By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) I had no clue how many would show up for the ride today. After 80 miles on Monday I thought a few might give this half century a pass. But by the time I got to the parking lot Digger and Minotaur were already there. Bloodhound was there as well and soon Surgeon and Pony Express arrived as well. Highlander drove up about the time Pirate, (Ben) Arrived. It was a smaller group than Monday but we were eager to get started and pulled out of the parking lot and headed south.

I had already mentioned to the group that I wasn’t interested in a hammer fest today because I simply wanted to keep the group together for as long as possible. True to form Bloodhound started out a bit fast and true to my promise I didn’t give chase so we followed him all the way to Cypress and headed for Johnston passing the big sink hole. It looks like it will take a while to fill the hole so we rode by and made it to Johnston and Sanderson. Once the light changed we quickly made it past Sanderson and were on our way to Domenigoni.

The test would be once we turned onto Domenigoni and headed west. If Bloodhound took off and anyone chased him the group could split up rather quickly. Sure enough Bloodhound took off and Surgeon went after him but we didn’t chase. After about half of a mile Bloodhound backed off and we reconnected and followed him to Warren. He came off of the light a bit hot and we still didn’t chase but reconnected again after the bridge over the dry wash. He pulled all the way to Winchester and once again started hot. We reconnected by the first stand of trees and he pulled us all the way to the saddle to regroup.

Highlander seemed to be a bit more tired than normal as we dropped off of the saddle and headed for Lindenburger. As we rounded the corner I tried to draft a large moving truck but missed the draft by about ten feet and had to give up when the driver refused to miss a shift to I could fully close on him. Bloodhound and Pirate pulled up to and past me but we caught them at the light on Simpson and rode with them to McCall and then onto Menifee to head north. Highlander decided to call it a day at Turtle and returned home. The rest of us stopped at the AM/PM before heading back on Menifee to head north towards Nuevo.

As we crossed the light at Florida I took the lead and started us out slowly towards Mapes. By the time we got to Mapes we were all rolling along about 17 before heading for the crest of the rise right about where the road work is taking place. I picked up the pace and set the pace right on 22 as we started for the next stop sign.

I gave up the lead and fell back with Digger and Minotaur as Bloodhound took the rest to Nuevo. We were about 100 yards back on Central when Bloodhound and his group made the corner at Nuevo. They waited for us but left as soon as Digger pulled up behind me on Nuevo while we waited for Minotaur. We followed as soon as we could and found them waiting for us before we got to Evans. Once we had regrouped we moved to Evans and turned north once more heading for the Expressway.

Once we rounded the corner onto the Expressway we made a dash for the park entrance and headed towards the main gate. At least the gates are no longer closed on Wednesdays. We rolled by the main gate and headed up the hill to the Marina. It was time for a break while we hydrated and had a snack. We spent about 20 minutes talking and resting before heading back out onto the bike path to head for the east gate and home.

We moved around the east side of the park and headed south towards the hills and the back gate. Bloodhound was moving a bit faster than the rest of us and Surgeon wasn’t far behind him. Soon Pirate decided to reel them in and I followed them till the last little hill and the quick sprint over the top. We left the bike path and headed to Bernasconi for our last regroup before hitting the Expressway and heading back to Hemet. Bloodhound had not regrouped with us so he was long gone by the time we were on the Expressway. Surgeon and Pirate made it across the road while the rest of us got caught and they we close to the bridge at the bottom of the hill before we could give chase.

We worked together till first Digger then Minotaur dropped off and Pony express decided to try and run down Surgeon and Pirate. Surgeon turned on Warren before we caught him but we ran Pirate down right after the little bridge just east of Warren. When Pony Express decided to continue east at Sanderson Pirate went with him while I waited for Digger and Minotaur. Once the arrived we rode back to Lyon together and then down to Menlo where Digger left us and headed home. Minotaur and I parted ways at Florida and I headed home for a hot shower and another bottle of water. As of today I already have my weekly average mileage so everything we do Friday will be icing on the cake.