cruising the hill in front when I noticed Newsboy pulling up and attacking from the back. It was his bad luck however to be running next to Papillion and he lost the sprint about 30 yards from the stop sign. We continued on to Scott for a regroup. Rabbit pulled past us and asked where we planned on stopping and disappeared down Scott and turned on Antelope. I pulled us to Haun where we started a run north with a tight pace line that held together till just before we returned to Holland and made a stop at the Circle K.

It turned out that several riders had to get back early so we couldn’t stand around talking so I took us to Bradley and started the attempt at Golf Cart Racing. I didn’t hit it hard enough in the beginning but with Daredevil encouraging me from my back wheel I did pull strong to the stop sign and then onto McCall and east.

I pulled over at the Valero Station to make sure we hadn’t dropped anyone and Huntress stopped with me. Digger wasn’t that far behind but we waited for him while the rest of the group headed for Hospital Hill. Digger rolled by us so Huntress and I chased him to Hillpoint and we made the light green and finally regrouped with everyone else on top of the hill.

As we dropped down the hill I followed several other riders to the light on Menifee and then to Heritage where Bloodhound pulled me to Lindenburger where once again we got the light red and had to wait to run east on Simpson. Bloodhound took us to Leon, I took over through the eucalyptus trees and Daredevil pulled us most of the way to Winchester. We had a small run in with a irate drive who was unimpressed with our road position coming up to make the turn on Winchester. It worked itself out and I got us to Winchester farms were we found Rabbit again and stopped with coffee. Daredevil took Huntress, McGyver and Bloodhound back home and the rest of us finished our coffee and relived the ride before heading east on Stowe and north on California before turning east once more on Stetson.

We were still moving well as we headed for Warren and crossed the street to make our way to the Airport road. I got a phone call so Highlander, Papillion and Digger pulled away while I stopped with Newsboy. Finally we were on our way and we caught Digger by Sanderson. We rode to Lowes and out onto Acacia before returning to Gilmore and Burger King. Newsboy went to the bike shop and I rode to the parking lot with Digger and met Highlander before heading for home myself. I felt pretty good when I got home and took a shower before taking the dog for a walk. About an hour later I had a snack and made the mistake of pulling the lever on my recliner t watch TV. The Dog and I took a nap while my wife watched the news. All in all it was a great day for a ride.

By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Wednesdays have turned into our big ride day and I for one am excited about it. We either do some climbing or some sprinting or some distance and today I had some of all of that planned for a new ride we were going to try. I got up early and had breakfast so it would have plenty of time to digest and got dressed for the ride. I left the house a bit early so I could meander over to the parking lot to have coffee with Digger even though I already had one at home. Turns out neither of us got coffee and both of us already had some before we got there. There was a pretty good turnout for the ride today with Bulldozer, Daredevil, and Bloodhound followed by, Highlander, Huffnpuff, Daniel and Scott. Lastly we had Surgeon and Huntress. There were some that I expected that were missing and I did expect to see Isaac on the way out and Dragon Slayer would be waiting on Hansen. When 9am rolled around the whole group pulled out onto Latham and headed for Lyon. Once we turned north the pace quickly started to pick up and Bloodhound started to move to the front.

To my surprise Daniel dropped onto Bloodhound’s back wheel and they quickly made a small gap on the rest of the group. For reasons I can only attribute to a dream state I decided to try and close the gap on Bloodhound and Daniel and noticed that neither Bulldozer nor Daredevil were in any hurry to move north and Highlander mentioned that I was pushing the group a bit pretty early in the ride. Finally Daredevil got in front of me and pulled us up to Bloodhound right at Ramona Boulevard.

We started west and soon Bulldozer and Daredevil took over and really moved us towards Sanderson. at small People started dropping off of the back of that small group but I decided to hang on for all I was worth. Bloodhound and I rounded the corner onto Sanderson as soon as Daredevil slowed down for the turn and we more or less had a small regroup at the light on the Expressway. As we rounded the corner we noticed Daniel had a flat and Scott and Huffnpuff stayed to help him change the tube. They told us to go one and we started the run west towards Nuevo. I started the pull and got us to Warren and most of the way to Bridge and Bloodhound took the lead back. As soon as he gave up the lead Highlander and Surgeon fell back with him and Bulldozer ramped it up and we slowly got to 28 mph before making it to the light at Hansen where Dragon Slayer was waiting for us.

It was at this point things were about to get interesting, at least for me. I assigned Dragon Slayer to go with the Big dogs because he knew the route and I offered to stay and wait for the rest of the B group. Digger said he would wait for the Bs and some of the Bs started west towards the rollers in front of Lake Perris to see if they could make it to Evans before the A group ran them down. When Bulldozer, Daredevil and Bloodhound left to pull out and follow Highlander, Huntress and Surgeon Dragon Slayer and I went with them. Bulldozer pulled us west towards Bernasconi and soon we were closing on the fleeing threesome. To my amazement I stayed with the big dogs and soon we were headed for the second roller. Here is where a warning to others has to be mentioned. I was feeling so good my mind decided to write a check my legs were not going to be able to cash. As we started up the second hill I decided to go around Bulldozer and pull over the hill. At first I did pretty well and inside I was ready to laugh at the idea that I had 66 year old legs. But then reality set in and I knew full well my matches were quickly running out and I had better give up the lead soon or suffer for it later. I almost got dropped by the whole big dog group and only just barely caught Dragon Slayer’s back wheel as we started down the back side past Rider. When we turned the corner onto Evans going north and I stopped to wait for the B group. first Huntress Surgeon and Highlander showed up and I sent them on while I waited for the rest of the group. Lastly Scott, Phil, Daniel and Digger got to Evans and we headed to the Mickey Ds to try and regroup with Surgeon, Huntress and Highlander. They couldn’t wait and we ended up chasing in their direction as we worked our way on Iris to Alessandro and head for Gilman.

As we cleared the blocking effect of the lake we hit a head wind that sat us back on Alessandro. I pulled all the way to Gilman and the four of us did regroup before heading east towards Bridge. That turned into one long run into the wind and we had to stop for another regroup at Bridge. Scott and I took turns pulling back to Sanderson and headed south towards home. I had enough steam left to pull all the way back to Devonshire and then back to Burger King where we met Highlander before heading home for a well deserved rest and shower.

By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I knew we had some returning riders for Monday and I knew we needed a short warm up ride to start the week. So I put up one of our easier and shorter rides and went to be knowing it might also be faster than many expected. I got up and got dressed, in green because of Saint Patrick’s Day, and headed for Burger King. I started out early to take the long circuitous route to Burger King and managed to get there right after Digger. People started showing up before I even bought my first cup of coffee. Rocket, Highlander, Dragon Slayer, Akira and Scott pulled in the parking lot. A few minutes later Bloodhound, Daredevil and Newsboy arrived. A few minutes later Tax man pulled up along with Red Rabbit and Surgeon. Last but not least Quicksticks pulled up and we got ready to leave. A jaunt out to Latham and over to Lyon and we were on our way.

As we moved north on Lyon Newsboy was rushing to get home and get changed so he could catch us by the time we got to State Street. He might have made it if another truism hadn’t taken place. That truism is that a short ride most often starts out as a fast ride and Dragon Slayer started a pull north to the Expressway that assured we were getting a fast start. There is another truism and that is when we try to meet up on the way to a waypoint we most often miss our connection and today was no different either. I moved into the lead on the Expressway and pulled at about 20 to 22 all the way to State and then motioned for the group to stop at Starbucks and see if we could find Newsboy. That stop caused more confusion than expected when Rocket and Quicksticks decided to get a head start heading for Soboba and Highlander, Tax Man, Surgeon and Daredevil went with them. Lucky for me Bloodhound, Dragon Slayer, and Scott stayed with me and waited for Newsboy. When he said he was coming up on Starbucks we pulled out onto State but couldn’t see him. Later I discovered he was behind us and would have to chase us through Soboba. Once we started east on Soboba we started to pick up speed over the first roller. As we headed up the second roller Bloodhound and I separated from our group and made a hard run towards the Driving range and last hill before a regroup. As we got ready to leave the regroup Rocket took the lead and we strung out a bit heading for Main and Ramona. Newsboy caught up to us right after we started off again.

After making it to Ramona and heading east Daredevil fell back to ride sweep and I chased Bloodhound all the way to Cedar and headed for Fairview and Florida. We pulled over at the corner to regroup once more where Rocket and Quicksticks headed for Carl’s while Daredevil pulled us to Cranston Station and we took a few minutes to recover before heading back to Carl’s ourselves. Scott and Bloodhound were leaving us at Fairview while the rest of us were going to Carl’s. Daredevil got to Carl’s with us left but while we had coffee with Quickstcks before heading for home ourselves.

As we got ready to leave Rabbit pulled up and we visited briefly before trying to leave. Dragon Slayer had to go back and get his water bottle so we did split up a bit before we pulled out onto New Chicago and made our way up to Lincoln. Once headed west Highlander got that heading for the barn feeling and soon pulled away as we closed on Lake Street.

Before we knew it Tax man Quicksticks and I were well behind Newsboy, Highlander and Dragon Slayer. We figured the ride was over by Carl’s so we were not chasing and still we could see Newsboy breaking off before we got to San Jacinto and caught the light. We then made it to Santa Fe before dropping down to Latham and finally meeting back at the cars. Once everyone was headed for home Dragon Slayer treated me to some Starbucks before heading home ourselves.

It only took me about 10 minutes to get home for a hot shower and a small lunch before I had to take t dog for a walk. That turns out to be good for me as it seems to flush the lactic acid out of my legs and keeps me from getting sore just sitting in my easy chair. But to be honest I believe given the choice I might have rather taken a nap in my easy chair.

By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) As they say Friday is like a Box of Chocolate, you never know what you are going to get. I have stopped trying to plan an easy recovery ride for Friday and simply post if it will be flat or not. I might add if it will be long or short but I can’t predict attendance or speed and today was proof of that. But what I can say for me it was a day of missed calculation and missed opportunity. As I headed to Burger King I had already decided I was going to try and stay with the A riders once we got to the Expressway. I got to Burger King to have coffee with Digger and think about hitting the road hard to test myself and burn some extra energy. By 9am there were 15 of us ready to hit the road and head over to Lyon off of Latham and get the show on the road.

Things were going according to plan as we moved past Devonshire and then Menlo and I watched Bulldozer take off with no one giving chase. So I fell in on Gambler and Ferret with Bloodhound and Dragon slayer in attendance. Barracuda was with me and as we got close to Esplanade the group was still pretty much together. As we started through the intersection I heard Quicksilver ask Huntress if she was ready to pick it up and heard the affirmative answer just as I saw Quicksticks fall off. I dropped back to pick him up when Rocker told me to go play and he would take care of Quicksticks. Soon I had overhauled Digger and Daniel and not long after that I had Huntress and Quicksilver lined up along with Sasquatch. I then caught Highlander and started the hard pull to close with t fleeing A group. But it wasn’t meant to be and they made the light on Sanderson and the Expressway while we didn’t. I ended up pulling Digger, Daniel, Huntress, Sasquatch, Highlander and Quicksilver all the way to Nuevo with Digger, Rocket and Quicksticks riding sweep. We turned the corner on Hansen and regrouped with a much larger A group on the corner.

At least we had added Bandit and Jay from CAS to the A group and I yearned to leave when they left. When I expressed my wish Huntress said she would take the B group and for me to give it a shot. I rode hard to catch the A group but as I turned onto Lakeview by myself I noticed the pace line was started and pulling away faster than I could close. I did think I would catch them by Nuevo or at least by Central and Menifee but that didn’t happen either. I did gain on the group by the Nursery but as they descended towards Florida and Menifee they simply pulled away and left me to fend for myself. Lucky for me Barracuda and Dragon Slayer stopped at the AM/PM and I stopped to talk with them and wait for the B group. I did get a call from Quicksticks and Rocket saying they had turned back with a mechanical problem so I wasn’t worried about them. Huntress showed up pulling Highlander and Quicksilver followed by Daniel and Sasquatch and finally Digger. As soon as they stopped Huntress said she had to get back so she was going to leave taking Quicksilver with her. Dragon slayer and Barracuda went with them and a few minutes later I started pulling my small group towards Simpson and Menifee. Once we rounded the corner onto Simpson and dropped down the hill to Lindenburger I set in for a pull to Leon and up to the dump road planning on a run at the DVV sprint.

As I turned onto the dump road I realized the wind was going to be in my face and there was no reason to challenge the sprint so I settled into a fast run to Winchester and stopped by Chris’s for a quick coffee and a regroup. When we left we headed down to Donemigoni and I got ready for a long pull east. I got into a steady pace and pulled us at a steady 20 to the dry wash and picked it up a bit to Warren. I was in a bit of a hurry myself because I had to get to a doctor’s appointment with my wife after lunch and I didn’t want to cut it too close. I got us to Sanderson and down to Johnston to make the turn for home. Highlander stayed on Sanderson and Sasquatch turned and headed to Kirby. Daniel stayed with me till Lyon and then he left. I continued on to my house getting home in plenty of time for lunch and a shower before heading back out to the doctor and to run a few errands. It was a great day and my chase wasn’t worthless because at least I learned I can chase for five to ten miles at 80 percent and feel good about the effort.

By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Sometimes planning a ride is a lot harder than it should be. I often get ride requests and some are easier than others but the Bling team requested a ride to Idyllwild and that is not a favorite ride for everyone. So I planned several different rides that would cover everything from an A group to a C group and posted it not knowing just who would be riding where. All I knew was I would be leading a group from Burger King and meeting a group at Cranston Station. I just didn’t know who would stay with me once we made the turn up towards Idyllwild. I got to Burger King met Digger for coffee. Dragon Slayer was already there talking to Robert and Akira but I discovered they wouldn’t be riding with us. Bloodhound was there and Sasquatch was there as well. Huffnpuff came down from Beaumont and Daniel pulled up. MacGyver arrived as well and we were ready to go. Right at 9am we headed over to Lyon and made our way to Johnston to start east in hopes of making Cranston by 9:45 at the latest.

Bloodhound led us east on Johnston all the way to Girard and then over to Stetson to continue east. I will admit the pace was quicker than I thought it would be but everyone seemed to be riding easy right up till we got to the little hill just past the high school. One of our new riders still has trouble with small climbs and he fell off of the back and out of the draft. Digger offered to go back and ride sweep but I had him stay with the group and I went back myself. I ended up pulling the rider to Fairview and then to Florida before heading to Cranston with no one heading for Soboba. We got to Cranston just as everyone was getting ready to leave. We had picked up Gambler, Bulldozer, Papillion and Bandit along with Quicksilver. Huntress had an appointment and couldn’t make the ride. As we got started we had Quicksilver pull almost to the Jeep trail and then the A group started to wind it out. I stayed with Quicksilver and she stuck to my back wheel like a bolt on reflector. Soon Dragon Slayer pulled away from Sasquatch and tagged up on Quicksilver and me. Dragon Slayer and I pulled away when Scott caught up to Quicksilver and stayed with her. Dragon Slayer and stayed together till we caught Huffnpuff and I stopped to wait for Quicksilver and Scott. Dragon Slayer continued on and we followed a few minutes later after removing some arm and leg warmers. It wasn’t long after that we crossed Strawberry creek and passed Huffnpuff again and then stopped at the turn out to see who wanted to continue on chasing the A group.

We waited to Scott, Huffnpuff, Quicksilver and I had hydrated bit before deciding who we still going up and who would be going back down. Quicksilver was running out of time and Scott was already running late so he decided to head back and the three of us headed up towards Mountain Center.

Quicksilver and I pulled away from Huffnpuff and Scott headed back down the hill. I heard him shout at Sasquatch as he rounded a corner below me. I later learned that Digger was still climbing to Strawberry Shortcake so only Daniel had turned back before getting half way up the hill. Quicksilver and I never caught Dragon Slayer but we did see the A group coming back down from Mountain center. When Quicksilver and I got there she decided she needed to call it a day and I checked with Dragon Slayer telling him I was going with her. We passed Huffnpuff and Sasquatch on the way down and Dragon Slayer went to Mile High café in Idyllwild. I got quicksilver back to her car and decided to do the Soboba ride myself and headed west on Ramona to Main and then over to Soboba and out to Gilman Springs and finally to Sanderson and back to Menlo before heading home. It was not a bad day after all and I felt good about the group and the effort of the climb.

By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I got a call on the weekend saying some of our riders will be returning from whatever hiatus they happened to be on. They also requested a easier ride to start the week and let them get back into the swing of things after being gone. I put together one of our stock easy rides and posted it not knowing just how many people would be there. I got up to a beautiful morning and put on my kit, had breakfast and headed for Burger King for coffee. I took a little turn around the block because I got to Burger King early and ended up following Digger back to the parking lot. We got coffee and waited for everyone to arrive. The first one was Rocket followed by Dragon Slayer, Bloodhound, Ranger, Scott, Highlander and Surgeon. Last but not least Robert arrived and we were ready to head out onto Gilmore and south to Acacia.

As often happened Bloodhound left off right where he did Friday and pulled ahead of the group without a warm up. This time we decided not to chase him and take our time getting to Kirby and turning south towards the railroad tracks. Ranger did move up to ride with Bloodhound and soon we were all headed for Johnston and the light at Sanderson.

As we came off of the light on Sanderson and headed for Stetson Dragon Slayer wanted to try and attack the Mustang to Domenigoni Segment. We didn’t get the KOM but may have moved up on the top ten of Strava. Still we backed down to collect the group once we made the turn onto Domenigoni. Bloodhound continued on till a few of us joined him and I stayed with the lead group till we got to Warren. Bloodhound was pulling everyone with him till I noticed Digger falling back to pick up. I had already had a chance to play so I went back to ride sweep and let Digger go on. We caught Digger and Rocket at Winchester and I ended up pulling from there to the Saddle for a regroup.

Bloodhound was running pretty fast all day on his new Cannondale CAAD 10 and to tell the truth Highlander and Surgeon were right in the middle of the pack even after their riding sabbatical. Robert had been off of his bike even longer than the others and still had plenty of fine tuning to do to get his set up correct.

Once everyone was ready we dropped off of the Saddle and headed towards Lindenburger. We rolled by that light and headed for Menifee and then Antelope. From there it was over the Freeway and past Haun and then Bradley. It had been decided that we would not stop at Carl’s. We continued on past Murrieta and to the light on Berea with a turn again on Normandy and then to the park on LaLadera.

The park gave us a chance to have a quick snack, make and last minute adjustments on their bikes and tell each other stories before we had to get back on the road and head north and east towards McCall.

We were still in a pretty tight group as we got to Honeyrun and not that far apart when we turned north once again on Valley Boulevard. But we did string out as we got close to Cherry Hill and made the turn onto McCall and headed east. Most of us got caught at the light on Murrieta and headed for Hospital Hill. Once again Bloodhound took the lead rolling by the Valero Station and I had to get a tow from Dragon Slayer to catch up to his back wheel. I was absolutely determined to hold onto Bloodhound’s wheel all the way to the top and then down the back side towards Menifee. Dragon Slayer and Ranger past me just before the light and headed for Heritage so I made the hard right turn and headed to Simpson betting on getting a green light at Lindenburger if the lead group caught the red. And to my god fortune it works just as planned and I rolled through the green while everyone else was stopped on Simpson. I knew they would give chase as a group but I also knew I had a small truck between me and them in the construction zone and had a good chance of making it to Leon without being caught. I did make it to Leon in time to see Cal-Fire making a practice water pick up and waiting for the rest of the group.

I sat there and collected Rocket, Ranger, Digger, Scott and Dragon Slayer. Bloodhound continued on for home while we waited for Highlander, Surgeon and Robert. First Surgeon decided to go straight on Simpson and not long after Highlander and Robert followed him. That meant that my group would have to hit it pretty hard to beat them out to Winchester and then up to Stowe. In truth we didn’t beat Surgeon, he was waiting for us on Winchester and 9th, so then we then simply moved onto Winchester Market for our coffee stop.

Once again it was time for visiting and storytelling as we had refreshments and waited to go home. Rocket and Digger left first before getting too stiff from the sudden cool down of not riding.

When the rest of us decided to head for home we headed east on Stowe and then North on California and spread out quite a bit. Robert and I pulled up the rear and chatted away rather than push for home as Highlander and his group seemed to be doing. We got back to the cars and talked with everyone for a few minutes before heading home ourselves. It seemed more like an extension of fast Friday rather than easy Monday but it was a satisfying ride none the less.