By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) It is supposed to be fall and we have had smaller groups this month so why not plan a half century? That is just what we did and I left the house looking forward to just such a day. I got to the parking lot just before Digger and the two of us watched as a new rider from Germany, George, joined us for our ride. Next we had Highlander and Bloodhound followed by Huntress and I thought that might be the end of it. But just before 8am Sasquatch rode up and finished off the group. Right at 8am we headed to Latham and over to Lyon and north to get the ride started.

I started the pull north and stayed there while Bloodhound ran off to play after Devonshire. We followed along behind him a few blocks back till we got to Esplanade where he was waiting. After the light changed Sasquatch decided to run off and play as well so I continued to lead the rest of the group up to Ramona and left towards Sanderson. It was an easy pull to Sanderson and then the light at the Expressway.

As we turned west we saw Bloodhound and Sasquatch waiting till we passed and I started pulling us to Warren. Huntress finally came by taking Bloodhound and Sasquatch with her. Soon Highlander joined them so I fell back to get Digger and George to pull them west past Bridge Street and the dairies. It seemed as if Digger was able to hold 20 or 21 but George was straining at 19 on an old Peugeot. I pulled back the throttle to hold at 18 or 19 and pulled all the way to Hansen and a regroup. Some looked tired and we still had 40 miles to go but no one was interested in breaking off.

When we headed out west again Bloodhound left us and for a change no one followed. I pulled the group to the first roller with Sasquatch right on my wheel. Highlander and Huntress hit the hill first and I started to work with Sasquatch on spinning up the hill. We caught Huntress first and well before Bernasconi we caught Highlander and crested several yards in front of him. He rolled by us on the downhill as we waited to pick up Huntress and chase him towards the second roller. Sasquatch and I crested the second roller and headed for the Lake Perris entrance road for a regroup. We then moved on to Perris Boulevard where Bloodhound was waiting but we had to stop and fix a flat with Digger.

All we had to do next was head to the end of Perris Boulevard and jump over to Goetz and we would get to hit our first real climb. By the time we got to the bridge we had to detour to Redlands Boulevard and then down to the jump to Goetz with Bloodhound heading off by himself. I fell back to work with Sasquatch as he attacked the back side of Goetz. If we ever get Sasquatch into some STI shifters he will be hard to stop, but with friction shifters it is hard to learn to select the perfect gear at the bottom of the hill. Still he did rather well and we waited at the top for Highlander, Huntress, George and Digger.

We dropped down Goetz to Newport and all headed east to Murrieta so we could turn north. Once again I took the lead; we had long since lost Bloodhound, and headed towards McCall. We had a reasonable pace going with better than a 17mph average even with the Goetz climb. I got us to McCall and we headed east over hospital hill before dropping down to Menifee and over towards Heritage.

We only needed to make it to Simpson to start a nice little pace line east. I started the pull but at Briggs I gave it over to Highlander. He pulled to Leon and gave it to Huntress and she pulled us almost all the way to Winchester where we caught the light and Sasquatch said he wanted to hammer the run to Stowe. When the light turned green I took off but sasquatch didn’t follow and I ended up turning on Stowe well before the rest of the group.

We more or less got back together when Highlander and Huntress took the lead and got us to California. We turned north and the four of us made it to Stetson fairly quickly. We were about a half of a mile in front of Digger and George so Sasquatch and I waited for Digger and George while Huntress and Highlander headed back to the parking lot. Once Digger and George got to us we moved on to Sanderson and then north to Lowes and around to Acacia. Digger took George and Sasquatch to the bike shop while I stopped to talk with Highlander and Huntress before checking on the other three and heading for home. Good ride and a great build up for LaQuinta at the end of the month.