By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) We had no idea if we were going to get to ride Friday because it was supposed to rain. It did rain but it rained at 3am in the morning and stopped by 4:30. From 4:30 to 9:00 am was plenty of time for the streets to dry so not only did I want to ride I wanted to ride to Bautista. I dressed warmly and headed for the parking lot not expecting many would join me. Digger and I were the only ones there for the longest time and for a while we figured it would be a two man ride. Gambler showed up followed by Bulldozer and Quicksilver. After another few minutes and just before we got ready to leave Ferret pulled up. Gambler said MacGyver was on his way so they told us to go on and they could catch up on the way. I took Digger, Quicksilver and Bulldozer out onto Latham and over to Lyon to start our trip south.

As we moved south we crossed Florida and then Acacia just as some school buses were pulling into the Hemet School district yard. I then pulled us to Whittier with Quicksilver and Bulldozer easily chatting along as we moved south. I stayed out front and got us across Johnston and then to Stetson only to have to wait at the light. After the light changed we started for Thornton picking up Papillion along the way. We turned east on Thornton I started the pull only to have Digger take it away from me.

We continued on past State Street and headed towards Santa Fe to head north back to Stetson. I got back out front just before Gambler and Ferret caught us. We headed for San Jacinto only to see MacGyver coming west right at us. I continued on towards Columbia. We weren’t pushing it much and in my case it was because I wanted to do well on the east end of town once we got to Bautista.

Somewhere well before Columbia we lost the A group and only Digger, Quicksilver and I made it to Crest together. Quicksilver picked up the pace heading east and soon we had distanced ourselves from Digger and made the turn north on Lake to head back to Stetson. I pulled Quicksilver to Fairview and headed south only to stop and wait for Digger. It looked like somehow the A group was in front of us and Quicksilver wanted me to give chase.

But by the time I got to Bautista I realized the riders in front were not part of our group. I slowed a bit and Quicksilver caught me as we headed towards the first big right hand turn on Bautista. There was a lot of mud on the road so we had to be careful. We made the right turn and were soon overtaken by the A group. Bulldozer pulled up next to us and said he was taking an easy day and I should chase the fleeing A group. I burned a lot of matches catching them, all being better climbers than me, and shortly after the dam I started to fall off. Just as we were crossing the stream cut I heard the birds singing and noticed that Gambler had a flat and they all stopped while he fixed it. I paused to see if he had what he needed and then made a run up the canyon by myself. With all the dirt and mud on the road the push to the top was hard and at first I thought I had pulled a groin muscle. But after a few minutes rest I was fine as Ferret, and the rest of the A arrived and we waited for Quicksilver and Digger. Quicksilver was short on time so she headed back down the hill and I went with her. We past Digger shortly after starting back down and soon we were captured by Ferret and Papillion. Bulldozer rolled by a moment later. About halfway down Bautista Gambler and MacGyver passed us and started to pull away.

We didn’t fall back all that quickly and it looked like Quicksilver was up for trying to close back on the two riders. We picked up the pace a bit and followed them down the hill.

As we got back to the parts of the road with the most dirt and mud we managed to get back on the wheel of Gambler and MacGyver. At this point they were not in a big hurry so we got through the worst part of the mud and made it to the white picket fence right behind them. We stayed with the over the dam and then back to the big turn before heading back towards Fairview. Just before we got out of the canyon we pulled over because we had two more flats. We got them fixer and were back on our way.

I told Digger that we would be heading back on Stetson to get Quicksilver back to her car so she could get home and he said he would go with us. As we got onto Fairview and headed north Ferret pulled in front of us and Papillion pulled in behind us. Ferret started to pick up the pace and soon rolled by Digger and I pulling Quicksilver behind him towards Stetson.

When we turned west on Stetson only Digger and Papillion went with us. Quicksilver pulled us all the way to the stop sign at Soboba and I took over and pulled us to Girard Street and north to Johnston and west again. We took Digger to Palm and he headed for home and we lost Papillion at Lyon. I stayed with Quicksilver till she got back to her car and then rode home myself. Not a bad day considering we thought it was going to rain.