By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) It was another clear Wednesday and it was supposed to be hot. We however live in Diamond Valley and if there is one thing we are used to it is heat. We try to make our big rides on Wednesday so I put a half century together and pointed us west towards the City of Perris. All I need to know now was how many and who would be riding with me. I got to the parking lot first and had to wait for Digger to arrive. Dragon Slayer and Surgeon got there about the same time and we watched Bloodhound pull into the parking lot right after Minotaur. MacGyver joined us just before Bill, Huntress and Quicksilver pulled up. Red Rabbit decided to visit us even if he wasn’t going to make the ride. It was a bit after 8 am as we headed for Latham and then Lyon to get started on a Half Century.

I was planning on letting Bloodhound pull us to Ramona but he got so far ahead and set the pace too fast for most of the group to hold for 50 miles let alone the short climbs ahead of us. I ended being the Virtual lead as we moved to Esplanade and caught the light red. Dragon slayer came up to relieve me and got us to Ramona where we headed west and slowly closed on Bloodhound as he moved towards Sanderson. Quicksilver was hooked onto my back wheel pretty much like a trailer for camping and she stayed there till we got to the light on the Expressway.

Just as soon as we started towards Warren Bloodhound took the lead and stayed there to the light. MacGyver and Dragon Slayer took over and kept us at a steady 20 or 21 MPH all the way from Bridge to Nuevo. Because the whole group had stayed together we were going ride right by Lakeview and head over the hill. As we past Lakeview Digger told me we had lost two riders so we pulled over just past the bridge and waited for what turned out to be a flat tire on Surgeon’s bike. Once they caught up to us we were on our way again to ride over the two rollers and then to Rider and the left turn towards Evans.

We got separated on the rollers and had to watch Bloodhound, MacGyver and Dragon Slayer pull away as we waited for the stragglers on the corner of Rider and Ramona. We got rolling again and I fell in on the back as Huntress and the others headed down to Evans and turned south towards Nuevo. We moved quickly through the houses on Evans and soon we making a right on Nuevo to head over to Redlands and south again.

At first Huntress, Quicksilver and Dragon slayer led the way west on Nuevo and finally I pulled up to help him pull to Redlands. By this time several of the riders had hydrated so well that they were looking for a service station like a puppy trying to get outside rather than wetting in the house. Dragon Slayer scheduled a stop at the Shell Station on Redlands just before the freeway and he rode up to make sure Bloodhound knew to stop. We also heeded to refill any empty water bottles before the next leg of the ride because the Goetz climb was going to be hot and dry.

We headed south once more and Quicksilver pretty much tossed the gauntlet down at my feet for the climb up Goetz. Now I know that if the bling team is riding together then they are working together so I also knew I had to watch both of them. After all I didn’t want to get chicked. Still I had my wingman Dragon Slayer with me so I felt confident they wouldn’t pull anything off on me without giving me a chance to respond.

After we made the turn to Goetz the real excitement started. I asked MacGyver to ride with Bloodhound and I would take the middle group while Dragon slayer had everyone else. Surgeon bailed on Ethanic as we rolled through the light. We noticed Quicksilver had an open seat bag so we stopped to make sure she hadn’t lost anything. While I was stopped I looked up the road to see Bloodhound and MacGyver climbing the steep part of Goetz and to my surprise Huntress was halfway between us and them. I felt like a dog watching a rabbit running away and gave chase as soon as we were rolling again. I don’t know what got into me because I hadn’t intended on attacking the short side of Goetz but I did and caught Huntress before the last kick towards the top. Bill caught me about 100 yards from the top and hacker was closing as I geared down to save my legs so I could attack the downhill and head to Newport. I was about 300 yards behind Bill but I dropped off of the hill like a falcon on a field mouse and blew by Bill and stayed there all the way to the last light before we got off of the hill. Bill, Hacker and I waited for the rest of the group on Newport and Goetz. I got a call from Dragon Slayer saying he was collecting the rest of the group and he would meet us at the Chevron on Murrieta. Out three riders headed for Murrieta only to be cut off by Dragon Slayers group at Berea. My thought was “et tu Brute?”, because in effect Dragon Slayer helped the bling team chick me before we could make it to the Chevon Station. We did see MacGyver and Bloodhound but they left as we were getting water and we had to follow then back to McCall and head over the hill. Coming off of the hill we opted for a ride through the park on Heritage and made our way to Simpson to head east back towards Winchester. This time Dragon Slayer assisted Minotaur in an attempted sprint attack before Winchester. Minotaur caught me after I made a break but we had t shut down at the turn lane. Minotaur was cooked from the sprint so Bill, Dragon Slayer and I raced off to Stowe to find MacGyver and Bloodhound.

The rest of the group headed for home while Minotaur and I waited for Bloodhound’s aunt to come and pick him up. He was a bit overheated and needed to take it easy. After the group had been gone for about five or ten minutes when Minotaur and I headed for home ourselves. We dialed in to about 21 MPH and rode to California and then Stetson. We decided to stay on Stetson all the way to Sanderson and then rolled at 24 all the way to Lowes. We popped over to Kirby and ended up having coffee with Dragon Slayer at Starbucks before heading home ourselves. I managed to roll up 55 more miles for the week and was still able to take the dog for a walk before kicking back and downloading my ride to my computer.